The first Boreal Owl of the 2023 fall season. Photo by Liv Ridley

It’s been a very busy week here at Whitefish Point! Migration is in full effect. We’ve been getting lots of birds, mostly Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) but also Barred, Long-eared, and Boreal Owls. On October 11, we banded 16 NSWO and two Barred Owls and processed an encounter NSWO. October 12 was a very exciting night — we got our first Boreal Owl of the season, along with 24 NSWO and three encounters. Friday the 13th brought us more good luck. We banded two more Boreal Owls, a Long-eared Owl, and 17 NSWO and had two more NSWO encounters. The wind ended our night early on October 14, but we were still able to capture five NSWO before closing. High winds kept us closed on October 15. The following night, the birds came back with a vengeance; we banded 41 NSWO and one Barred Owl (plus another encounter) for our best night of the season so far. October 17 didn’t change much — another 35 NSWO and two more Long-eared Owls came through our station. We’ve been so excited to get so many birds and to expand our species diversity this week; it’s safe to say it’s been the best one of the season so far!

Season Totals of Banded Owls
Northern Saw-whet Owls: 271
Barred Owls: 14
Long-eared Owl: 4
Boreal Owls: 3
Total Owls: 292

~ Liv Ridley
2023 Fall Lead Owl Bander

You can read the owl banders’ weekly blog posts and follow WPBO’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for owl banding highlights this season.

The fall owl banding season runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 31.

Owl Banding Presentations — Visitors may observe owls that have been banded on Friday and Saturday evenings from dusk until midnight. Please note that banding is weather dependent and it is at the banders’ discretion to cancel banding accordingly. Observation will be limited to outdoors only. For the safety of the owls, flash photography and recording video is prohibited.