On October 3oth, our class went to do some bird banding and owl watching at Buzzard's Roost, a park is Ross County in Ohio near Chillicothe. We met up with Kelly Williams-Sieg, a friend of mine as well as a P.h.d. student at the university. When we got there, the nets were already set up and ready for action.
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| Sharpy courtesy of Kortney |
Kyle and I went on a short hike into the woods, following some red-bellied woodpeckers and getting some great views. We heard some commotion back by the nets and went to check it out. We found a few birds in the nets, learned how to properly take them out and measure them for a few different characteristics. We caught two tufted titmouse, an american goldfinch, a sharp-shinned hawk(so cool!), a hermit thrush, and a northern cardinal. Kelly showed us the correct way to band the birds and measure the weight, wingspan, fat, and age(if possible). Each bird gets an ID# so if recaptured we can see what has changed.
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| Tit in the net |
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| Cardinal being measured |
So after some successful banding activities we rolled the nets back down and turned on the breeding call for the northen saw-whet owl, which we hoped to see. These owls migrate from Canada as far south as Georgia in the wintertime. After four tries of forty-five minute interval cabin chills and still no owls, we decided to make tracks. It was a beautiful evening, and I lay in a tree for a half hour getting reacquainted with the stellar bodies. I intend to go back real soon a catch myself a saw-whet. Ironically, we saw a Barred Owl on the drive home!
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| Northern Saw-Whet Owls |
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