That is the highest number of great gray owls ever banded in a single season in the world.

They've had our number this season. And we don't have the playoff cushion they do at this point. So, for that reason, the two points were more important to us than [ending] the Hartford hex.

The information will be useful in terms of who encounters these birds in the future, where they go, maybe also how long they live.

It was found dead Oct. 7 in Dryden, Ontario. It shows that the birds were moving north.

That means young birds (from the summer of 2004) were probably never born. The birds that tried to produce young probably failed.

I'm very pleased because that whole issue has been a gray area for a number of years.