For a decade local birders have banded migrating Northern Saw-whet Owls at the banding station in my yard known as Hammond Hill Owls or HHOWLS. This is one of my greatest pleasures. We have caught, weighed, measured and banded over 1000 owls, including ~30 previously banded owls, thereby, contributing to our knowledge about owl survival and migration. The people who come out to go banding are wonderful, interesting company, with a shared interest in birds, wildlife, and science. I feel that going out in the dark at night and finding an owl in the net is like Christmas morning and finding a wonderful present in your stocking.
Previously, I have been glad to welcome large numbers of visitors to watch and share in the banding. However, the concern for covid and my increasingly tired, old bones are compatible only with a smaller number of volunteers. Accordingly, this year Phil MacNeil and Maddie Ulinski are going to organize the banding as part of an effort to help me. We are looking for a small group to form a banding core. We band from between 1 Oct and ~19 Nov, about 50 days. But, we only band on about ¼ of those nights when weather is very favorable. Volunteers agree to come on certain night(s) of the week. But it is not possible to predict how many. For example, if you chose Weds., it is possible that there will be perhaps nearly 7 nights with favorable weather, or perhaps nearly none. If this sounds as exciting to you, as it is to us, contact Phil by email at <phil.mcn...@gmail.com> John Confer 607-539-6308 -- 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/ --
