2023
With no planned season for the burrowing owl project in Oregon, I was able to help out with a new project in southeastern Arizona. The project is the Following Forrest Owls program by HawkWatch International. It focuses on six small forest owl species and how climate change and habitat degradation affect them: elf, flammulated, whiskered-screech, northern saw-whet, western-screech, and northern pygmy-owl. There, I met some fantastic biologists such as Dave Oleyar - a senior biologist for HawkWatch and the study site leader; Kassandra Townsend - a HawkWatch biologist working on her PhD; and Jesse Watson - the banding coordinator and a research biologist for HawkWatch. These three people significantly impacted me just from the little time I got to work with them. They inspired me with their commitment and knowledge. Along with them, the program has passionate community scientists who come out to help! It was a terrific experience to work on this project. When October rolled around, I packed my bags and flew to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where the 7th World Owl Conference was held. I listened to countless presentations about numerous owl species from the world's leading owl biologists and loved every second. Being in a room with hundreds of brilliant researchers was inspiring. I was also able to submit and present a paper.
The first whiskered-screech owl I got to hold!
WHSO breeding pair.
Banding a juvenile WHSO.
A juvenile WHSO.
Me posing for a goofy photo amongst the canyons.
Dave, Kassandra, and I (up top) with a brilliant community scientist team.
Dave's truly remarkable illustration on our plan to capture owls.
Myself with the world's smallest species of owl, the elf owl.
A whiskered-screech owl (WHSO).
WHSO feathers glowing under black light due to porphyrins found in new feathers.
Wing photograph of a western-screech owl (WESO).
Wing photograph of a WESO.
The view from a peeper camera placed inside an elf owl nest cavity. The female is incubating 2-3 young.
Me taking a lunch break while out searching for cavities.
An elf owl (ELOW).
An adult WHSO.
Myself with an ELOW.
A selfie with myself, Kassandra, and her two technicians, Tyler and Harold.
Myself with a WHSO.
Myself with a WHSO.
Me with a sphinx moth on my hat brim.
A WHSO.
Myself with a WESO.
Me peeping a cavity with a telescoping pole and camera.
Myself and a ELOW.
An ELOW.
Me with an elusive WESO.
A WESO.
The team representing the Global Owl Project at the World Owl Conference. From left to right: Priscilla Esclarski, myself, Shari Schaftlein (DJ's wife), DJ, Gabriela Mendes, Elif Gröçer, and Rachel Daugherty.
Dave Oleyar and I repping our best owl t-shirts!
My lab partner and I listening closely to Kas Koenraads, a researcher for the Zoological Museum Netherlands, as he explains the ecomorphology of the burrowing owl on the table.
Myself presenting.
A group photo of the young researchers at the conference.
Gabriela, DJ, Elif, Priscilla, and I posing on an owly bench for a photo.