Oct 11-15: A Farewell to Owls

Mae with one of the Northern Saw-whet Owls banded in 2022. Photo by Courtney Jones.

The strong winds that broke our fifteen-night owling streak on October 10^th also grounded at least one of the Northern Saw-whet Owls that we had banded the day before, as we captured it again when we opened the nets on October 11^th! Owls are built for stealth, not long-distance flights, so they tend to avoid flying long distances when there are strong or persistent winds. They also prefer to migrate on nights when there is no moon, and when it is very cold – conditions that have been lacking recently. The gibbous moon has been bright enough to illuminate the forest around the banding station and temperatures have never dropped below 2 degrees Celsius. Only modest numbers of owls were banded on each night that we were open and there were several times when we didn’t capture anything until later in the night. October 12^th was the only time when we thought it would be worthwhile to stay open for longer than the standard three hours of owl banding. Our extra net-round on that occasion brought us only two more owls for a nightly total of six, which became our busiest night this week.

The wind did oblige us to close early on October 14^th, but not before our most exciting capture of the year! Our sole Northern Saw-whet Owl of the night proved to be a repeat visitor to the banding station: it was a female who was originally banded at the TLBO on September 12^th, 2021 as a hatch-year, making her two years old this year. This was the third Northern Saw-whet Owl recapture for 2022 and the first one that was an inter-annual recapture.

Courtney with a Northern Saw-whet Owl first banded in 2021 (left); examining the wing for molt limits to determine age (right). Photos by Mae Frank.

It’s very unusual for a Northern Saw-whet Owl to be recaptured at the TLBO. Since the owl banding program began in 2012, there have only been two previous recaptures: a same-season one in 2019, and an inter-annual where an owl banded in 2013 was recaptured almost exactly a year later. Compared to this record, our recent recapture’s annual migration seems to have been delayed by a whole month! Perhaps this is an effect of the unusually warm temperatures in the region, though it’s difficult to tell from only a single record.

Our last night of owl banding was on October 15^th. As is typical, the owls all waited until after our visitors had left to jump in the nets! We banded three in total, after which the nets were taken down and the banding station closed for another year. With just 98 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded this year it’s unquestionably been a much slower owling season than 2021, but a steady one.

This two-week owl banding extension would not be possible without the hard work of the TLBO’s volunteers, who enthusiastically helped out at the banding station on every one of the fourteen nights that we were open! A heartfelt thanks goes out to Bethany, Katerina, Jodi, Jim, Robyn & Marcus and Mae, Courtney & Max, who together contributed a grand total of 157.5 volunteer hours and helped to band 98 Northern Saw-whet Owls in 2022.

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2022 Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding (Sept – Oct 15)

Banded	98	# owling nights	29
Recaptured	3	Net-hours	513.5
Total Unique Owls	99	Birds/net-hour	0.197
		Volunteer hours	157.5

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How it started vs how it’s going: Niut Mountain in August (left) and October (right), seen from the north field.

The songbird banding continued to be extremely slow this week, and we felt very few regrets upon packing up the mist-nets on October 14^th! October 11^th was the only day when we captured any birds: a pair of Oregon Juncos, two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and an Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler, all characteristic fall birds. A Northern Pygmy-owl serenaded me from the mountainside on the last day of non-standard banding and a few late-season Western Meadowlarks were still present in the north field when we shut down the station, along with an American Pipit or two hiding in the dry alfalfa. A final tour around the net lanes and along the census trail ended with a Horned Grebe diving and fishing in the lake while a pair of Bald Eagles flew past overhead.

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Non-standard Banding (Sept 29 – Oct 15)

Total banded	12	Net-hours	138.5
Species banded	6	Birds/net-hour	0.101
Total recapped	2	Species Recorded	43
Species recapped	1

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Non-standard Banding Totals

Species	Banded	Recaptured
Oregon Junco	5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	3
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1
Audubon’s Warbler	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1
Varied Thrush	1
Black-capped Chickadee		2
Total	12	2

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2022 may have been a quiet season for the TLBO, but it was still a lot of fun! Thank you so much for all of your support, and for reading along – it’s been a pleasure to share our birding adventures with all of you.

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Oct 10: Good night, good owls

A close-up look at the perennially adorable Northern Saw-whet Owl.

The TLBO’s owl banding has continued almost without cessation so far this month, but the number of owls banded has remained low. The busiest night since I last posted was October 7^th which saw four Northern Saw-whet Owls captured, one of which was a recaptured bird that was originally banded on September 21^st. There is no way to tell if this owl was hanging around in the Tatlayoko Valley for the two weeks between when it was banded and when it was recaptured or if it left the valley and then returned, but its prolonged presence speaks to how little motivation our western Northern Saw-whet Owls are feeling to migrate. With the stretch of unseasonably warm, calm nights continuing, owls (and other birds) are under no pressure to move on and may instead be lingering on their northern breeding grounds, a conclusion that is supported by the fact that the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory in northern Alberta has had a busier than usual owl banding season this year. If you are interested in reading more about the broader Northern Saw-whet Owl banding program that the TLBO is a part of, the Cornell Lab’s website ‘All About Birds’ has a wonderful article on the subject.

One of our many resident voles, who are a very important food source for Saw-whet Owls and many other predators!

On the songbird front things have been quiet as well. We have continued doing some nonstandard banding on a sporadic basis but have only captured two birds, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and another recaptured Black-capped Chickadee that was originally banded on September 10^th of this year. Observation-wise, Oregon Juncos and Ruby-crowned Kinglets have been plentiful while Golden-crowned Kinglets are growing more so: often their high-pitched tsee-tsee-tsee calls are all that give them away as they flit from the canopy of one pine tree to the next. Northern Shrikes have been a common sight, both around the banding station and at the Lincoln Creek Ranch House, and at least one Townsend’s Solitaire is still in residence in the Pines along the census trail; but Yellow-rumped Warblers have become distinctly uncommon! October 8^th was the first time in many weeks that I didn’t see or hear any, and when October 9^th also passed with neither Audubon’s nor Myrtle Warblers being observed I began to wonder if their migration was over. Luckily on the following day a single Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler flew up to scold me as I was walking from the banding station back to the field house, so they are still present after all.

A young Northern Shrike seen on the census trail.

If you are interested in seeing what’s been around the banding station, our recent eBird checklists can be seen at https://ebird.org/hotspot/L989990/activity?yr=all&m=.

The wind is gusting hard right now, for the first time in a good long while. I expect that tonight will be our first night with no owling, but the weather looks very promising going forwards. The TLBO’s Northern Saw-whet Owl banding will continue until October 15^th (weather permitting), and if you would like to be added to our e-mailing list which will let you know if and when we are banding each night, please email tatlayokobirds@hotmail.com. We hope to see you there!

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Northern Saw-whet Owl banding
Date	Banded	Recaptured
October 06, 2022	1
October 07, 2022	3	1
October 08, 2022	2
October 09, 2022	3
October 10, 2022	0
Total	9	1

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Nonstandard banding
Species	Banded	Recaptured
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
Black-capped Chickadee		1
Total	1	1

Fall colours & remarkable clouds over the north field.

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Oct 05: Summer ad infinitum?

Northern Saw-whet Owl. Photo by Robyn Dell.

As the perfect weather around the Tatlayoko Valley has continued, we’ve been able to have the owl nets open every night so far this week – a far cry from last year’s extended owling season, when they were only able to open the owl nets for six nights total in October! However, all these calm nights do come at a bit of a cost. With what feels like an extended summer keeping the nights warm and quiet, the Northern Saw-whet Owls that we want to capture are under no pressure to migrate. Instead, owl activity has been more leisurely and spread-out. We’ve captured a comparable number of owls (17, compared to 23 by this time last year) but our busiest night was one where we banded five owls, while the busiest night in 2021 captured sixteen. Still, there is a pleasure to be found in sitting outside, enjoying the unseasonable warmth while gazing at the myriad stars over the north field. Even in the dead of night the local Ruffed Grouse occasionally drum, Canada Geese honk as they move past over the mountainsides, and we have heard Great-horned Owls and Barred Owls calling from far off up the tree-lined slopes. And, on very still nights, it’s possible to hear faint chips and chirps of migrating songbirds, flying high overhead…

Faint Northern Lights were visible on the night of October 3rd. Photo by Robyn Dell.

Meanwhile during the day, songbird banding has continued on an opportunistic basis, meaning that we’ll open the mist-nets whenever we feel like it! Bird activity down around the banding station has been slow, so most mornings we only drop in for a couple of hours and capture one or two birds. The slow banding pace gives us an opportunity to do some net repair and explore some of the under-surveyed areas around the banding station. Oregon Juncos and Yellow-rumped Warblers are still moving through, while Ruby-crowned Kinglets are growing more and more numerous. Today there were even a pair of Northern Shrikes out squabbling over the north field before they flew off. It’s hard to imagine that this stretch of beautiful warm weather can possibly continue for much longer – but for as long as it does, we’ll be out birding and banding away!

Two of the birds captured during nonstandard songbird banding: a Black-capped Chickadee with unusual white feathers in its cap (left) and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (right). Photos by Robyn Dell.

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Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding
Date	Banded	Recaptured
October 01, 2022	3
October 02, 2022	5
October 03, 2022	4
October 04, 2022	2
October 05, 2022	3
Total	17	0

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Non-standard Banding – October 01 to 05, 2022
Species	Banded	Recaptured
Oregon Junco	3
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1
Varied Thrush	1
Black-capped Chickadee		2
Total	7	2

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Oct 01: Owls, Owls, Everywhere!

With the migration monitoring season over for another year, owl banding came as a welcome distraction from the minutia of packing up mist-nets and wrangling with data entry. Fortunately, the weather was perfect for it! We’ve been enjoying a spell of unusual calm in Tatlayoko Valley, and the winds have been so negligible that we’ve been able to open the owling nets on every night so far this week. That’s six nights in a row so far, whereas before we’ve done at most two nights back-to-back! It seems that the Northern Saw-whet Owls have been taking advantage of the good weather too, as we’ve captured increasing numbers of them on every night that we’ve gone out. Last night we banded a grand total of eleven, which made a fun send-off for Sachi, who headed home this morning and will be much missed! The forecast is calling for good weather again tonight, so if you’ve been thinking of coming out to the banding station now might be the time…

A Northern Saw-whet Owl helps (or hinders!) the banding process by holding onto the string of bands.

Though many of the songbird mist-nets have been packed away for another year, Sachi and I did leave a few of them up so that I could do a bit of non-standard banding. It’s been very pleasant to come down for a couple of hours late in the morning to do some low-stakes banding and bird-watching around the station. Thus far in two mornings I have captured a whole… two birds! Today’s was a recaptured Black-capped Chickadee who was first banded at the station in 2018, and yesterday’s was a handsome young Varied Thrush. This was the second Varied Thrush that we’ve captured this fall, and as it’s a species that I don’t have the opportunity of seeing or banding out east it was a very special bird.

Varied Thrush, showing off its seasonally-appropriate plumage!

The birding has been more eventful than the banding. Though there too there’s been much less activity than there was earlier in September at the peak of fall migration, each day has had its highlight. Yesterday a harsh, chattering call alerted me to the presence of a Northern Shrike as it flew back and forth over the north field and made a few stabs at catching a grasshopper; and today as I was scanning the field, three Western Meadowlarks flew up and scattered, as between them a large, pale falcon came swinging up from where it had been flying close to the ground and banked ‘(a)s a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend’ (to quote Gerard Manley Hopkins!). As it passed, I had an opportunity to note its colour – pale grey, similar to an adult male Northern Harrier; the light streaking on the chest; and the thin, narrow moustache-stripes. This wasn’t a Peregrine Falcon, it was a Prairie Falcon! This subtly-coloured falcon is more common to the west and to the south of B.C. and has only been recorded once by the TLBO, in 2014. Fortunately it alighted in the snag near the banding station that so many of our raptors like to perch on, and I was able to approach closely enough to get a photo that showed the dark ‘armpits’ that are another field marking for this species. Clearly there’s still lots to see in the valley as October begins!

A (rather distant) Prairie Falcon, with dark underwing coverts visible.

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