Come on Already!

Well, aside from the Big Day on the 15th, it is back to a slow Crawl! There has been next to no flight and the weather isn't helping!

We can only wait for the change to trigger the Birds! It is a definate test of ones patients of watching the Skies and seeing only a handful of Birds at most!

Owl Season is also upon us and we have managed 1 night with no success. Tonight was supposed to be Raining when I checked at 3:30 so I went for a nap(I am sleepdeprived)! When I got up at 7:30 the weather was perfect to try, but I am not going to try! Could be I am tired of sitting and getting nothing, or because I am still recouping from this Cold! Or maybe it is both!

I know we will have Great Days and Nights ahead and , we have to be patient. They are only just getting Owls in Picton, so this weekend should give us our first Taste of NSWO's of the season.

On a differant note(Station Based), I was robbed ! Someone broke into our Station and stole My Digtal Camera, a pair of Speakers and a pair of Binoculars! I had taken for granted that we are on Private Property and about 1/4 mile from the Road, so I figured I didn't need actual Locks on the Door! Well that has now changed , unfortunately I cannot be as Trusting anymore!

It was probably Teenagers, but it could be disgruntled Hunters(Poachers) that are not supposed to be on the property as it is a Non-hunting /Conservation Property!

It is the 2nd act of Vandals in the last 2 years! Last fall , one of our Nets were cut and the Pole removed! Possibly related and perhaps more trouble is on the Horizon, but I am trying to remain Optimistc that nothing else will happen! I don't want to totally lose my Trust in the Human Race !

Till next Time!

Broadwings,Eagles and Great-horned Owl!

We are rolling along...........sort of!

This past week saw the weather change , with strong Northwest Winds and cold Temps,. This made for ideal Broadwing Days on Thursday and Friday. I was able to count on the Thursday but not Friday though I was not disappointed.

Thursday started slow, but quickly picked up steam. The first Broad-wings were seen alittle after 9 am. they started as singles then small kettles of 5-10 birds and escilated to Kettles of 100's! The largest one was in excess of 400 Broadwings. What a spectacular site!

Amid the Broad-wings were the occaisional Sharp-shinned and Red-tail and also Eagles.

Yes the Eagles came in larger numbers aswell ! A total of 9 were seen during the day, 8 were Bald Eagles of varying ages and a single Golden Eagle.

This was our single largest Count day for both Broadwings and Eagles with a total of 2089 Raptors observed.

On the banding side of the Operation , It is comparibly slower than last year! Nigel has now banded 8 Hawks at Scanlon Creek and I have banded 2 at Innisfree.Nigel managed to catch a Broad-winged Hawk on Thursday amid the Chaos of Kettles!

My second was a Hatchyear male Coopers Hawk that was caught in our Swedish Goshawk Trap yesterday. It was the second bird caught in the Trap this season, the first was a Second Year Great-horned Owl caught on Friday! Nigel was the lucky person to Band it! It is our 1st GHOW that we have caught at the Station and smelled greatly of Skunk! This is there favourite meal and they are not bothered by the Spray!

Yesterday afternoon my Son Liam and I got the Owl nets setup. We are still atleast a week away from Banding NSWO, but we are atleast ready for when the time comes! Unfortunately we lost the Hydro to the Barn as is was deemed Unsafe and also to costly for the Insurance! I will try my Generator and see how cost effective and LOUD it will be !

Up and walking!

Well we are set-up for Raptors, but it has been slowwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I have only caught a single HY Red-tail so far. At this point last season I was already at 10 birds. The weather does seem to be changing and this should start the push! Broad-winged Hawks have begun to Kettle and head south, but I suspect the Big Day will be either Friday or Satuday. Today an Adult Bald Eagle circled lazily !

At Scanlon Creek, Nigel is also setup and has caught 3 Raptors to date. 1 Adult Red-tail, 1 HY Coopers(F) and 1 HY Sharp-shinned(M).

We will be hopefully setup for the Saw-whet Owl Migration by next weekend!

Cheer's