WOW!!!!!!!

Wow!

 What a week it has been!
  I tryed for Owls on the 26th of September in Howling winds ,and of course wound up with nothing.


1st Owl of the Season

I missed the 27th and went out again on the 28th. I was pleasently surprised by catching 12 Saw-whets on a light Northwest wind and Waxing gibbonous moon.  One was a Juvie that still had alot of Retained Nestling Plumage.The following night brought 6 more Saw-whets.

A very dark Juvie Saw-whet

 Saturday was Rained out, but Sunday did not disappoint catching 20 Saw-whets which included 1 Foreign Encounter.and 1 retrap from Thursday. The retrap had put on an extra 6 grams in 4 days.

23rd Owl Banded Oct 1 2012

 On Monday we set a new Station Record by catching 23 new unbanded Saw-whets, and Tuesday I netted another 21 new Owls.

8 Owl netcheck

  This is by far the fastest start to the Owl season and with only a week into it, there is no doubt in my mind that the Overall Station Fall Owl Record will fall! That is especially true, since the Highest 1 season record is 115 Saw-whets.

 We have not even seen the peak of the season and still have atleast 5 weeks to go. It is important to note that we are in the Peak of the Saw-whets natural 5 year cycle.

Hatch-year Female Northern Harrier

 The Hawks....................................well not so impressive. I have manged only 4 Hawks Banded in the first month of operation . The flights once again like last season have not been very conducive for our station. We still have anoth 5 weeks or more to go, so the tides can turn (we hope)!

Hatch-year Red-tailed Hawk