CLIMATE CHANGE MODELS PREDICT LOSS OF WINTER RANGE FOR SAW-WHET OWLS

Scary stuff for the relatively common Northern Saw-whet Owl, a large loss of winter habitat in the face of our changing climate. As the blue disappears so does the winter range- so saw-whets will be wintering further north.  For an animated version of disappearing habitat: see: http://climate.audubon.org/birds/nswowl/northern-saw-whet-owl.

This prediction of the winter habitat loss comes from National Audubon's

climate change model.

 This is one of the reasons our long term monitoring is so important. We can help validate what models predict, if that is in fact the case.Thanks for continuing your support for this common and amazingly valuable species!

FIRST OWL OF THE SEASON!

She came late, arriving on October 20th. She was hatched this year, probably around May 2014, making her a full 5 months old when we caught her in good health.

Our first 2014 NSWO

Banding volunteer Sheila Frisk with NSWO

FALL BANDING 2014 - TROUBLE ON THE BCCER

An unfortunate accident occurred on the BCCER last fall 2013 (see Chico Enterprise Record pic below). Fortunately people recovered from their injuries (I know because I was part of the accident), but concerns about safety have gotten in the way of research on the Reserve. Consequently we had a late start to our owl season, had to move our owl station to a pedestrian accessible site (no driving into the Reserve anymore unless you have a hunting license), and missed many nights of banding. BUT, we jumped some hurdles and persevered. Stay tuned for our results this year, our 10th season of monitoring Northern Saw-whet Owls - the cutest owl on the planet!

Aftermath of the deck collapse off of the caretaker's house. EMT
Cal-fire were there to help all injured, they were very efficient.