Category: Training

On Saturday, November 10th members of the HMN chapter participated in the Saw-whet Owl banding at Highland Retreat in western Rockingham county.

Saw-whet Owls are migrating through our area this time of the year from their northern nesting grounds.

Dr. Clair Mellinger, assisted by Charles Ziegenfus and HMN trainee Ben Spory, collected the birds and performed the data gathering.

Mist nests higher up the ridge are set up near an electronic call, and as the owls fly through the area they are captured and brought down for banding, measuring and aging. The bands and permits to band are supplied by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The information from the project is added to a database with the US Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory.

After banding and measuring, the birds are aged using ultraviolet light. Owls and some other birds have pigments in their feathers called porphyrins that fluoresce bright red in UV light. As the feathers age the pigment is reduced and an older bird that has molted some of its feathers will fluoresce less. After the second year, this technique cannot be used to determine age because all feathers are not molted every year. The owls are aged HY (hatching year), SY (second year) and ASY (after second year).

After banding and measuring, the birds are placed on a table outside to recover and continue their journey.

Most of the birds we saw were HY with one older owl. Previously banded owls have been caught including an owl banded near Lake Superior. This year’s recaptures included an owl banded on November 3rd and one banded October 2016 from Peterborough, Ontario.

This year only trained or trainee volunteers are allowed to collect the owls.

On Saturday night over 40 people were there with 13 from HMN, including some family members, and 25 owls were banded.

For more information about the Northern Saw-whet Owl, a good source is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Saw-whet_Owl/id.

For more information about the Saw-whet Owls banding project, go to highlandretreatowls.wordpress.com.

Information about the Bird Banding Laboratory can be found at https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pwrc/science/bird-banding-laboratory.

If you find a banded bird you can report it to www.reportband.gov.

– B. Blessing, II, Cohort VI, November 2018

Top photo: Dr. Mellinger talks to the group about Saw-whet Owl behavior, diet and the banding process.

Second photo: Porphryin pigments fluoresce in UV light. 

All photos are by B. Blessing, II.

Click on a photo below to see a slide show of the photos and find their captions.

Dr. Clair Mellinger holds a bird that has been processed and is ready for release.

After capture the owls are placed into bags and brought to the lab.

The owls are weighed.

The wings are measured in two places.

After processing this owl is ready for release. HMN John Bauman is holding the owl.

All owls are banded with bands from US fish and Wildlife Service.

Find Elaine Smith’s photos from this event on flickr HERE.

HMN Jerry Hopkins has an affinity for the Shenandoah National Park. Spending time there since he was a kid, he currently makes frequent trips to his adopted stretch of trail in the Park to keep it welcoming by clearing brush and obstacles which might impede travelers.

On a recent beautiful sunny spring day, he generously shared some of the history, ecology, geology, and general fun facts about the Park he has learned over the years, with members of the current basic training class and a few other HMNs. The group parked near Skyland and slowly made its way up the Stony Man Trail and back along the Passamaquoddy Trail, with frequent stops for readings and discussions. These ranged from the impacts of fuel needs of surrounding iron ore furnaces in the 1800s, chestnut blight in the early 1900s, the woolly adelgid hemlock parasite introduced in the mid-1900s, current emerald ash borer threats, and acid rain impacts, to George Washington’s army subsisting on rock tripe at Valley Forge and synchronized lightning bugs creating too much human attention in another part of the Park.

As a bonus, the group was treated to the extensive wildflower expertise of HMN Betty Forrest who at 82 can still ably navigate 5 miles of trail. She spent three years as a Shenandoah National Park ranger and knows the local flora well. Golden ragwort abundantly lined the trails but was not yet in bloom. Wild phlox was in bloom at the Stony Man summit within view of a wind blown, icy, rock-lined puddle.

George Freeman Pollock featured prominently in Jerry’s discussions along the Passamaquoddy Trail. Relying heavily on his wife Addie’s wealth, George Pollock created and financed much of Skyland before it became the cornerstone of Shenandoah National Park. He oversaw the establishment of the Passamaquoddy Trail including its name. The  Passamaquoddy Indians, who lived in northeastern North America, are named for the pollock fish important in their lives.

Jerry’s work with trail maintenance for the Park is through its contract with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. The club provides volunteer service to help keep up all the Park’s trails. The Park also partners with the Shenandoah National Park Association, a membership driven nonprofit organization which helps fund educational opportunities throughout the Park. There are many member benefits to joining!

Check out the website of the Shenandoah National Park for comprehensive coverage of everything it has to offer.

– Adrie Voors, Cohort II, April 2018

Top photo is of the group having lunch near Stony Man summit. Click on a photo below to see a slide show of the photos and find their captions. Photos taken by Adrie.

Group photo op near the spring which supplies Skyland.

Kate, John and Dave check out the view.

Jerry providing some of many insights into the Park.

Josie Henning volunteered to read from a Park booklet at numbered markers along Stony Man Trail.

This yellow birch tree has survived against many odds.

Rock tripe: lichen considered to be famine food. Ask Kate Guenther how it tastes!

These “amphibian monitors” dotted parts of the understory. How do they work?