OCTOBER - THE MONTH FOR OWLS AND BATS!

An interesting evening weather-wise and detection-wise. We started the night under clouds and warmth had one NSWO and one Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus) capture on our first net check. And bats are so cool! The Pallid bat flies low to eat insects on the ground, which is why we frequently catch them in our nets, but only at the beginning of the season. Pallids use their big ears to detect prey and often turn their sonar off. That is why they sometime don't detect the net, but once they know the nets are there, they turn on the sonar to avoid capture.

A Pallid Bat, note large ears, eyes and teeth for capturing
ground-dwelling insects. Pallid bats often emit a musky odor
when disturbed, a good protection from predators- think skunk.
This is a web photo.

It was quiet and still after that, until the clouds parted, stars and cooler temps appeared and then came the owls.  Saw-whets, screech and great horned began to call and we banded three more owls near the end of our night. Weather likely made a difference. Thanks Sheila Frisk, Julie Newman, Wyatt Hersey and Steve King!

First Banding Results Fall 2011!!!

We netted our very first saw-whet owl on our first attempt this early season! Although we have been out on September 29th before, October 2nd is our first capture. Go here to see previous results. We did not hear any saw-whets vocalizing so we were very surprised to have one in our 3rd net run as we were getting ready to close. We also had a calling W. screech owl (female) and male great horned owl. There were lots of praying mantis on the nets and many crickets calling. Perhaps more food items for the rodent loving saw-whets- or at least their prey. here are the results from tonight:

Site OWL3-BCCER

Date: September 29, 2011

Weather: calm, clear, 75*F, new moon

Net Hours: 10

Banders: Garcia, R and S King, J. Arroyo helped- thanks!

Captures: 1 AHY/F N. Saw-whet Owl, 1 pallid bat

Let's hope for a great year in 2011!