September
29, 2012
Hi All,
Here we go with
my fifth report of the banding season
for the weekend of September 29th,
2012.
I met Rick and Chuck at the Burger King on London Road
in Duluth at 7:15 am. We had a little breakfast and headed up to the land.
Trudi stayed home this weekend and Nancy was coming up on Sunday. When we got
to the land, Todd, his daughter Jesse and her boyfriend Matt were already
there. They had come up on Friday. Mike Klimas was also up and setting up his
trapping rig down on my land.
This report will be a little sketchy as Chuck and Nancy
are staying up to trap for the week and have the data sheets with them. Sad to
say we are half way through the season and our numbers are looking pretty low. We
got everything set up and ready to go by 8:45 am. The skies were clear and the
wind was out of the northeast. When I drove the mini-van back down to the edge
of the field, Mattie Lasch, his girlfriend Sara, and his Dad Glenn were there
to meet me. This was Sara's first time up to the blind. At ten minutes to nine,
Chad Hines, a professor at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN brought up
14 students. This group has been coming up to the blind ever since my niece
Sarah Taylor was one of the students, seven years ago. Chad is a fantastic hawk
spotter and the students are the most enjoyable and enthusiastic young people
you will ever have the pleasure to spend some time with. I gave them the usual
tour of the station with a hawk talk and then handed out my free-bees (book
mark, identification sheet and an art print).
We were settled in for only a short time when a
helicopter came in and landed out in the field in front of us. The pilot got
out and cleaned off the lens of his steady-cam located under the nose of the
chopper. He didn't see us at all. A few birds were moving but most were too
high to come in. Things were looking pretty bleak when all of a sudden, a
Merlin popped up over the fake owl out in the draw. Rick pulled the lure line
and we had our one and only bird of the day. Every one gathered around as Rick
and Chuck pulled it out of the net. Then Chuck banded it and we took a load of
photos with the students thinking this might be our only photo op for the day,
and it was! Dorothy, one of the seniors, was chosen to release the Merlin.
Later we saw our first Rough-legged hawk of the season. Chad spotted it coming
from the north. It took a look at us and kept going. At noon, Chad and the
students headed into Two Harbors for lunch. Mattie, Glenn and Sara fixed a
great lunch of brats for us on the grill they had brought along. They also gave
me a whole blueberry and wild rice summer sausage to take home. They brought
one of these up last year to share and I raved that it was the best summer
sausage I had ever tasted! Thank you, guys!
A little while later Mavis Magnison and her nephew Larry
stopped by to see how we were doing. Mavis handled all the shipping of The
Raptor Center's program birds when she was working at Northwest Airlines and I
was Curator of Education Birds. Nothing was moving so they left to go look at
the beautiful fall colors up along the shore. After they left, my cousin Pat
Volkmann and her husband Gary came by with a couple that they used to live next
door to. Pat had only been up to my land once, a few years ago, while my family
was having a camp out and she did not know my blind was across the road in the
hay field. So on their way up they stopped at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory
thinking that was where I had my set up. When they asked the naturalist where
"Frank's" banding blind was, they told them how to get back to their
main banding station that "Frank Nicoletti" runs. They said they were
quite surprised to see a different "Frank" come out to meet them and
the people at the blind where not too happy to have uninvited guests. OOOPS!!!
It was a case of mistaken "Franks"!!! They eventually got to my place
and stayed for a while. We didn't see any birds while they were up, so we did
the "Wish-Bird" sign and they drove off to see the Depot Museum in
Duluth.
Around 2:00 Chad and the students came back and at 3:00
my friend Tim stopped up with his friend Dee who had been up a few weeks ago
and had bought us all supper at the Lighthouse Restaurant. We had a couple
Merlins come by and buzz the nets but nothing got caught so we closed down the
station at 5:00.
We got a total of 1 bird and one bounce-out on Saturday.
1 Merlin.
Chad and the students headed back to their camp site and
Rick, Chuck, Sara, Mattie, Glenn, Tim, Dee, Mike and I headed over to the
Lighthouse Restaurant for supper. Todd, Jesse and Matt fixed their supper over
the campfire. It took a while to get us all in, so I had
plenty of time to think about what meal I might order. Hmmm let's see, . . .
what else? A hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions and mushrooms, topped off
with an extra cup of gravy. For the record, that was my 48th hot meatloaf
sandwich!
Sunday morning the wind was coming out of the east and the
skies were overcast. Nancy arrived and we got everything set up and were ready
to start at 7:30 am. Right away we noticed the crows out front were becoming
agitated by something moving along the draw. A coyote stepped out into the
field and looked like it was coming to see "Lovey Dovey". It noticed
something wasn't quite right so it slinked back off into the brush on the north
side of the field. A little while later, Mattie, Sara and Glenn came back up
along with the Bethany group. A few birds had started moving when Chad spotted
a Peregrine falcon soaring high up and to the north of us. Rick worked the lure
and it headed our way. Just as it was getting in range, Rick pulled on the lure
line again and it broke sending the bait into our net, knocking the whole thing
down. The Peregrine flew right over and kept on going. A short time passed and
we saw a young Red-tailed hawk soaring around in about the same place where we
spotted the Peregrine. Rick pulled the line and it started a long dive that
came around in front of us and about half way down it stuck out its legs ready
to connect. What a sight to see that big bird shining bright and white in the
sun, bombing in ready for action! At the last second it pulled up and went over
the net and into the trees. Arrrgh!!! Everyone was talking about that magnificent stoop when
another big young female Peregrine dove into the field from high out in front.
We all watched it streak by us and level out after a flock of crows that was
rising out of the field to the south of us. The Peregrine actually hit one of
the crows as they lifted off the deck to clear some trees. The crow seemed
unhurt and the falcon kept on going, heading southwest, out of the field. We
had a Merlin and a couple more shins come in but didn't get caught. Then a
female shin popped in and we got it! We took a load of photos of it and it was
decided that the other senior, Tarja, would have the honor of releasing that
bird.
It really slowed down after that so every one except Chuck
and Nancy decided to leave at noon. They were going to stay up trapping for the
week and had planned on trapping till late that day. I went down to pull a dead
battery out of the minivan and go in to get a new one in Duluth before I headed
home. As I was cussing out the rusty nuts and bolts that were unmovable and
causing me to cut up my knuckles down at the van, I heard a falcon calling from
back up at the blind. Chuck and Nancy had just caught a big young female
Peregrine falcon. I went up and took some photos and then Chuck released it. I
headed into Duluth to get the new battery. When I got back, Chuck said a couple
more Peregrines had come by. One of them, a small male, was so intent on
hitting "Lovey Dovey" that it made several stoops before he was able
to get its attention. When I checked out "Lovey Dovey", our
mechanical lure, she had scratch marks on her wings from where the falcon had
hit her. I headed for home around four o' clock while Chuck and Nancy kept on
trapping and caught one more shin.
We got 3 birds and 2 bounce-outs on
Sunday.
2 Sharp-shinned hawks
and 1 Peregrine falcon.
Total for the weekend was 4 birds and 3 bounce-outs.
1 Merlin, 2
Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Peregrine falcon.
Grand Total for the year is 50.
Please
help hawks by supporting these organizations.
Keep
your eyes on the skies.
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01. Explaining to the students from Bethany Lutheran
College why we band birds.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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02. Telling the students how the nets work.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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03. Student overflow area, good place to sleep when
things are slow.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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04. Very clever camouflage, works much better in
Australia.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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05. News helicopter making an unscheduled landing out
front.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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06. The pilot got out to clean the lens of his
steady-cam under the nose of the chopper.
That's my bobble-crow down in front.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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07. Chopper heading out to get more shots of fall colors.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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08. First and only bird of the day, a Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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09. Chuck and Rick pulling the Merlin out of the net.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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10. Students taking pictures of Rick and Chuck at work
on the Merlin in the net.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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11. Chuck showing students how we gather data on each
bird.
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12. Chuck taking a tail measurement.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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13. Mattie and Sara with the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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14. Merlin with fall colors.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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15. This was the only bird we got all day. It generated
a lot of excitement!
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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16. Everyone who wanted a picture taken with the Merlin
lined up for a shot.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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17. A happy Bethany Lutheran College student holding the
Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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18. Another happy Bethany Lutheran College student
holding the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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19. Another happy Bethany Lutheran College student holding
the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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20. Another happy Bethany Lutheran College student
holding the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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21. Another happy Bethany Lutheran College student
holding the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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22. Another happy Bethany Lutheran College student
holding the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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23. And yet, another happy Bethany Lutheran College
student holding the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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24. Another happy Bethany Lutheran College student
holding the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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25. The Merlin.
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26. Here I am with Chad Heins, who is the professor for the
group.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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27. Group shot including Bethany People, Chuck, Frank,
Mattie and Sara.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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28. Dorothy, a senior, was chosen to release the Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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29. Other students coaching Dorothy on how to do a
proper release.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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30. Dorothy executing the release in perfect form.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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31. The Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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32. My cousin Pat and her husband Gary Volkman (on left)
came up with a couple of their friends (on right).
Sorry to say we caught no birds while they were there
and had to do the "Wish-Bird" sign.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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33. Sunday morning the crows down in the draw started cawing
at something in the bush; it turned out to be a coyote.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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34. Blurry shot of coyote. Sorry, I didn't have a good
telephoto lens.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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35. First bird of the day on Sunday was a Sharp-shinned
hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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36. Rick and Chuck taking the shin out of the net.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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37. Bethany students watching Rick and Chuck remove the
shin from the net on Sunday.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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38. Chuck telling the students about Sharp-shinned hawks.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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39. Chuck holding up the shin for a photo op.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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40. Sharp-shinned hawk portrait.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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41. Glenn (Mattie's Dad), Sarah and Mattie posing with
the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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42. Head-on shot of the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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43. Tarja was selected to release the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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44. Tarja, another senior, holding the shin before
release.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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45. Tarja releasing the shin in perfect style.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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46. Adult Sharp-shinned hawk with fall colors.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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47. Guess what showed up after every one else had left
on Sunday?
An immature female Peregrine falcon!!
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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48. Nancy and Chuck holding the Peregrine they caught on
Sunday afternoon.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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49. Peregrine falcon.
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50. Peregrine falcon.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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51. Peregrine falcon.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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52. Chuck releasing the Peregrine. Sorry, it's a little
fuzzy.
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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53. A total of five Peregrines flew past our blind on
Sunday.
One male falcon did about five stoops on "Lovey
Dovey", our mechanical lure, before Chuck could get its attention with the
real lure! It left scratches on Lovey Dovey's wings!
Fifth Weekend 2012.
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