From Iowa Raptor Project
Tonight we banded our 21st Northern Saw-whet Owl of the season, one month to the day after we banded our first. Here it is held by IRP Raptor Research intern Aaron Petrie with volunteer Ben Conrads looking on.
Many people are surprised by the number of owls we're encountering with such limited effort that we've invested. We are finding the lowa River valley at the Macbride Nature Recreation Area to be quite productive. We're most interested this year in discovering how long their fall migration season lasts. Looks like we will be back out for more cold nights ahead!
This is why we need to remember the "wild" part of wild animals. They live in a different world than the one we picture in our heads, but they aren't afraid to remind us.
I didn't get much choice to feed the squirrels along side my bluejay friends, and I had been trying to get them to take the peanuts from my hand for a few months.
One day one did, and it put its claws on my hand when it did. They felt so sharp! At that point we both decided to keep sensible distance as between the claws and nut cracking teeth, I didn't want usnto have any miscommunication that would result in my being shredded.