Subject: Autumn 2012 Kestrel Haven summary This fall we only banded slightly under a thousand passerines and then switched to owls in late September. One of the first birds netted at dusk was our first Whip-poor-will! What a thrill!
We pulled our nets last week after a couple of unsuccessful weeks of trying for Boreal Owls that had been surging southward in Ontario. The last Northern Saw-whet Owl was banded on 20 November although we've heard saw-whets vocalizing since that date. Next year is going to be a tough one after the stellar show put on by saw-whets this fall! We more than tripled our previous best season handling a total of 251 owls. They break down as follows: New saw-whet bandings accounted for 243, 3 were repeats, 2 were foreign return HY-Fs that were banded at Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, Picton, Ontario, earlier in the fall, 2 were new Eastern Screech owls-grays and 1 was a return of a Screech Owl banded last fall. Twenty-nine saw-whets were male and 172 were female while 42 were recorded as Unknown sex. Two of our birds checked in at stations south and southwest in PA and the third visited a station in Powhatan County, VA about 25 miles west of Richmond. A saw-whet banded here in November 2010 was found dead in August 2011 near St. Cyprien, Quebec. Hatching year saw-whets were the most numerous at 183 followed by 31 SY (second year), 26 ASY (after second year) and 3 AHY(after hatching year). Of the ASY's we suspected 8 were TY(third year). The 3 AHYs were so recorded as they presented with extremely complex molt patterns. Given all the variation from normal patterns we saw this year we felt it unwise to record anything older than ASY definitively. Despite about 40 years of experience looking at molt limits in raptors and passerines, we were unable to comfortably identify a four year old feather under either white or uv lighting. What a wonderful season!!!! Thanks to the efforts of the Alabama and Georgia crews we now know that Saw-whets migrate with regularity at least that far south. Our great success was mirrored at many other stations from Canada southward. PA had a very intense effort this year (on a night where we banded 40, they almost hit 1,000 aggregate at 13 stations). The mass movement was due to wonderful breeding season success and survival as opposed to an irruption die loss of prey base. One can only gape in awe at the numbers that moved south this fall! John and Sue -- John and Sue Gregoire Field Ornithologists Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory 5373 Fitzgerald Road Burdett,NY 14818-9626 Website: http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/ "Conserve and Create Habitat" -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
