Saw-whet Owl Banding & Measuring

As promised, here are more photos of the saw-whet owl banding process. I've been able to join a few of these outings to observe and photograph, with both saw-whet and boreal owls. I am always grateful to be a part of the operation and expand my knowledge of these little forest dwelling raptors.

Colin

First time seeing the outside world...

Waiting to be weighed & measured

Juvenile saw-whet owl, close to fledging

Measuring the wings

Taking measurements while the owlet took the opportunity to void its bowels

It's always a good idea to bring a spare sheet for recording measurements

Juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owl

Last summer I had the opportunity to once again observe and assist in the banding of baby saw-whet owls. I've been able to take part in this process a few times now; it's always a joy and an honor to photograph these tiny owls and document the process of helping them to proliferate in Southcentral Alaska.

I'll have more images to share this week, so please stay tuned...

Cheers!

Colin

Northern Saw-whet Owl

This is probably my best image of an adult saw-whet owl to date. They are very small creatures and mostly nocturnal, which makes sightings & photo ops extremely rare. Stay tuned for more owl photos in the coming days, including boreal owlets...

Have a great Monday out there and thank you for following along!

Colin

Saw-whet Owl Box Presentation

Hey Everyone! You may recall that last summer I was able to join local owl enthusiast, Andrew Fisher, while he checked the activity in nesting boxes he had built & placed around the Anchorage area. Later in the season, I went out with him again along with a biologist from the State of Alaska and documented the banding of saw-whet fledglings. I am excited to say that Andrew will be giving a presentation on his owl boxes for the Eagle River Nature Center via Zoom this Sunday at 2pm (AKST). I will be attending virtually and you can too! Follow this link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrcOmvrjojHNDq1dYitqrPYzjmANokF3Hc?fbclid=IwAR3TTTGsXnx4F1vFSdAduHIA6-L5tWLDNlpsVsLfPGjfn7wIPmPRaMvp7RY

Thank you and I hope you can join us!

Colin

Sw-whet owl fledglings

Sw-whet owl fledglings



Saw-whet Owlet Banding

Saw-whet owlet banding - this is the followup to yesterday's post. Last month I was able to join local owl enthusiast Andrew Fisher along with a biologist from the State of Alaska to observe and photograph the banding of saw-whet fledglings. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the seasonal behaviors of northern saw-whets, so banding these fledglings will help provide useful clues to their travel & migration habits if they are discovered in a future survey.

It was a privilege to accompany these experts into the field and take part in owl research. I hope you enjoy the images and the cuteness overload!

Colin

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Saw-Whet! Say What??

"I saw it!"

"Saw what?"

"A saw-whet!"

"Say what???"

That's right, I saw it! The northern saw-whet owl. At 7-8 inches in height and weighing less then 4 ounces, it is one of the smallest owls in North America and we are on the northern edge of its range here in Southcentral Alaska. In fact, saw-whets just started showing up in this area within the past 10 years. They are elusive little creatures and mostly nocturnal.

Have a great Memorial Day out there and enjoy this last day of the holiday weekend!

Colin

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Northern Saw Whet Owl

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you can have all the skill in the world and top-of-the-line photo gear but if you don’t have luck on your side, you will only produce mediocrity. If you’ve been following my posts over this past week, you might agree that I’ve had quite a bit of good fortune recently. It all began last Sunday while out on a late evening hike. I was listening to the calls of two different species of owls– a great horned that was further up the mountainside and a little saw whet owl that was so close to the trail it stopped me in my tracks. I stood completely still for a few minutes in the dark forest when suddenly, it flew out of an owl box and right past me, barely five feet away. 

The following three mornings I was treated to beautiful, vibrant sunrise skies and, among other things, a pair of trumpeter swans that allowed me to create a series of timeless images. I’d also been keeping an ear out in the evenings, listening for the saw whet owl calls after sundown. Last night I returned to the box where I saw the owl in the chance that it might come out and show itself before the light was gone. To my surprise, it popped its little head out of the box and watched me as I scrambled to hastily set up my camera and tripod. I spent just a few minutes with the owl, doing my best to capture a few sharp images in the low light, then picked up my gear and walked away as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.

To put this into perspective in terms of how rare a sighting like this is, northern saw whet owls are primarily nocturnal and only 6-7 inches tall, making them very difficult to view. There are more than a dozen of these owl boxes in the vicinity of the Nature Center. In approximately eight years since they’ve been posted, this may be the first confirmed sighting of a saw whet, or any owl species for that matter, using one of the boxes.