Owl Banding

This week started with a continuation of the nice push of owls we were experiencing when we gave our last update. The weather pattern eventually shifted, slowing things down later in the week. On April 12, we caught 95 owls, which will likely be the busiest night of the season, but you never know. [...]

The last few nights have been very eventful, both in challenging and rewarding ways. Those of you familiar with Whitefish Point at this time of the year will know that there is typically still lots of snow, and long stretches of the net lanes still have feet of snow over them. Our trails through [...]

Like much of the region, we have experienced some serious winter weather over the past week. An ice storm and gale are occurring as I write this in the pre-dawn hours. The last time I stepped outside, bunches of pine needles and cones were dropping out of the trees, and I heard a loud [...]

This past week produced the first little push of Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), spectacular northern lights, an unpredicted snowstorm, and the season's first Long-eared Owls (LEOW). On Thursday night, we were treated to some of the best northern lights we have ever seen here. It was impossible to capture in photos, but when they [...]

Nova Mackentley and I are thrilled to be back at WPBO for another spring owl banding season. It's still exciting to get back out in the woods at night to work with these amazing birds. As is often the case, the season's first week has hit us with some wintery conditions, but some owls [...]

Our season is officially finished here at the Point, and we are sad to see it end. The last week of banding really saw things slow down. Honestly, though, this is kind of how you want it. It is tough to close nets when you are still catching a lot of birds. In total, [...]

We are in the home stretch of the fall banding season here at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. The season officially ends the night of October 30. This past week brought us a couple of weather days, as well as some owls. Northern Saw-whet Owls continue to pass through the Point, with our best night [...]

Since our last post, things have slowed down a little bit here in the owl banding world. While the birds are still showing up, they are not keeping us as busy as last week. The weather this past week also affected our banding ability and kept us closed for a couple of days. While [...]