October
27th, 2012
Hi All,
Here we go with
my ninth report of the banding season
for the weekend of October 27th, 2012.
Trudi and I met Rick and Chuck at the Burger King on
London Road in Duluth at 7:15 am. Nancy had stayed home this weekend to get the
house ready for winter. We all had a little bite to eat and headed up to the
land. Todd had come up on Friday to set up and was ready to go when we arrived
at 8:00 am. Ben Ohlander had also come up earlier and was there to spend the
day with Todd down at his site.
We transferred all the trapping gear from Trudi's
mini-van into my mini-van (we leave mine up on the land) and drove up to the
main blind. Rick and Chuck worked on the nets; Trudi and I set up the blind. We
had everything set and ready to go at 8:45 am. The skies were clear with no
wind at all. At 9:35 am, an adult Red-tailed hawk was spotted making a dive
towards our fake owl, Rick pulled the lure line, and the tail transferred its
attention to the lure. It came in sort of slow and cautious, but drove right on
into the net instead of pulling up like they usually do when they come in slow.
Our first bird of the day, a nice adult Red-tailed hawk! Chuck banded it up and
we took a load of photos. Trudi got to let it go.
Around 10:45 am, our friend Marc Rude came up with his
good friend Jim Beaudoin
and Jim's friend Ed Durose. Jim and Ed are both very accomplished wildlife
artists. Jim won the Alaska duck
stamp art competition in 1988 and Ed won the Minnesota duck stamp art competition
in 1994. They were hoping to get a glimpse of a Northern Goshawk. A bunch of
eagles, rough-legs and red-tails were moving through but nothing was in a good
position to lure in. At 1:58 a young male Goshawk popped up to the north of us
and locked on to our lure. Jim and Ed got a good look at a Northern Goshawk as
it pumped in on a shallow dive right into the net. Chuck banded it and we all
took turns posing with a nice young gos. Ben even came up from Todd's to take a
look at it. Jim got to release the gos; I think that's a little better deal
than just getting a glimpse of one.
Around 3:00, my
youngest brother Mike came up with his oldest son Stephen, who is a student at
the University of Minnesota. At 3:08 another Goshawk, this time a large young
female, popped up to the north of us, turned when it saw the lure and barreled
right into the net. Chuck banded it and we all got some shots of us holding
this big beautiful doll. Ed was chosen to release this one. Rick took some very
nice slow motion shots with his camera and we all got a kick out of seeing the
gos power up in super slow motion. Speaking of slow motion, the migration had
all but stopped when Marc, Jim and Ed decided to head back down to the cities. We
didn't see anything else coming over so we closed down at 4:30.
We got a total of 3 birds and no bounce-outs on
Saturday.
1 Red-tailed hawk and 2
Goshawks.
When we headed back down to the campsite to
see what the evening plans would be, Todd was fixing his supper on the grill
and Stephen was thinking about having a pizza. So, Trudi, Rick, Chuck, Mike,
Stephen and I jumped in our cars and headed for the Pizza Hut in Two Harbors. I
felt a severe tinge of guilt for not having my usual hot meatloaf sandwich with fried
onions and mushrooms, topped off with an extra cup of gravy, but, oh well. I
ordered my second favorite meal of the north shore, Pizza Hut's spaghetti with
meat sauce, add cheese on the garlic bread. I even talked Stephen into trying
it. We got back to camp fairly early and just in time to see my brother Mike get
a wonderful campfire going with ONLY ONE match!
Sunday morning Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I started a little
later than usual, as this was our last trapping day of the season. We
were back up at the blind and ready to go at 8:10 am. The sky was a bit
overcast and there was no wind at all. Right after we had everything set up, I
noticed a quivering motion from "Lovey Dovey", our mechanical dove.
After 18 days of constant running, her nylon gears had stripped out. Chuck
offered to perform emergency surgery, but I figured I would just pull the
batteries and work on her in the off-season. Around 9:00 am we spotted a young
Red-tailed hawk sitting on top of some pine trees down by the farm. Then it
flew over to a spot we call "the crow tree". It sat there for a while
and then flew over to a pine in the middle of the second draw way down at the
other end of the field. It was ignoring our lure so we just let it sit for a
while. I figured we had nothing to lose with this one so I asked the rest of
the gang if I should try the dying rabbit predator call (not a pleasant sound
experience if you happen to be in the blind when it is blown). I tried it once,
Rick pulled the lure and at 9:20 am the young male Red-tailed hawk came
straight across the field and right into the net. HOT DAMN! First bird of the
day! Chuck banded it, we took some photos, and Trudi got to let it go.
At 9:56 we were all
sitting there wondering where all the birds had gone when Rick spotted a large
accipiter rowing along straight at us, but quite a ways out. Rick pulled the
lure and the gos just kept coming straight on and on and finally, into the net.
What a beauty! It was a second-year adult male Northern Goshawk. Chuck banded
it and we all took a load of photos of that one. Chuck released it, but this
time we had Rick positioned with his slow-mo camera so the gos would fly
straight at him upon release. Worked like a charm! That was our last bird of
the season. At 11:50 am a small adult male Sharp-shinned hawk make a pass at
the lure but hit high on the net and bounced out. We were all straining to see
if we could spot one more bird, when I saw a bunch of about ten party balloons
very high up, floating down to the north of us. I guess that was the signal
that the party was over and we should all head home. We closed down the blind
at noon.
After we closed the
blind, we went down to close up the campsite. Rick and Chuck helped us get
everything covered up before they headed for home. Trudi and I stopped in to
see Mr. Mattson before we headed out. We wanted to thank him again for letting
us use his hayfield for the past 43 years. We gave him one of my red-tail
prints and a gift basket of snacks, small compensation for what this great man
has given for all of us. During WWII he served as a crewmember of a B-24
Liberator bomber. His plane was shot down over Europe and with the help of the
French and Belgian underground, he avoided Nazi capture and made his way back
to England. He will be 93 in February. I consider it a great honor to be his
friend for these many years. He is truly an American Hero. THANK YOU, Mr.
Mattson!!!
We got 2 birds and 1 bounce-out on
Sunday.
1 Red-tailed hawk and 1
Goshawk.
Total for the weekend was 5 birds and 1 bounce-out.
3 Goshawks and 2 Red-tailed
hawks.
Grand Total for the year is 87.
To see the photos for this report, please scroll down.
Please
help hawks by supporting;
Hawk
Ridge Bird Observatory (www.hawkridge.org)
The
Raptor Center (www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu)
The National Eagle
Center (www.nationaleaglecenter.org)
Keep
your eyes on the skies.
Frank & Trudi Taylor
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01. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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02. Rick and Chuck pulling the red-tail out of the net.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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03. Chuck holding the red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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04. Chuck banding the red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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05. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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06. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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07. Rick, Chuck and me with the red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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08. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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09. Trudi and I holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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10. Trudi releasing the red-tail (shutter was a bit too
fast).
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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11. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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12. Red-tail looking at us from the north edge of the field.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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13. Young male Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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14. Rick and Chuck pulling the Goshawk out of the net
with Ed, Jim, and Marc watching them.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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15. Chuck banding the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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16. Young male Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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17. Marc, me, Trudi, Jim, Ben, Chuck and Ed with the gos.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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18. Young male Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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19. Marc, Jim, me, Ben, Chuck, Ed and Rick with the
Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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20. Young male Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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21. Here I am holding the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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22. Young male Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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23. Jim and Ed with the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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24. Ed holding the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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25. Jim holding the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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26. Jim getting ready to release the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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27. Jim releasing the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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28. Young female Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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29. Chuck banding the young female Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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30. Young female Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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31. Rick, me and Chuck with the gos.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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32. Rick, me and Chuck holding the young female Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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33. Young female Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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34. I'm showing my nephew Stephen (brother Mike's son) how
to hold the gos.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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35. Stephen holding the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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36. Uncle Frank, Stephen and Auntie Trudi with the
Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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37. Young female Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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38. Ed holding the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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39. Ed getting ready to release the Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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40. Ed releasing the gos.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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41. Young female Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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42. Gathering around Rick to see his slow motion shot of
the gos release.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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43. Stephen, Auntie Trudi and my brother Mike who
started the campfire with only one match!
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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44. Sunday morning Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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45. Rick and Chuck pulling the first bird of the day, a
young Red-tailed hawk, out of the net.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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46. Chuck banding the red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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47. Tail pattern of the young Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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48. Trudi, Chuck and Rick holding the red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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49. Trudi holding the young red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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50. Trudi getting ready to release the young red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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51. Trudi releasing the red-tail.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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52. Young male Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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53. Adult Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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54. Rick and Chuck pulling the gos out of the net.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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55. Chuck banding the gos.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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56. Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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57. Adult Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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58. Over the shoulder pose.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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59. Goshawk close-up.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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60. Chuck releasing the gos.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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61. Goshawk!
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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62. On our way home, we stopped in to visit with Mr.
Mattson and thank him again for the 43 years of trapping in his hayfield. We gave him one of my art prints. He is
truly a Great American Hero! During WWII he flew in a
B-24 Liberator bomber,
was shot down over Europe, avoided capture by the Nazis with the help of the
French and Belgian underground and made his way back to England. His 93rd
birthday will be in February. It is my great honor to have his friendship for
all these many years.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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63. An ore boat leaving the harbor at Duluth, MN.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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64. Ships at anchor in the harbor waiting to load up
with grain at Duluth.
Ninth Weekend 2012.
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