Point LaBarbe, St. Ignace, MI
Night of October 25th, 2016
It was a beautiful but cold night last night; the ground glittered with frost, I saw a number of shooting starts, and was even treated to a short but intense show of Northern Lights. A north breeze turned into some pretty heavy winds after midnight, which ramped up the chill factor and slowed migration activity down for the night. I totaled only 8 total birds all night, but one of the owls caught was a long-eared owl, our 5th of the season! The other birds were all Saw-whets, 6 were female (2 hatch years, 1 second year, and 3 after second year), and 1 male (hatch year). The Long-eared owl was aged as an after second year, sex was unknown.
Photos courtesy of MSRW’s waterbird counter Jason Newton
Taking a wing cord (un-flattened wing) measurement helps to determine sex
Taking a tail measurement helps to determine sex
