Chief Ranger Brett Clawson at Shenandoah River State Park will be holding evening owl banding programs at the park. Join us, observe, and even help with the banding of the Northern Saw-whet owls. These owls come to Virginia during their winter migration from Canada. 

The banding takes place most evenings between now and the first week of December, weather and scheduling permitting. Show up at dusk at our Visitor Center and make sure you dress warm, bring a flashlight and a camera.

The Saw whets are gently examined by experienced Rangers.

Actually, dusk is about 5:30 pm and we go as late as 11:30 p.m. We encourage you to call the park to be sure the banding program is "on" for the night or check out the "Bentonville Owl Banding Station" facebook page for updates, cool pictures, and interesting facts. The facebook page is a great tool to use to share your pictures, communicate with others that enjoy owl banding, or simply to find out the status of the banding for the night.

Here is an example of an update from Brett on Saturday, November 5:

"Owl banding is "ON" for tonight. We will start at 6:30pm at the Park Visitor Center. We captured 2 more Saw-whets last night that Stacey was kind enough to take and post pictures of them for us. This brings our total for this season to 1 Foreign Recap and 7 new Saw-whets, along with the 1 Recap Screech Owl."

Thanks for sharing Brett, Virginia State Parks give you a thumbs up!

"Whooo's got my tail?!"

Keep in mind, this event is open to the public, newcomers, volunteers, outdoor lovers or even Facebook lovers! We just hope to see you out there no matter whoooo you are!

For directions Click here for a Google map. Latitude, 38.854777. Longitude, -78.306552.

LOCATION: Shenandoah River State Park - the park is in Warren County, eight miles south of Front Royal and 15 miles north of Luray. It's off Rt. 340 in Bentonville.