Well aren't I just the lamest Blogger!
Here we are almost through 2009(3months) and I haven't come up with a post since early 2009.
We have had a soso season this Fall compared to last Fall. But using last Fall as a comparison may not be the best tool as it was miserable to say the least , especially the Diurnal Species(Hawks).
We have done better than last years Hawk Banding numbers to date, but weather is hampering our efforts. South easterly winds make it far to muggy and push the Birds away from our site. A large Cold front is continueing to move through today and tomorrow which should bring significant change for the better.
Our ratio of Hatch Year birds caught, compared to this time last year is also better, which shows that even though our summer wasn't the warmest or driest, it is better than last season.
We are pleased to announce that Bruce Wilson will be learning the craft of Raptor Banding this season. He is a very skilled Birder and no doubt will bring something to the Group(aside from Timbits;)).Also we have had experienced Raptor Bander Mike Blom leave our midst, but not totally leave the Group. He has set up an experimental Banding Station in his home province of Saskatchewan. He voes to come back, but with all the Raptors Species that he has potential to band there, we do not see him running back for atleast a Season. We wish Mike the Best with this venture and will see him in the future at some point!
Here at our Innisfree Raptor Station we have started for Saw-whet Owls ,but no success as of yet. It will hopefully be a good season, but time will tell. Last fall proved to be better than expected as their cycle should have been lowered. Perhaps our Geological location will not show to many flunctuations in the normal 4 year Cycle(2007 was the last spike). Time will tell also and it will require many years of Data to prove this either way.
Spring Banding was a complete surprise here at Innisfree. Trying for Saw-whet Owls in March only brought us 6! In complete surprise was the 28 Long-eared Owls that we caught. It was so not expected as we had only caught 2 in the previous 2 fall seasons.So you know what we will be trying for in the Spring again, just to ensure that it wasn't some kind of fluke event!
Here we are almost through 2009(3months) and I haven't come up with a post since early 2009.
We have had a soso season this Fall compared to last Fall. But using last Fall as a comparison may not be the best tool as it was miserable to say the least , especially the Diurnal Species(Hawks).
We have done better than last years Hawk Banding numbers to date, but weather is hampering our efforts. South easterly winds make it far to muggy and push the Birds away from our site. A large Cold front is continueing to move through today and tomorrow which should bring significant change for the better.
Our ratio of Hatch Year birds caught, compared to this time last year is also better, which shows that even though our summer wasn't the warmest or driest, it is better than last season.
We are pleased to announce that Bruce Wilson will be learning the craft of Raptor Banding this season. He is a very skilled Birder and no doubt will bring something to the Group(aside from Timbits;)).Also we have had experienced Raptor Bander Mike Blom leave our midst, but not totally leave the Group. He has set up an experimental Banding Station in his home province of Saskatchewan. He voes to come back, but with all the Raptors Species that he has potential to band there, we do not see him running back for atleast a Season. We wish Mike the Best with this venture and will see him in the future at some point!
Here at our Innisfree Raptor Station we have started for Saw-whet Owls ,but no success as of yet. It will hopefully be a good season, but time will tell. Last fall proved to be better than expected as their cycle should have been lowered. Perhaps our Geological location will not show to many flunctuations in the normal 4 year Cycle(2007 was the last spike). Time will tell also and it will require many years of Data to prove this either way.
Spring Banding was a complete surprise here at Innisfree. Trying for Saw-whet Owls in March only brought us 6! In complete surprise was the 28 Long-eared Owls that we caught. It was so not expected as we had only caught 2 in the previous 2 fall seasons.So you know what we will be trying for in the Spring again, just to ensure that it wasn't some kind of fluke event!
This spring also saw my oldest Son Todd band his very first Northern Saw-whet Owl. He was very happy to have the chance to do so and is looking forward to becoming a Licenced Bander.
None the less I will try to get some photos together and hopefully a few good stories as they unfold.
Cheer's Garth
