Migration Stations Closed for the Season!

Well the Fall Migration has come to an end here in Central Ontario! We furled up the nets for the final time on Saturday after a couple of nights that were near "Perfect Conditions" with nothing caught at the Owl Nets and several none productive "Days " at the Hawk Station.
The Saw-whet Banding started rather slow, but ended up being about average with 131 New Owls, and 4 Foreign Retraps. We also had 1 retrap of one of our own Owls 3 seasons after the original Encounter! Although" our data" has been submitted by us, 2 of the Owls do not have any data from the Original Bander as of yet!
3 Long-eared Owls were also caught and Banded, and we will try aggressively for them again in the Spring!
During our final week of Owl Banding we had a Barred Owl come into the site, but we were unable to catch and Band it. This is our first encounter with this Species at our Station during 5 years of Operation.

Up on the Hill we ended the season with about 30 Hawks caught. The final Count will be determined over the next few days and Totals added to this post.

The next Season is almost upon us, and we are setting our sites toward the Winter Survey sites! Pre scouting has not picked up much as of yet, but when the weather changes so to will the Bird Counts at these locations.

There's a Surprise!

While the weather has been anything but Stellar for Hawk Banding , it has allowed us to get a few nights in for Owl Banding . We are now over 100 new Saw-whets for the season and it is slowing down to 1 or 2 a night with nights of none aswell.

When I went Banding on Thursday night I found our Goshawk Trap had been setoff. After setting up the nets and Audiolure, I checked the Trap . As I approached I couldn't see anything sitting(using my Headlamp) in it and was about to think that it was triggered by the wind. Just as I got up beside it something moved and jumped around.......................what.............a Northern Shrike??????????????????

Shrikes may be small, but are aggressive! They are a "Songbird" and have a very pretty song. They look similar to a Northern Mockingbird in colour and size. They are also nicknamed the "Butcher Bird" due to the habit of impaling its Prey on the Thorns of Hawthorn Bushes and Barbed wire Fences. Yes you read correctly "its Prey" ! They are Carnivores that hunt for Mice, and Small Birds in the winter, and will add large Insects(Dragonflies,Grasshoppers) , small Frogs and Snakes in the Summer.

Well this was totally unexpected as the Trap is designed to be triggered by something about "Crow Sized " not "Blue Jay Size". Well it was a Bird species that I had not banded before, so that is what I did!

Now I had prior warnings about how "Nasty" they could be, so I took no chances and wore Leather Gloves. It didn't seem to aggressive at first, but eventually it was trying to bite and you could feel it through the Glove. After banding I put it in a Box to keep for the Night as it was Dark . The next morning it was released, but not before drawing some "Blood" first!

I did also catch a couple Saw-whets also!