The owl migration has been unexpectedly slow this past week. Since banding 16 owls on April 24, we have only banded nine more. This is typically within the period of peak owl migration at WPBO, and we have had a few nights of good weather conditions. We’re at a loss as to why the owls have dropped off so significantly over the past few nights, but we remain hopeful that they will pick up again. Despite our disappointment in the overall migration, there were a few highlights this week. We banded the season’s second Great Horned Owl, a particularly feisty one, which was a bit of a handful. We also recaptured a long-eared and a barred that we originally banded last spring.

The spring’s second Great Horned Owl. Photo by Nova Mackentley

We’ve only seen a few four-toed salamanders here over the years. They’re fairly nondescript from above, but their underside is pretty beautiful.

The upperside (left) and underside (right) of a four-toed salamander.

Season Totals of Banded Owls
Northern Saw-whet Owls: 363
Long-eared Owls: 205
Boreal Owl: 9
Barred Owl: 10
Great Horned Owl: 2
Total Owls: 589

~ Chris Neri & Nova Mackentley
2024 Spring Owl Banders

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

The spring owl banding season runs from March 15 through May 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.

Nova Mackentley and Chris Neri: 2024 Spring Owl Banders

A lifelong birder, Chris became particularly fascinated with owls at the age of eight. He was introduced to owl banding by Katy Duffy in Cape May, NJ, in the mid-90s and knew after the first night that his life had just been changed. He has since worked with birds of prey in NV, NJ, NM, ID, CA, OR, MN, and his home state of PA. His life changed again when he arrived for his first season of owl banding at WPBO in the spring of 1999. As he puts it, “I have been fortunate enough to spend seasons at some of the premier raptor sites around the country working on some great research projects, but nothing has captured me the way the owl migration at Whitefish Point has.”

Originally from upstate New York, Nova first came to Michigan as a pianist and graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy. From there, it was an adventurous trek through Carnegie Mellon University and Oberlin College, studying abroad in Tanzania and earning her B.A. in Biology. Nova has loved Whitefish Point and the unique owl migration from the minute she was first hired as an owl bander back in 2005. She has worked with passerines, owls, hawks, parrots, ground squirrels, and ocelots at various field sites worldwide, but the owls always bring her back to Whitefish Point. 

During their many years at WPBO, Nova and Chris have substantially upgraded the spring owl banding, discovered a unique movement of juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls during the summer, coauthored several papers on owls, and feel grateful to call the U.P. their home. As nature photographers, Whitefish Point and its wonders have inspired much of their photography.