The weather continues to hinder our efforts. The above photo shows the lighthouse in some of the heavy fog that has been a common occurrence during recent nights. After 4 nights of barely being able to get a couple hours in we were finally able to run for a full night again last night. While we could see lightning from a steady stream of thunderstorms passing just to our south, light southwest winds produced 13 juvenile and 1 adult Saw-whet. Despite all of this month's down time we have now surpassed last summer's juvenile results with almost a month to go in the season.

The above juvenile Saw-whet still has some downy tufts on its feather tips. These tips have worn of the majority of the juveniles that we catch, so we assume any birds that still has them are particularly young.

The underside of the leaves of Silver Maples light up beautifully at night in our LED headlamps.

Rosy Maple Moth

plume moth species

1st push of juveniles

What in the world?

After scattered rain and/or high winds prevented us from opening on Friday and Saturday night, favorable conditions last night produced 15 juvenile and 5 adult Saw-whets. Considering the fact that the peak for juveniles last summer was 13 in mid-August, the banding of 15 last night is very promising.

During the last two summers adult captures were highest in early July and slowed to a trickle in late July and August. The drop off in adult numbers began soon after we started to see them actively molting their flight feathers. The top photo is a close up of the pin feathers of the tail of an adult that is currently replacing its tail. The photo below is of the same tailless bird, that's its white undertail coverts sticking out where the tail should be.

Summer Project's Thousandth Owl!

The summer project's 1,000th owl!

We had to keep an eye on the radar all night, but managed to get another full night in before the rain started at sunrise. It was another decent night and 6 juvenile & 5 adult Saw-whets were banded. One of the night's juveniles was the 1,000th owl for the summer research project. Given the unique nature of this study, and the fact that it began in 2006 when we only ran for 3 weeks we are extremely pleased with these results. We really don't know what the rest of the season will bring, but we're coming up on what was the peak period for juveniles in 2007 and 2008. With some luck we may even band the 1,000th juvenile for the project this season. Even having this as a possibility far exceeds the expectations we had when we started the summer research, Whitefish Point continues to amaze us. We also had a Silver-haired Bat in the nets tonight.

Juvenile Saw-whet Owls

For just the 5th time this season the weather actually allowed us to get in a full night's banding. It proved fairly productive and we banded 5 adult and 5 juvenile Saw-whets. The fact that I accidentally found myself within 30 feet of a bear in the backyard of the staff housing recently has caused us to be extra alert in the net lanes the last few nights. Eye level eyeshine in our headlamps really stopped us in our tracks tonight........glad it was deer.

After waking up to the same high winds that shut us down early last night our morale got a bit of a boost tonight. The wind finally died down and we were able to open around 1 AM to get a few hours of banding in before sunrise. While we ended up with a modest 4 Saw-whets, we were thrilled that 3 of them were juveniles.

While we have now banded over 800 juveniles since we began the summer research in 2006 only a handful of these had yet to begin their molt into adult plumage. The juvenile pictured in the top photo is one of these birds and we purposely chose a photo with it's eyes closed to show it's eyelid feathers still molting in. The bottom photo is of an adult that has dropped the feathers on it's tarsi and feet. While we rarley see active flight feather molt on Saw-whets in spring, we regularly see adults beginning to drop the feathers on their legs and feet in late May. It is interesting, to us anyway, to see Saw-whets at similar stages of molt in May and July.

High winds, rain, thunderstorms, and hailstorms have resulted in a lot of down time over the last week. Over the last 5 nights we've managed to get in 2 complete nights, and were able to run for a couple hours on 2 additional nights. The owls have been relatively slow, but 8 adult and 1 juvenile Saw-whets were banded on these 4 nights. We have continued to receive pledges for this spring's WPBO Staff Birdathon. The birdathon has now raised $8,154 for the summer owl research, more than meeting our goal of 8,000! Thank you all for the amazing level of support you have provided. Hopefully the weather will become more cooperative and the owls will pick up a bit. As always, don't forget about Sarah's Thursday and Saturday evening owl programs. The programs are given at 9:30 PM in the Owl's Roost Gift Shop.

1st Juvenile!

Juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owl

"Nutmeg"

The season's second night was another enjoyable and productive one. We went into Paradise for the fireworks, the town does a great job with the 4th of July, then back to the Point for the banding. Sarah had a nice turnout for a special "late night" owl presentation, and the first net check produced 4 Saw-whets, including the season's 1st juvenile. A group of the visitors adopted the juvenile, and after some very amusing deliberation settled on naming her Nutmeg. We ended up banding 15 adults and the one juvenile Saw-whet last night. Thanks for supporting WPBO through the sponsor-a raptor program, and to all who attended Sarah's owl program tonight.

This is just the 3rd year that we have begun the

summer season on July first. In 2007 we banded the season's 1st juvenile on the first night of the season, but last year the 1st juvenile did not show up until July 15. As much as we love all the Saw-whets in the spring, there is something very special about seeing the summer's first juvenile. It is amazing to know that these birds were eggs just a couple of months ago.

1st night of the summer

After high winds kept us from opening during the 1st two nights of the season, we were finally able to run last night. We banded 14 adult Saw-whets, and captured one that was already banded. While we have banded as many as 48 juveniles in a night during previous summer seasons, this is the highest total for adults banded in a night during the summer.

It's always tough lasting through the 1st night of the season, but its sooooo much easier in the summer than it is in the spring. The nights are much shorter and we say things like "look at the all these blueberry buds", as opposed to "I bet there's 4 feet of snow here", or "I can't feel my fingers". The major complaint in the summer is the mosquitoes, but the cold spring has continued into the summer and near freezing temperatures last night kept them at bay. It's great to have the 1st night of the season under our belts and we can't wait to see what the season brings.

Don't forget about Sarah's Thursday and Saturday evening owl programs if you're coming to the Point this summer.