This fall marked the sixth year of banding efforts in the Lynchburg area
for Northern Saw-whet Owls. Prior to 2002 only two individuals of this
secretive species had been recorded in our immediate area. In the past
five years, from 2002-2006, the following number of individuals were
netted: 39, 38, 52, 7, and 12. The low number of birds captured the
last two years was due not to a population crash, but to the fact that
their primary prey in winter, woodland mice, were more abundant in the
north, allowing more of the owls to spend the winter farther north of
us. This year, however, has been a major "invasion" year or "irruption"
year for saw-whets in the eastern U.S. because mice populations were
down in the north. The last times major irruptions occurred in this
region were in 1995 and 1999, prior to the start of our banding efforts
here. So this year we were looking forward to seeing how many owls we
might net in this area in an invasion year.
We started banding efforts a little earlier than usual, on October 20th,
and also continued efforts to net owls about a week later than usual,
ending on December 14. During this period nets were open on 47 nights,
usually from 6:00-11:00 PM, with hourly net checks, and our efforts paid
off with the capture of 71 Northern Saw-whet Owls, as well as one local
Eastern Screech Owl. Our best night was surprisingly early in the
season on November 2nd when we netted ten saw-whets. Owl captures were
more evenly spread out over the season than usual, with the following
numbers netted on a weekly basis: 1, 23, 14, 7, 12, 5, 5, and 4.
In the previous five years we netted the following numbers of owls that
had previously been banded by some other Northern Saw-whet Owl bander:
1, 1, 4, 0, and 1. This year we netted five banded owls: one of them
banded by Clair Mellinger in Rockingham County in 2003, one banded by
Scott Weidensaul in Pennsylvania in 2004, and three of them still of
unknown origin. In addition, one of our 52 owls banded in 2004 was
netted on October 25th in Ontario.
We are deeply grateful to the many individuals who have made this
project possible over the years. This includes Bob and Betty Epperson
for help with the saw-whet audio lure construction, and Mark and Kristin
Johnson, Robert Ferrell, Hannah Sattler, and numerous Liberty University
biology students for many hours assisting in opening, checking, and
closing nets in a dark, cold woods. Special thanks are also extended to
the Virginia Society of Ornithology for funds that helped with equipment
purchases, and to Thomas Road Baptist Church for permission to use their
property.
Gene Sattler
Lynchburg
