Hi All,
Here we go, my first report of the banding season
for the weekend of August 31, 2013.
Since my last report in
November of 2012, we have had another interesting year.
In late November of 2012,
I attended the North American Falconers Association meet in Kearny, Nebraska,
with Dr. Patrick Redig. I saw lots of old friends and had a super time. While
out there, I started feeling a pinched sciatic nerve and then for the next few
months, it continued to get worse, so much so that I wasn't able to get out
hunting with Mim at all last season. Luckily it went away on its own by March
without having surgery.
In December, I received
a big surprise, a great honor and a SUPER GIFT. Jeff Redig (seeing a photo of
me in my seventh banding report of 2012, holding up some chocolate donuts and
dreaming about Swarovski binoculars that I was going to buy for myself when I
retire in two years) took it upon himself to start a committee that raised
enough money from people who have visited my blind to get me a pair, long
before my retirement date. They even had a surprise party for me where they
presented me with the binoculars and a plaque naming all the donors. I owe a big
THANK YOU to all of you who contributed.
On April 12, 2013, Dan
Olson from Minnesota Public Radio came out to the house to do an interview with
Mim and me about falconry for his Minnesota
Sounds and Voices program. You can see the photos they took and listen to
the interview at;
In mid-August, members of the Minnesota Falconers
Association and I did our 32nd annual Game Fair in Ramsey,
Minnesota. This was Mim’s 9th year out there. The weather was very
nice for the second year in a row and we had a lot of falconers with birds come
out to help.
This is our 44th
consecutive year of trapping hawks at the Mattson farm.
It was in September of 1970 that I first asked Mr. Mattson
if we could use his hayfield to “see if we could catch a couple hawks”. After
catching over 3,000 of those hawks and forty-four years later, it still seems
like only yesterday to me.
Trudi and I went up on
the weekend of August 24th to do some
weed whacking, mowing and cleaning up around the camping area on our land. We
also did the area around the blind.
Thanks to the generosity of Chuck and Nancy, we had a Port-a-potty delivered
and set up at the campsite. On Monday, August 26th, I went down to Bob
Crosbie's house in Lakeville, MN, to pick up some lure birds for this year. Thanks,
Bob; you'll get them back at the end of the season.
On Saturday, August 31st, Chuck met Trudi and me at
the Burger King on London Road in Duluth at 7:15 am. We had a little breakfast
and headed up to the land to meet Rick and Todd who had come up on Friday the
30th. Nancy was going to meet us on Sunday. Most of the trapping
gear was already loaded into my old Dodge Caravan that we had left on our land
last season. Rick had worked hard all day Friday to replace the rotten struts
and plywood on the front of our old blind. The wood was getting pretty rotten
in some places. He also cut a new door with a larger opening. (We are all
getting a little older and it was becoming very hard to duck through the old
opening.) Nice job, Ricko! Trudi cleaned out the inside of the blind and I
unloaded the trapping gear. Then she and I started camo painting the new wood
while Rick and Chuck set up the nets.
Before we finished setting up, Todd, who had come on Friday
and already had his rig set, caught our first bird of the season, a young
female Sharp-shinned hawk. Way to go, Todd! We had our rig ready to go by 9:30
am. Winds were light out of the southeast and the sky was clear. It was not a
good wind for migration with only a few shins and Turkey vultures slowly
drifting by.
It wasn't until 12:06 that the next bird came in at the main
blind. It was another young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Around 12:30, Chuck whispered in a low voice, "Take a
look over there". Rick and I looked over just past the opening in the draw
out in front and saw a huge gray timber wolf moving off to our left. I got off
a quick shot with my camera and took a look through the binoculars. As it moved
behind the brush, I noticed its tail was missing. Later on our Homestead Road
neighbor, Don, came up to say hi on his four-wheeler. He said they had seen
that same wolf around there for the past two years. We decided to name it
Tail-gunner. I hope he lays low and makes it through the new Minnesota wolf
hunting seasons.
My brother Dan, his wife Kate, and their youngest son Colin
stopped at the campsite around 1:00. Dan and Kate came up from Rochester, MN,
to meet Colin who has been working this year as a canoe trip guide for the Boy
Scouts way north in Canada. My brother Mike also joined us and opened his
trailer as a hospitality house. He stocks lots of goodies!
Greg Mikkelson, a falconer friend from the Twin Cities, was
scouting his trapping site farther up the shore and stopped by to sit in with
us as his site was not yet ready. Greg is a super good hawk spotter, so it was
nice to have him help us spot birds for a few days.
Around 2:00, we had a young female Northern harrier float
around the field, but it didn't come in. Even though we didn't get it, I still
enjoyed watching it through my new 10 x 50 Swarovskis.
We got one more bird that day, a young female Sharp-shinned
hawk that came in at 1:30. It flew over the front net and back into the woods
behind the blind. Rick did a couple of tugs on the lure and it shot right in to
the back net. Nothing else was moving after that, so we stuck it out until 4:15
before we closed down for the day.
We got a total of 3 birds and no bounce outs on
Saturday.
3 Sharp-shinned hawks.
After we closed the blind for the night, Dan, Kate,
Colin, Rick, Chuck, Trudi and I headed over to the Lighthouse Restaurant for
supper. Todd, Greg and Mike stayed back at the camp to eat their supper by the
campfire. I had planned on having my 52nd hot meatloaf sandwich with fried
onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy. But, business was so good that
day that they had RUN OUT of meatloaf!
So I had the hot turkey sandwich instead and said I would be back the
next night for the meatloaf. (Point of note: Just about every time I have
ordered the hot meatloaf sandwich, Ricko has had the hot roast turkey sandwich.
He must be up to about 45 by now. That's for all you hot sandwich
statisticians.) We had a nice dinner and went back to hang out by the campfire
before turning in for the night.
Sunday morning we all headed over to Mike's trailer for hot
chocolate and raisin toast before going up to the blind. We were there and set
up by 7:30 am. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and medium northwest
winds. Sharp-shins and Broad-wings started moving right away on the brisk
winds. The first bird we caught was an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk that
came in at 10:40. Nancy arrived around the same time and we started catching
shins at regular intervals all day. Todd caught a young female shin down at his
site around 3:30, so he brought it up and we banded it. We caught one more shin
around 3:45 that came in to the back net from the woods behind us and then the
winds died down and the birds quit moving. Around 5:00, we were enjoying the
evening light on the farm pines, watching a huge flock of crows settling in for
the night, when a small young male Merlin attacked the lookout crow on the
tallest pine. He proceeded to take a shot at every one of the crows that dared
to get in the sky with him for the next fifteen minutes. After he drove them
all deep into the pines he made one victory lap around the field and saw our
lure. Nothing was going to make a move in his field that he didn't take
a shot at, so after two close passes he barreled right into the net. Nice way
to end the day! We shut down at 5:30.
We got a total of 10 birds and 1 bounce out on Sunday.
9 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Merlin.
Sunday evening, Rick headed for home and Greg, Mike, Chuck,
Nancy, Trudi and I headed over to the Lighthouse Restaurant for supper. Todd
stayed back at the camp to eat his supper and start the campfire. I ordered and
got my 52nd hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra
bowl of gravy. We had a nice dinner and we all went back to sit by the campfire
that Todd had already started.
Monday morning was misty with some drizzle, but it all dried
off by the time we reached the blind and there was only a slight breeze from
the north. We had the nets set and ready to go by 8:00. We caught a shin at 8:58 and then one
about every hour until 11:00. Due to the light winds and lack of moving birds
we had decided we would close shop at noon. At 11:55, out of a clear blue sky
and unnoticed by all of us until it was only a few feet away from the net, came
blasting a young, light colored, Red-tailed hawk! We took some photos, banded
it and closed down for the weekend.
We got a total of 5 birds and no bounce outs on
Monday.
4 Sharp-shinned hawks
and 1 Red-tailed hawk.
Total for the weekend was 18 birds and only one bounce-out.
1 Red-tailed hawk, 1 Merlin and 16 Sharp-shinned hawks.
Grand Total for the year is 18.
In an effort to keep this file small and save me some time
resizing photos, I am including my
"North Shore Banding - Frank Taylor" link so you
can look at the photos from this last weekend.
Click on the link below and then scroll down below the
report to see all the photos. You can also review any of my weekly reports from
last year as well by clicking on the 2012 links at the right side of that page.
To see my photos covering this report click on;
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)
If you would like, you can friend me on Facebook.
Look up . . . https://www.facebook.com/Frank.Taylor.Raptor.Specialist
Keep
your eyes on the skies.
Frank & Trudi Taylor
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01. My surprise party for the new Binoculars.
First Weekend 2013.
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02. Jennifer Simonson, Dan Olson, Mim and me, doing the
MPR interview.
First Weekend 2013.
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03. Ron Schara introducing Mim and me at the Anoka Game
Fair.
First Weekend 2013.
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04. Our new outhouse.
First Weekend 2013.
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05. Blind with front missing.
Photo by Rick DuPont.
First Weekend 2013.
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06. Blind with new wood and door.
First Weekend 2013.
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07. Our first bird of the year, a young female
Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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08. Todd holding our first bird of the year that he caught.
First Weekend 2013.
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09. Chuck banding our first bird of the season.
First Weekend 2013.
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10. Young shin in hand.
First Weekend 2013.
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11. The Three Amigos, Rick, Chuck and me.
First Weekend 2013.
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12. Trudi releasing the first shin of the year.
First Weekend 2013.
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13. I didn't know they could wink independently.
First Weekend 2013.
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14. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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15. Sharp-shinned hawk doing a "Coming In" pose.
First Weekend 2013.
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16. Old "Tail-gunner," the tail-less Timber
wolf.
First Weekend 2013.
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17. Having supper at Emily's Lighthouse restaurant.
First Weekend 2013.
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18. Hot chocolate and raisin toast in Mike's trailer.
First Weekend 2013.
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19. Sunday morning shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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20. Nancy, Chuck and Rick with shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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21. Nancy letting the shin go.
First Weekend 2013.
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22. Chuck turned my camera on me to show what I do best
at the blind.
First Weekend 2013.
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23. A young male Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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24. Greg holding the shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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25. Greg releasing the shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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26. Trudi and me holding a shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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27. Trudi releasing the shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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28. Rick and Chuck getting one out of the net.
First Weekend 2013.
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29. Chuck banding another shin while Greg takes a shot.
First Weekend 2013.
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30. Chuck and Nancy holding triple shins.
First Weekend 2013.
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31. Rick, Trudi, Chuck, Greg and Nancy with shins.
First Weekend 2013.
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32. Trudi, Chuck and Nancy doing a triple release.
First Weekend 2013.
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33. Rick, me, Chuck and Greg checking out Rick's slow
motion shots.
First Weekend 2013.
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34. Feisty little male Merlin that beat up on the crows.
First Weekend 2013.
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35. Merlin doing "Hollywood" pose.
First Weekend 2013.
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36. Merlin doing "Are You Lookin' at Me?" pose.
First Weekend 2013.
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37. Adult female Sharp-shinned hawk with un-molted
juvenile feathers.
First Weekend 2013.
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38. Incomplete molted shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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39. Juvenile feathers were very faded and worn.
First Weekend 2013.
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40. Molting shin tail with juvenile feather.
First Weekend 2013.
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41. Monday morning shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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42. Greg letting a shin go.
First Weekend 2013.
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43. Nancy holding a shin
First Weekend 2013.
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44. Nancy letting a shin go.
First Weekend 2013.
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45. Trudi holding a shin.
First Weekend 2013.
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46. Trudi letting a shin go.
First Weekend 2013.
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47. Young Red-tailed hawk doing "Coming In" pose.
First Weekend 2013.
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48. Young Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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49. Young Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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50. Young Red-tailed hawk doing "Are You Lookin' at
Me?" pose.
First Weekend 2013.
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51. Chuck and Nancy holding the Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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52. Nancy holding the young male Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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53. Nancy releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2013.
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