Northern Saw-whet Owl Banded at Bird Conservancy's Chico Basin Ranch Banding Station 9/24/16

[lmko...@gmail.com]

Hiya!


Well, I knew that the winds were pretty strong last night, but I still never expected to find a Northern Saw-whet Owl on the first net round! This young female was the first to ever be banded at Chico Basin Ranch (fee area) since Bird Conservancy started their migratory monitoring here in 2002.

Another slow day otherwise; after two hours with no birds and with the winds picking up again, we closed at 1030. Of course, it's pretty hard to top an owl, a hawk, and a bat in your first net round. :)

Tonight is supposed to be another night of strong northerly winds, so tomorrow might be another interesting day for birds! Of course, with the forecast calling for the strong winds to continue through the day tomorrow, banding might be cancelled. 

Laura-Marie Koitsch
Bird Bander- Chico Basin Ranch
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies