Point LaBarbe, St. Ignace, MI
Night of October 30th, 2016
A clear and calm night made for good stargazing but again, owl movement was low. We caught a total of 9 owls, one of which was a Long-eared owl! It’s always exciting to deal with the bigger owls, but this one looked me in the face and let out the most hair-raising wail while I was untangling it from the net. I had no idea they made sounds like that since their normal call and their whole demeanor is usually pretty quiet, but when it howled at me I almost jumped out of my skin! The rest of the night was slow but steady, with 8 Saw-whets caught for the night. Of the birds netted, 7 were female (5 hatch years, and 2 after second years) and the other 1 was a male (hatch year). The Long-eared caught was aged as a hatch year bird, and its sex was unknown.
