As I was finishing opening nets last night at 6:00 PM under a full moon I too
heard a flock of Tundra Swans passing over, headed south from the
vocalizations; too dark and too much tree cover to tell how many.
We are at 57 saw-whets this season, having passed our previous high of 52 from
2004 this week. The week before Thanksgiving was slow for us, with seven birds
between Thursday the 9th and Thursday the 15th, while we have had 15 saw-whets
between Friday the 16th and Friday the 23rd, including one bird last night,
with two nights off the 21st and 22nd due to the holiday and wind/the potential
for falling leaves in the net.
We have netted four banded birds this fall, one banded by Clair Mellinger in
Rockingham County in November 2003, and one banded in Pennsylvania in November
2004, with the origin of the other two banded birds unknown at this time. And
one of our owls, banded in November of 2004, was renetted this past October 25
in Ontario.
Gene Sattler
Lynchburg
