Dr. Nina Schoch, Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer at the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation and conservation biologist, zoologist and photographer Larry Master will be banding saw-whet owls at the John Brown Farm during October.

This banding is part of Project Owlnet. Project Owlnet facilitates communication, cooperation and innovation among a rapidly growing network of hundreds of owl-migration researchers in North America and abroad.

Organizers aren’t sure when this will happen. The weather needs to be just right for the birds to be migrating through the area. This generally occurs during the first couple of weeks in October on nights that have a westerly or northerly breeze with no rain or snow.

On top of that, the banders need to be available. Which means they may not know until a day or two ahead of time what nights they will be out at the John Brown Farm. On nights when the banding happens it will begin roughly with the onset of darkness and continue until 10 or 11 pm depending on the number of owls etc.

Those interested in joining will need to register for the owl banding notification emails. Once on this list, organizers will send updates of when they will most likely be at the Farm.

Attendees are encouraged to dress warmly with hats and gloves as the nights will be cool (especially if the banding goes further into the fall), and bring a headlamp.

Click here to sign up for the banding notifications.

More information about saw-whet owls is available here.

Photo of Saw-whet owl immediately after its release from banding courtesy Larry Master.