© David F. Brinker
Steve Huy is the founder and manager of the Lamb’s Knoll Owl Banding site in the eastern edge of Western Maryland. He also brought Project Owlnet to the internet through the creation of our first website and listerv which was a major factor in the Project’s growth and success.
Steve’s bird banding experience began in the mid 1970s when he was taught to remove birds from mist-nets at the Allegheny Front Migration Observatory. He became familiar with bird migration and netting practices through his family’s annual vacations to help with this project.
His experience with AFMO led to an invitation to band migratory raptors in Northern Virginia in 1993. He subsequently attended a meeting of the Raptor Society of Metropolitan Washington through the recommendation of these hawk banders. This meeting featured Dave Brinker as the guest speaker, giving a presentation on breeding saw-whet owls in Maryland. Steve was captivated by the description of this possibly common species about which little was known. He volunteered to run “toot routes”, audio surveys for territorial saw-whet owls, during breeding season. After this he began assisting with the owl banding operation along the Casselman River in far Western Maryland. During the irruption of 1995 he was lucky enough to be one of the operators of a new and successful owl banding site at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay.
Suspecting that saw-whets migrate at a bit of an altitude, and wanting to monitor them closer to home, he founded the Lamb’s Knoll banding station on a nearby ridge. This has turned out to be a hot spot of saw-whet migration with many encounters of banded owls.
Steve spends his weekdays as an analyst for Marriott International. He lives in Frederick, MD with his daughter and wife who both are learning to band owls. He is a past president of the Washington County Bird Club, a chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society. His interest and knowledge in raptors and migration has led to work with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Scales and Tales program, experience in the art of falconry, and research with the Central Appalachian Goshawk Project. He continues to work with Dave Brinker on various bird conservation projects and promises to have all his data entered soon …