by Samantha Bean
Another season of banding Northern Saw-whet owls has begun at Wild Bird Research Group this week. The leaves are falling, the temps are dipping just close enough to cold that autumn has officially started its peak.
Three sessions of banding owls at two different sites have rendered the banding crew a total of 6 owls. And they did not disappoint. One was a foreign recapture from Innisfil, Ontario, originally banded on October 8, 2024 as a hatch year. Also of note was a male hatch year bird who seemed quite intent on nips and bites as his feisty level was at caffeinated heights. Interestingly, as it seems each Northern Saw-Whet Owl holds personality traits, this nippy one seemed quite impressed to hold still when cameras were on him. Celebrity status? “Yeah, I will take that, he seemed to say.”
The season is still young, as we have many more banding nights to go, but a hatch year, male bird this early on is a welcome sign of birds on the move. Young birds, a very welcome sign!
Of note, owls are not the only things moving around in the early evening into dusk. Other notable field observations included a Hermit thrush and a Merlin. Stay tuned for more news from week 3 at WBRG!
Interested in joining us? You can sign up for our owl programming here, click on Northern Saw-Whet Owl events.
