DATE	SITE	NET HOURS	WEATHER	BANDERS
Oct 16 , 2009	BCCER- OWL3	22.5	67-61*F, calm to B1 winds, clear skies, Barometer 29 and steady	Garcia, S and R King, M. Ocken

Well, we decided to try one more time for the tail end of the NSWO spring migration at BCCER.  We had heard two NSWOs last time out but captured none.  It was a perfect night, dark, partly cloudy, and calm.  Only problem was there were no NSWOs.  We heard a NOPO tooting as we arrived and it continued for 15 or 20 minutes.  The usual assortment of critters were out and some late geese ( likely White-fronted) flew over.  Our only capture was a small bat, see photo.  Other than that it was just another beautiful night at the reserve.  Here are the results:

Spring NSWO migration  continues at the BCCER.  Tonight we captured one new very petite male (see pic), weighing in at a whopping 74 grams and a wing chord (wrist to longest primary) of 132 mm.  Our recap female weighed 87 grams (we've had them over 100gr) with a wing chord of 145 mm.  This female was ~ 13 grams heavier, about the mass of a Hutton's vireo.  There of course is some overlap but when the birds are at the outer ends of their range, there is a very obvious difference, even when you walk up to the net.  The recap was from March 20th, 2009.  We had a couple of vocalizations including chirps and a tooting male at the end of our night. The crew was ready to continue on but I needed to call it a night.  We will hopefully continue to get out until we have no more captures/detections.  Following are the results:

Captures: 1 pallid bat, 2 NSWO; 1 SY/male, 1 SY female

Detections: bats, wild turkeys, NSWO, some mammal- maybe a bobcat?
 

Our owl project focuses on fall movement so spring efforts were limited and inconsistent.  The only previous March date I have captures for is on March 10, where we caught 4 owls at the lower site, BCEP.  We don't really know the full time range for the upslope or northerly movement, but it's great to have a banding team who has time and energy to help work it out- thanks!!

After Mike and Steve were successful in capturing a couple of new owls last friday we thought we should continue our efforts to determine spring migration timing of N. Saw-whet owls in our area.  Our rather impromptu banding turned out to be a very cool, clear, star-loaded evening, complete with 3 owls.  We captured one each on our first and second net runs and later a recapture from the previous Friday.  We also heard some chirps and a tooting male, competeing with the speakers, which may have been our last capture (HY/U). I've been asked if we ever get tired of the banding the same species.  A peek at the photo should anwer that question! 

Captures:

1 Golden-crowned sparrow

3 NSWO (1 recap from March 2, 2009) 

 

Detections: cool iridium flare, P. tree frogs, CA. quail, hermit thrush, wild turkeys.

Captures: two N. saw-whet owls, 1 Second year/Female, 1 After SY/unknown

All, we conducted an experiment opening both BCEP site, the lower elevation site off of Honey Run Road on Butte Creek and the upper elevation site at BCCER upland habitats of Big Chico Creek canyon, to see if saw-whet owls were moving through the area to upslope/north breeding grounds.  Two weeks ago we had captured 2 owls at the lower site and figured the birds were still wintering since one was a recapture from January 2009.  We were unable to get out over the last two weeks but made it last night.  At the lower site- NO detections, NO captures, at the upper site they heard 2 different owls and captured 2 owls.  Fortunately we all got to see a cool iridium flare that Steve alerted us to, and the night was quite mild and clear with constellations and stars very clear.  We will likely attempt another night or two to determine presence/absence in the next week.  Following are the results.

Detections:  Iridum flare at 20:25:52  cool! and flock of snow geese overhead at 21:00, spotted towhee

Captures: none
 

All, in attempts to identify spring migration in N. saw-whet owls, we went out a couple of nights.  Based on our limited efforts the past years, we have captured owls in Jan, Feb and March.  One night, March 10/07 we had 4 captures and vocalizing saw-whets; I assumed this was a migration period.  Our efforts this year indicate birds are likely still wintering, and/or we have a mix of wintering and early migrants. Tonight we had a recap from Jan 09 (indicating wintering) and a new, after third-year female owl (pic- thanks Steve!)  She may be wintering or is migrating, or both!   We will probably go out a couple more times in March, so email if you are interested.  Following are the results of our 2 efforts:

Birds captured: 2 hermit thrushes (dusk) and 2 NSWO, 1 recap from Jan '09

Birds detected: GHOW, Snow geese, geese sp (snows or GWFG)

Birds captured: 0
Birds detected: NSWO

The final night was conducted along a friends property on Pine creek and came complete with a pasta dinner and a lone screech owl, who flew into the net even before the audiolure was turned on. I will get a season summary out in the next couple of weeks.  Thanks all who made efforts to come out and those who were dedicated to running the evenings with us.  (see WESO release by M. Fisher)

Birds captured: 1 NSWO  (SY/M)- check out picture of ear by S. King.  We typically look for parasites in the ear; this one had flies bunched up at the upper part of the ear.  Dark area seen throught the skin in the opening is actually the eye.

Detections: 1 very distant NSWO wail, GHOW male, 2 flocks tundra swans, bats

One of the things I like best about bird banding is that you just never know what is going to happen.  Armed with low expectations and a new audio lure recorded by Steve King, we set up nets at Owl 3 in the BCCER last night.  It was a clear and dark night prior to the moonrise about 8pm.  What a surprise when on our second net run we had a NSWO.  This is quite early as most of our owls have been caught later in the evening this season .  On the third net run we caught another NSWO and on the fourth another.  All in the first half of the evening!  Owls continued calling all night but we captured no others.  Three owls ties the most captured in a single night this season.  So, the million dollar question, Is the season almost over or does it have a little life left in it? 

Pictures: Steve and Raina with NSWO; NSWO flying off after banding

 

 

I was remiss about posting on the 7th, as I am somewhat uninspired of our huge netting efforts this year with very few birds.  Of course, negative data is still very valuable (just not as interesting!).  Fortunately Mike hit an evening during our "dry spell" where the owls were actively calling and moving about- maybe a late movement?  The last two attempts by my crew were later evening attempts- staying open past midnight to determine if the later/earlier window made a difference in detections.  Both nights were very quiet.  Last night the moon was so bright we hardly needed our flashlights to check nets (see pic, net at night).  We had one recap Western Screech owl from 1 month ago. Check out pics of screech feet (sparsely feathered) vs. NSWO (fully feathered).  Following are the details.

Birds captured: 1 Western Screech owl

Detections: 1 group Tundra swans, 1 NSWO distant, 1 WESO distant.  Lower site detection-played tape at 00:30- heard 1 NSWO at 00:40.

What a great time we had at Owl 3 last night!  It was a beautiful night with the moon dancing behind the clouds (see photos).  Plenty of NSWO action too, males tooting and multiple birds calling.  We captured two birds in a single net run, ending a drought of four consecutive nights without a capture.

DATE	SITE	NET HOURS	WEATHER	BANDERS
Nov 5, 2008	BCCER- OWL3	22	54-49*F, wind calm, skies 100%, barometer 30.16	Garcia, S. and R. King Guests: J. Mott, Dulcy and Hans, Jenny and Robert, T. Pritchard

 

 

All, after closing the nets due to rain and hunkering in the car for 20 minutes, the weather turned for the better at about 8:00 pm, when clouds moved out leaving clear skies.  Had we been able to pull an all-nighter (oh, to be 20!), it could have been a great evening.  By 10:00, the temperature dropped to below 50*F, skies, cleared, barometer rose and, geese were flying overhead!  We captured our first bird at 9:00 and our second at 10:00.  As we drove off we found an adult western toad crossing the road on the reserve, only my second toad sighting here (see pic). 

Owls captured: 2 NSWO (1 SY/F, 1 HY/U)

Detections: NSWO, GHOW, deer, pacific tree frog, western toad, white-fronted geese ~ 4 flocks, (possible some snow geese)

Owl-O-Ween

It was a scary, fun night with hanging heads and creepy goblins, 6 guests and 4 leaders, a Great-horned owl detection, a few NSWO vocalizations, but no owl captures.  A fox, wind and rain, caused us to close the nets after only 2 hours. 

Captures: 1 rain beetle

Detections: few NSWO, gray fox

We had some saw-whets vocalizing throughout our banding session and captured 2 tiny tooters. Hoping the upcoming storm moves some birds in for more owl activity.  We did a lot of stargazing on this moonless night and saw a cottony looking, large heavenly body (Charles,I'm wondering if you might know what this is?). Scott and Sheli, it is VENUS that we were viewing in the SW sky.  For all stargazers- Check out this cool website:

http://transientsky.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/in-the-sky-this-month-october-2008/ 

Owl captures: 2 NSWO (1 SY/F, 1 ASY/F)

Detections: NSWO, NOPO 

Tonight was a beautifully warm, calm and clear night, a real pleasure just to be out at the reserve.  We were joined by Anne and Bud Schwab and friends, winners of the Candles In The Canyon owl banding auction (a fund raising event for the BCCER) and BCCER director Jeff Mott.  As it turned out it was another slow night for NSWO most likely because of the very warm temperatures, never getting cooler then the mid sixties.  No NSWOs were captured while our guests were present, but one was caught on the very last net run of the night.  Plenty of birds were around however as NOPOs were heard tooting early on, Snow Geese were heard flying overhead, and NSWO were calling throughout the night.  Two Hermit Thrush were also caught right at dusk.

Last night we went up to the forest ranch site and captured 2 owls, a female and an unknown, likely a male.  A mere 2 grams would have placed it into the male category.  Sex is determined by wing chord measure and mass, and males are typically easy to tell because they are very petite in comparison to the females.  It was another beautiful starry, moonless night and the coolest thing was a space event called an iridium flare that Steve King alerted Raina to.  At the predicted time, 7:32 and 10 seconds, we watched the glow of an iridium satellite grow large and bright just before moving behind the conifers.  Apparently the sun hits this type of satellite at the appropriate angle and whhoooooosh!, it grows into a fiery ball before returning back to it's normal satellite appearance crossing the sky.  I have attached a U-tube video (not ours)  link so you can have an idea of what we saw- very cool!

Regarding owls, I still believe the push is yet to come.....

Owls captured: 2 NSWO (HY/F, SY/U)

Detections: NSWO, bats

We had a lot of fun last night! 

Our night started with a N. pygmy owl spontaneously calling.  Skies were perfectly clear with hundreds of stars and no moon.  At least one individual male flew around the perimeter of the nets competing in a tooting fest with the boom box. He sat right over our heads for at least 5 minutes. We had many NSWO vocalizations and one W. screech owl.  Alita entertained us with her conversation including a question as to why she hasn't seen me in high heels and a skirt. Scott commented that indeed, heels would make good soil aerators. 

We managed to capture 3  NSWO, including a recapture from 10/17/2008.  One was fairly infested with the nasty flat "hippoboscid" flies.  They crawl around sideways in and out of the feathers, sucking blood from their host- positively gross critters! Mike happened to take a good photo of one we removed from a bird (it is missing a wing). As Mike and I were closing up, we had another saw-whet over-head chirping.  We heard a tremendous noise from on the ridge which I thought was firecrackers.  But, seeing no flashes, we determined a big tree had fallen.  On our way out a great-horned owl flew off.  Driving home- a huge meteor fell through the sky and hung in the air like a giant bulb.  Cool! 

Photos by Mike Fisher.

Birds captured:

3 NSWO (2-HY/F, 1 SY/F recap)

Detections: NOPO, WESO, NSWO, GHOW, jackrabbit, deer

Last night went off without problems.  We were on high fox alert and the team did a great job watching out for them.  Thankfully no fox were seen anytime during the night. We had a GHOW fly by as we were setting up nets.  NSWOs called off and on from about 7:50 pm until we left around 11:00 pm.  We captured and banded one NSWO.  Photos attached of SY/F and its wing showing molt limits in primaries.

Captures: 1 NSWO SY/F

Detections: Multiple NSWOs, GHOW

October 19 nets were closed shortly after opening due to a fox hanging around in the area and nets.   We can't be sure this is the same fox that I have photographed on 2 separate occasions, but it is possible, even though it was at the lower site. Regardless, foxes will predate owls and if we keep seeing them in the area we may have to close shop early.  Biologists at the reserve say there is a boon in gray fox populations this year. I wonder if it could be related to the fires, maybe not more productivity, but movement into unburned areas? 

It appears owls are trickling in, with 2 captures tonight.  We had several vocalizations including a tooting male, and likely 2 individuals at a time, but it is difficult to say how many are actually out there.  We also had 2 N. pygmy owl and our foxy friend came to visit us again.  We have determined the fox is either a hand-raised releasee, or fed from someones backyard.  She (petite, maybe just a teen?) is  unafraid and appears to be looking for a handout. We hope she resorts to her wild instincts on the reserve.  The animal is beautiful and incredibly feline in her vulpineness (see pic)!  Upon returning the banding gear to the shed we saw  2 does and a fawn, 1 jackrabbit, and heard a pair of GH owls.  Female was giving her "hrank" call, male hooting. 

Captures: 2 NSWO (1 SY/F, 1 SY/U)

detections: NOPO, GHOW, NSWO, gray fox, jackrabbit, deer

We made a short run tonight- hoping for the beginning of owl season.  We did detect at least 1 NSWO in the area.  No owl net captures and I don't expect much until we get another weather front coming through (not predicted anytime soon!). Next night out is Friday, 10/17.  Following are the results of our owling efforts:

Captures: 1 pallid bat

Detections: 3 N. Pygmy owl, NSWO (at least 1 heard), 1 W. Screech owl

We banded up at OWL2, thinking the denser conifer cover might help hide the full moon.  It was a beautiful and warm evening.  Very quiet with one short toot sequence from a NSWO and potentially a wail later in the night.  We had another odd noise, that sounded most like a woodpecker tapping.  We thought maybe a squirrel gnawing on something or perhaps bill clacking from an owl.  Despite the quiet evening we had some activity, a NSWO and our first of season W. Screech owl.  We also had a visit from a gray fox! who seemed quite calm ~15' from us and leisurely walked by us, while seemingly hunting for rodents.  See attached photos for the cool wildlife.  I do think we are early for any real numbers and will probably need a good front to move the birds. 

Owls captured:

1 NSWO (SY/F- recaptured 2 net runs later)

1 WESO (U/HY)

Detections/observations: NSWO, Gray fox, unknown night critter 

 

Owls captured: 0
detected = 2

Weird night with NSWO all around us from opening at 8:00 pm, with a minimum of 3 heard at one time, and calling throughout the banding session.  Moon didn't rise until 9:20, yet, we did not catch our first bird until 11:10, after the moon was up but slightly obscured by clouds. Then we had a screech, saw-whet (see attached photo for size comparison), and a silver-haired bat.  Last net run produced another NSWO. 

Captures: 2 NSWO, 1 WESO, 1 silver-haired bat

Owls detected: NSWO, WESO