I finally had a channce to get out and do some Road Trapping! Nigel and a I set out for the Holland Marsh Agricultural Fields on Tuesday the 3rd.
We were there only a few minutes when we saw our first Snowy of theday. It was a very heavily Barred SY female.We set up and waited a few minutes as she checked the Bait and head bobbed.Finally she took flight, but stopped short of the Net. After afew more minutes she flew back to her Perch and seemed disinterested. We took down the setup and drove along afew more minutes and found a Pure White ASY male. We again set up and almost imediately he came off his Perch , but something put him off and he landed off to the side. After a few minutes he took flight and went well out into the Onion Fields . It was then we noticed another Female further down the same road. She could have been the reason he gave up. We decided to change our setup a little and right away she came in and hit the Trap but did not get caught.She made a second pass, but decided something was up and proceeded to go back to her Perch.
Three Owls in 30 minutes,but unforunately nothing caught.
We drove west of the Hwy 400 and immediately found another female on the ground. We set up again, and came in straight away, but turned back when a Kestrel flew in and Hovered over the Trap. The Kestrel was already Banded an amazing 3 years earlier inthe same location, and had been caught a week earlier by Nigel.He was not about to get caught again!
A fifth Owl was spotted over on the next concession and we drove around and again did our modified setup. She looked and bobbed her head for several minutes, then finally came off her Perch and wasted no time coming in and getting caught. Nigel allowed me to go and retrieve her and take her out of the Trap. I then proceeded to Band her,and we weighed and measured her, before taking a couple of pics with the Cell Phone Camera. I released her and after a high five on my first Snowy we packed up and looked for more. We saw our first Owl again, but did not try again and called it a day.
We were there only a few minutes when we saw our first Snowy of theday. It was a very heavily Barred SY female.We set up and waited a few minutes as she checked the Bait and head bobbed.Finally she took flight, but stopped short of the Net. After afew more minutes she flew back to her Perch and seemed disinterested. We took down the setup and drove along afew more minutes and found a Pure White ASY male. We again set up and almost imediately he came off his Perch , but something put him off and he landed off to the side. After a few minutes he took flight and went well out into the Onion Fields . It was then we noticed another Female further down the same road. She could have been the reason he gave up. We decided to change our setup a little and right away she came in and hit the Trap but did not get caught.She made a second pass, but decided something was up and proceeded to go back to her Perch.
Three Owls in 30 minutes,but unforunately nothing caught.
We drove west of the Hwy 400 and immediately found another female on the ground. We set up again, and came in straight away, but turned back when a Kestrel flew in and Hovered over the Trap. The Kestrel was already Banded an amazing 3 years earlier inthe same location, and had been caught a week earlier by Nigel.He was not about to get caught again!
A fifth Owl was spotted over on the next concession and we drove around and again did our modified setup. She looked and bobbed her head for several minutes, then finally came off her Perch and wasted no time coming in and getting caught. Nigel allowed me to go and retrieve her and take her out of the Trap. I then proceeded to Band her,and we weighed and measured her, before taking a couple of pics with the Cell Phone Camera. I released her and after a high five on my first Snowy we packed up and looked for more. We saw our first Owl again, but did not try again and called it a day.
