11 September 2006: Each successive fall gets a bit
more automatic. I make one trip to the nets and stay there until I
make one trip to bed. I am just testing the waters so far. I don't
want to feel the drag of exhaustion for a couple of more weeks...or when it
gets really busy. Yesterday, the winds blew off the lake for most of
the day and there was a cold, damp chill along the north shore. East
winds typically slow saw-whets down and such was the case last night,
although I did band 2 owls. It is very relaxing without nets
dripping with owls. The 110 owls I banded on 9 October 2004 seems
impossible to comprehend now.
12 September 2006: After
an hour of nothing, all of the sudden, owls moved in. For the next
hour I was busy, trapping 12 owls, including a "foreign recapture"...meaning
an owl with someone else's band on its leg. That's pretty exciting,
but just having owls around was a welcome respite from the monotony of early
(or late) season banding. Temps are supposed to warm up over the next
couple of days, and I imagine things will slow down a bit, but that is just
owlers conjecture.
13
September 2006: It was about 10 degrees warmer last night and for the
first hour, I was bathed in oily perspiration. The moon is no longer a
factor in the early evening sky and until it reappears, I should gradually
see an increase in owls. I don't know where they all come from, but it sure
seems like they're going someplace important. So many mice in the
woods this fall. The swets should be fat.
14 September 2006: An uneventful
evening that balanced between boring and not-so boring. Six owls in 3
hours. Weather is looking dicey, with warm temps. and winds. Once the
typical fall weather pattern returns, it'll get nutz.
15 September 2006: At 20:00 last
night, the temperature was 60 degrees. At 22:00, it was 63. The
humidity followed a similar ascendance and by 23:00, I felt as though I was
trapping in Manila. I was down to shirt sleeves and flip flops...and
still, a slow trickle of swets came in.
16 September 2006: All was good last
night until the lightning moved in. Once it did, all nocturnal acitivities came to a grinding halt. Temps ranged from 60 at the start
and it got warmer....64 by the time I "bagged it". Nine saw-whets in
the first hour, then only one in the next two. A front is moving in
Sunday and that should really get things busy.
17 September 2006: At
sunset, the sky was clear and for the first time in two evenings, the
temperature dropped below 60. I was prepared for banding bliss, but
then the wind started up and I was forced to toy with the idea of folding
shop. I persevered and lo and behold, saw-whets appeared and in 3
hours, I picked up 14 owls. The cold front is now upon us and once it
clears, it's going to get hectic in Tofte.
18 September 2006: There was
truly nothing going on last night. It rained until the wee hours and
when it stopped, a bullying wind blew in and ruled the Laurentian Shield
until daylight. I welcomed the respite because I was a bit weary.
When you are an owler, weariness often wins the battle.
19 September 2006: Last
night was the first big push of the migration. I ended up with 42
swets, including one recapture. It got a bit windy but evidently, not
enough to slow down the owls. A hard frost covered my deck when all
was said and done and the Jotul was fired up for the first time this season.
20 September 2006: Any doubt
I am full-on into the owl migration has been removed....I feel sluggish, my
fingers are developing a puncture wound motif', and my house is turning into
a unique collection of plates and dirty clothes. I have been here
before. It was another good flight last night and were it not for my
daytime job, I would have explored a bit longer. Still, 30 owls is a
good night for any owler, wherever he or she are.
22 September 2006: Rain and
wind kept Billy at bay last night.
23 September 2006: As the
sun set, the auroras started their nocturnal dance. I sat and enjoyed
them for a moment, but then the first owl showed up and thereafter, auroras
were something for someone else to enjoy. I ended up with 72
saw-whets, including another foreign recapture. I finally folded the
nets at 01:00, even though there were more owls around. Yah gotta sleep,
man.
24 September 2006: I never
thought 33 owls would feel like a night off, but it was a bit more relaxed
last night. The winds picked up an hour into my nocturnal sortie, but
a steady stream of owls kept me company. Not in the groups 5's and 6's
of Saturday though. In fact, for a couple of minutes, I was actually
able to absorb my surroundings.
25 September 2006: My 8th
owl last night was a long-eared. Usually, they don't show up until early
October. I don't catch many, probably because my nets are in some
pretty thick stuff, but when they come in, beauty has arrived. Another
night, another 55 owls. I'm on a roll. Work all day, band for a couple
of hours, sleep, and do it again.
27 September 2006: At 22:00
last night, my nets were dripping with saw-whets. A wave of birds moved
through and I had to extract 10 owls from one net. Other than that, it
was a steady, busy evening. The winds picked up around 23:00, but
didn't really deter the owls. I am close to a 3:1 ratio of hatch year
to adult birds. All those saw-whets I heard during my surveys in March
and April obviously had some success in reproducing and I don't think the
success was confined to northern Minnesota.
28 September 2006: It was a
relaxed evening at the nets last night. Thirty-eight saw-whets and all
arriving incrementally, rather than in waves. Last night's flight was
evenly divided between youngsters and adults.
3 October 2006: My nets have
been reopened and thankfully, the push has slowed considerably cuz I'm just
kind of stumbling around now. It's been a rough week but the owls foohet
me anyway. Tonight appears to be a wash-out. Not that there's
anything wrong with that.
5 October 2006: After a rain
night, the nets were opened again and although overall it was quiet, at one
point, there were 8 saw-whets to process. There were owl interactions
and tail chases and all sorts of good things. It was an enjoyable
evening. I'll top 500 owls tonight. Wow!!!
6 October 2006: A bright,
beautiful evening with not a lot of swets, but enough to keep me from
falling asleep in my crappy camp chair.
8 October 2006: Is the paint
dry yet? Goodness...such tedium and monotony in the beginning of October.
Only 8 new owls during 6 hours of net time Friday and Saturday nights.
Today, a substantial cold front is pushing through and when it is finished,
I am anticipating a substantial push from the little owls.
10 October 2006: By about my
second net check, I knew I was into owls. Eleven saw-whets awaited
extraction. Were it not for the moon, it could have been an enormous
owl evening. As it was, 57 owls were banded, with one foreign
recapture. After the s-l-o-w previous evenings, I was happy to be
gainfully engaged in owls.
15 October 2006: I think the
only reason there is bad weather is so we appreciate good weather. At
sunset the winds ground to a halt and owls took to the wing. My nephew
flew solo to Tofte and helped me record data and managed to earn some
frequent footing miles from uncooperative saw-whets. Still a couple of weeks
left and my season total is at 631. It's been an amazing fall.
16 October 2006: Two nights
and nearly 100 owls. I have eclipsed my total from last year and now
am hoping things slow down a bit cuz man...it's getting to be a chore.
It's like everything in owling though...the fun only lasts till daylight.
20 October 2006: The
rain-outs have come more frequently as winter approaches, and the dryness of
the summer of tomatoes and peppers is now but a stain on the road of life.
The owls keep coming, however, and a tally over 800 seems highly likely. I
am so glad I ordered 1000 bands this summer.
22 October 2006: Two long-eareds
hit my nets last night, but only one is adorned with a USFWS band this
morning. Meanwhile, the saw-whets continued to move in persistent
waves through Tofte. If bell curves define the migration, then maybe
900 owls is within my reach.
24 October 2006: Two nights
in the bone-rattling cold of mid-October and the owls keep coming.
Last night, I began to have my doubts. In the first 90 minutes of
trapping, only one owl graced my evening. In the subsequent 90
minutes, 18 owls met the charming, ebullient, insightful, owlman. I am
at 818 owls and have already caught more hatch-year birds than the total
number of owls from all of last year's efforts. The second batch of
5th graders arrives at my humble abode this evening.
25 October 2006: It was another
cold night in the boreal forest. The sky was crystal clear and nary a
breeze stirred. Mrs. Russ' second group of 5th graders were my guests
last night. We banded 7 owls while they were here and hopefully, they
learned a bit about owls and habitat and all the things that leave the youth
of our world asking for more. Then again, they were with me
so....maybe not. |
