Owl Banding

Despite the fact that there have been a couple of recent nights when the weather conditions right here at the Point have provided us with some hope, it is clear that the wider weather patterns have not been to the owl's liking. Northern Saw-whet Owl numbers have continued to be very disappointing since our last [...]

The varying weather conditions have naturally been affecting the owl migration, but we've had a few good nights since our last post. We continue to be surprised by the low numbers of Northern Saw-whet Owls recently. During the first five nights of the season, nightly numbers of saw-whets hit double digits three times. Despite some [...]

The recent nights have regularly been filled with hoots, honks, howls, wing-claps, wing-twitterings, and peents as spring continues to return to the Point a bit early this year. The owl migration has produced a bit of a mixed bag since our last post. Species diversity has been good, but the Northern Saw-whet Owl numbers have [...]

Although the recent weather patterns have not been particularly good for banding, the owls have remained fairly steady. The weather has also cooperated by giving us a few nights off this season, which our legs appreciate given how rough the conditions have been for snowshoeing recently. In our last post, we mentioned having seen the [...]

The March nights have continued to be productive since our first post, and we've seen the first signs of the diversity that makes Whitefish Point such an amazing owl migration site. A couple of hours after publishing the last owl blog, the first Boreal Owl of the season arrived. We love Boreal Owls. On the [...]

The start of the season is always an exciting time, but we have to admit that when mid-March still feels like the dead of winter our enthusiasm is affected. Thankfully, conditions are not too bad this year and by mid-February we were already looking forward to the season. As per usual, there is still several [...]

Hello all: Since our last blog post we have finally had some movement.  Between the nights of September 26 and October 3rd we managed 4 Northern Saw-whet Owls and the seasons 1st Barred Owl.  The weather was definitely working against us for this week. However on the night of October 6th, the stars aligned and [...]

Hello all: We had some storms come through this week.  While the wind and rain kept us closed on the 21st and 24th, the storms did bring west winds with them.  These winds were a pleasant change from the south winds we had been experiencing. Along with the west winds, we also had a small [...]

Hello all: Our first week of fall banding is under our belts.  I'm super excited to be back for another season.  My banding partner this year is Zach Wilkinson.  He's originally from Avon, CO and has spent the past four years out in CA working on a spotted owl banding project.   Zach after [...]

Well, we keep plugging away. We've been able to band all 35 nights of the season so far, and we are admittedly wearing a bit thin some nights. Thankfully, it has been a relatively cool summer and the mosquitoes have not been too bad recently. As is expected at this time of the season, the [...]