Dr. Blake Mathys has been hard at work with his research through the Central Ohio Owl Project (COOP). If you know of any likely locations for Barn Owls, Long-eared Owls, and Northern Saw-whet Owls, please email Dr. Mathys; all locations will be kept strictly confidential. For more information, visit the COOP project website.
Here’s a quick update from him on recent activities:
The fall 2022 Northern Saw-whet Owl banding season was the best I have had so far. I banded 34 owls and caught one that was already banded; it had originally been caught at Long Point Bird Observatory in Ontario. I had two nights catching eight owls and another with seven; my previous high count had been four in one night. The only other owl species I caught this fall was an Eastern Screech-Owl that I had originally banded in 2020; I have now caught this same individual at least five times. This was a very active season, with many owls being caught on bright moonlit nights (which is not what is normally expected). I will be continuing to look for wintering owls, and already found one roosting Northern Saw-whet Owl in Logan County on December 9th.