Well yeah ,it's been 4 months since I have posted, but there is not a whole lot of "New" news! The Spring banding season came and went with mixed success. I was able to get out several nights for Owl Banding, but caught no Saw-whets. I was able to catch 8 new Long-eared Owls however and had a retrap of the Eastern Screech Owl that we originally caught the night Nina was out for the Owl Banding.

 On the Raptor front, it didn't fair well at all. I believe I caught only 1 Red-tail in the nets . Nigel had a bit of success with the Goshawk Traps at Edwards Farms. He caught a couple Red-tails, a Coopers and a Great-horned Owl. Road trapping was somewhat successful with a few more Red-tails,Kestrels and Northen Shrikes. A big surprise was a Snowy Owl caught and Banded in late april.

  The summer is seeing a few of our Nest boxes being used by Kestrels, and will be checking them in a week or two for Banding the Fledglings. The Osprey are most likely raising young by now, and we will once again Band the Chicks. Turkey Vultures are once again nesting on the property of Innisfree Farms but in a differant Barn this time. The Eggs are probably hatched now, but I haven't been there in over a week. We are nt qualified to Tag the Turkey Vultures ,so will only monitor the nest and fledging for Dates.


  Nigel has spent the Spring season as Head of the Banding Operations at Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto. Although the Passerines are not what he endeavours to band , he has had a great Spring! Banding a new Species for him(Yellow-breasted Chat) and an extremely Rare Warbler Hybrid. A cross between a  Black and Grey and a Townsends Warbler. This Hybrid has only been recorded a few times ever, but never in Ontario as they are both Western Warbler Species. It caused quite a stir when the info was released to the General Public, but that was not until it was confirmed by Experts from Cornell of their suspicions.