Larbear

The winds have been stellar, the birds have been flying, but the luck isn't there. We've seen around 80 redtails in the last two days and have only managed to pull in one for good. At one point today we had two perched around the blind, and two others circling overhead. Despite repeated stoops and a very near miss (due to a malfunctioning bownet) we have had little success.

RT


Adult male shin with a little bit of eye discoloration in the left corner


SURPRISE!


Feeding the swet

Pops high

Part of the reason the saw whet population density is so high this year is that the mouse populations seems to have boomed. We are seeing, hearing and trapping more mice than usual which means that the owls have had more than enough food, allowing them to produce more young. Up until now we have been catching more immature birds than adults, which also supports the thought that the breeding season went particularly well for them.


Photo by my pa

Long eared biting me

Bard

Usually you can expect Fud to accurately predict the general flow of the hawk and owl migrations solely on the weather forecast, but this year has been different when it comes to owls. On a normal year this warm weather would keep the owl movements down and over the past week we would only have been catching 10 or so a night. Over the past three nights we have caught around 180 and Fud is no longer making guess at what the flow of a coming night might be. Even Fud is a bit nervous about what a "good" night is going to bring us.

Two nights ago we discovered that there was a barred owl in the area. Three things indicated this to us: a mass of leaves in a net where the owl hit and sagged to the ground, picking up leaves before escaping; a huge hole in the net where the barred busted through; and a bloody saw whet (which ended up only having superficial wounds). Last night I was walking along doing a net run and hear the bushes moving around so I charged the trees scaring the huge owl into an adjacent net. Luckily I was able to close the net around the owl quickly enough as it was on its way out and will likely be the only one of its kind caught this year.

Size comparison




Red eyes all around


Angry saw whets

Hooters

At this point we've had about six long eared owls and are over 550 saw whets. Despite the warmth and wind the owls are coming in numbers, with 57 and 60 in the last two nights. I had a fun batch of visitors throughout the weekend, perhaps boring them to tears during the day, but providing owl entertainment at night. Camping is perfect right now, letting me escape the "crude, cramped, but dry" shack (as the job description so aptly put it).

Forgot my camera to load new pictures, but we caught two long eared owls last night, so those to come.

Perched merlin

Photo by my pa

Owlets

It's around 70 here right now, which would be great normally, but the birds do not feel the urgency to fly south with the temperatures so high, which has resulted in a grand total of ZERO birds caught today, and only eight owls last night. But have no fear visitors, one owl is guaranteed...I hope.

View from the overlook

Photo by my pa


Photo by my pa

Me and me ma

Photo by my pa

Adult shin

Photo by my pa

H

Today the weight is up with a northern harrier and a goshawk, but it's still been a tad slow, but at least it's still beautiful out.

A couple people have asked if the hawks ever try to bite, say my face. For the most part the answer is no. Shins and saw whets are too small to do any damage so they don't even try. Red tails, harriers, goshawks, and the like seem as though they'd want to take a piece of ear or something, but they never make an attempt and mostly just leave their mouths gaping open. Falcons on the other hand will tear you to shreds it given the chance. Eagles? Don't know, but if I get a chance, I'll find out and get back to you.

Here's that harrier. In flight these guys look quite large, but as Larry put it: "They're all primaries." With huge wingspans they're really hard to catch in the nets, and with better eyesight than most of the raptors they rarely even come down to check us out. So this was only our second.


Peregrine in flight

Photo by my pa

My dad's camera manages to take far better pictures of the owls, larger flash (sometimes using a piece of paper to dull it), better lens, and skills to pay the bills.

Photo by my pa