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Archived Postings

September 12, 2005 – September 18, 2005

September 12 to 18, 2005 What a lousy week. The weather did not cooperate for banding at all. Rain, or heavy winds, or cold mornings followed by rain or heavy winds describes the weather patterns for most of the week. The 17th was the exception, with absolutely picture perfect fall weather; a beautiful day to enjoy the fall colours. Banding was attempted throughout the week, but the weather only allowed full net coverage on two of the days. As a result, the weekly banding total topped out at 16 birds. The weather made it difficult to even spot or hear birds in the bushes. Swainson’s thrush, hermit thrush, least flycatcher, American redstart, Wilson’s warbler, myrtle warbler, and sharp-shinned hawks were some of the species that were seen still in the area, although only a few individuals of each species were observed. With the decrease of neotropical migrants and an increase of winter residents, although I try to deny it, migration is nearing its end. While songbird activity was slowing down, northern saw-whet owl activity, however, was picking up. 23 saw-whets were captured this week; 8 were captured on September 18th, the highest capture night so far this fall. A total of 34 saw-whets were captured by the end of the week. A full moon was present the last few nights of the week. Generally, capture rates and responses of owls during nights of a full moon can be quite low. For whatever reason, the owls have something better to do than investigate the owl call that is playing. Expecting a quiet few nights, I was pleasantly surprised when a good number of owls were captured on those nights. Now that the owls are being captured frequently, I encourage people to come to see the banding. These little owls are very interesting creatures and there are very few opportunities to see them up close. Contact Amy Wotton at (780) 849-7117 or birds@lslbo.org for more information.

2010