Sunday, January 5, 2014

365 Photo Project - November Photos


My November photos are from two different parts of the month; two photos from the beginning of the month and two from the end of the month. 

The beginning of the month started off with World Bird Sanctuary’s Camera Day.  The fall colors were beautiful this year and attendance was great.  I had the opportunity, while working the event, to take a few photos.  Two of those photos stand out in my mind. 
 Tundra, WBS's beautiful female Snowy Owl
The first shot from Camera Day was of Tundra, a Snowy Owl.  This was her first Camera Day and she did amazingly well.  Tundra has very quickly become one of my favorite birds.  Because she is such a visual bird she loves being out and getting to see things.  This photo became my favorite because I love this bird so much, and the fall colors and her eyes just make for a beautiful combination.
Jersey, the Barred Owl
The second photo from Camera Day that I really like is one of Jersey, the Barred Owl.  This year I tried to use birds that were new to the event, or have not been used in several years.  It has been several years since Jersey made an appearance.  Because she was set on a log on the ground this photo appears to be of a wild bird.  She was very popular with the photographers.

During the latter part of the month I participated in World Bird Sanctuary’s Project Owlnet.  I have been helping the World Bird Sanctuary’s bird banding team with this project.  We are working on a banding project to determine if Saw-whet Owls are migrating through the area and how our site compares with 2 other banding stations in the state.  Watch for a blog coming in the future with more details on this fun project.
Our first Saw-whet Owl of the night
The nights I had attended had been slow, but recently we had a night that produced two Saw-whet owls!  They are just so much fun to see, since they are difficult to find in the wild.  Also, this is something I have always loved.  I had the opportunity when I was young to band Saw-whet Owls, but at that time I could only help release them. This time, however, I had the opportunity to band one of the owls. 
I got to band this one!
This first photo is the first owl we captured that night.  The second photo was taken by Colleen Crank, banding team member, of me with the Saw-whet Owl.  I was allowed to put the band on this bird.

All in all I consider November to have been a very productive month for my 365 Photo Project.

Submitted by Cathy Spahn, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist

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