Hi all,
 
By nearly all reckoning, this has been an outstanding fall season for
southward Northern Saw-whet Owl movements. There is a broad network of
banders in the east that focus exclusively on capturing this diminutive
owl, and I believe nearly all stations are reporting excellent numbers.
Locally, the efforts of Kelly Sieg, Bill Bosstic, Bob Placier and
numerous volunteers have captured and banded 15 of the micro-owls near
Chillicothe, in spite of having few net-nights so far due to inclement
weather. This is, so far, the best they have done by this time of year
in their five or so years of efforts. I'm sure they'll tally many more
yet.
 
Saw-whets are very hard to spot, as they conceal themselves quite well
in dense conifers, grapevine tangles and the like during the day. We've
all probably walked right by one at some point. The numbers that are
being caught and banded this fall, while impressive, must be but the tip
of the owl iceberg. The vast majority go undetected and saw-whets are
much more common than is generally thought.
 
It might be worth your time to poke about a bit in dense vegetation this
fall, and see if you can't spot one of these robin-sized owls.
Cemeteries, like Green Lawn in Columbus, with their often plentiful
ornamental conifers, are good places to look.
 
Jim
 
Jim McCormac
Ohio Division of Wildlife
2045 Morse Rd., G-3
Columbus, Ohio 43229
614-265-6440
 

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