I tried to send this a minute ago, but think I closed the compose window when I was trying to copy email addresses. Sorry if this is a repeat.
I'm highly impressed by the effort of John and Sue to band saw-whets. Cangratulations to them. I tried to band saw-whets for a few nights this fall and hope to be able to set up an effort schedule like theres next fall. (John and/or Sue could you call me at 539-6308, please). I caught 27 saw-whets in about four and a half nights for 28 net hours and didn't get started until late in the migratory season. I used only two nets at a time. It is amazing that so many banding stations have about 4-6% foreigh recapture, suggesting that the total number of saw-whets banded in estern US approximate 4-6 of the entire saw-whet population. We caught one saw-whet banded in May 2008 in Michigan. As John and Sue report, second year birds were more common than any other age, and females were far more common than males. Our results do suggest that ther ar elots of saw-whets flying over this area in fall. I find it amazing that we cought this many in our front yard, but have never seen or heard a saw-whet in our yard in 30 years. John Confer -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
