Banding Totals for 2014

December 31, 2014

Hi All,

Well, this is it, my final tally for the 2014 banding season. This year we banded a total of 202 birds. Last year we only got 127, so we are continuing on an upswing! We still didn't get a lot of birds compared to some years, but then again, we had a super time. On September 14th we banded 38 hawks and set an all time record for number of hawks banded in one day. Our old record was 34 hawks in one day. This was also my first season using my new implanted eye lenses from cataract surgery that I had last summer. That, along with my new 10 x 50 Swarovski binoculars made this an incredible year for hawk watching!

We get lots of birds visiting each year, but we also get a good number of relatives, friends, falconers, birders and students coming up to share in the fun. I did a tally again this year of individuals who were up enjoying our banding activities. I counted each person only once, even if they came up multiple times. We had 68 individuals and 6 organized groups containing 48 people. A total of 116 guests were able to have an exceptional hawk viewing experience up at our site this year!

I hope their visit inspires each of them to a greater appreciation for our feathered friends, the raptors, and to make donations to:

The Raptor Center (www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu),

The National Eagle Center (www.nationaleaglecenter.org) and

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (www.hawkridge.org).

Please support the people who work to help the raptors in our state.

Also, just in!!! I heard that Emily’s Lighthouse Restaurant in Knife River has reopened. If you are traveling up that way, stop in and have a really delicious smothered meatloaf sandwich. Tell them Frank “The Hawk-banding Meatloaf Guy” sent you!

A very special THANK YOU goes to Mr. Mattson for letting us yet again use his hay field for the forty-fifth year in a row.

Also a big THANK YOU goes to Bob Crosbie and Jeff Stedman for supplying our lure birds this year.

Last but not least, I really must say a BIG THANK YOU to every one of our banding crew who came up to do the banding again this year. What a great and dedicated team of regulars we have. Trudi Taylor, Rick DuPont, Chuck & Nancy Schotzko and Todd Rosengren: without your dedication and co-operation, we would not be able to do this thing we love so much, year after year.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!

Here it is, the final breakdown.

Eagles - None

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Peregrines - None

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Merlins - 11

Immys 11  Males 6  Females 5

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Kestrels - 1

Immys 1  Males 0  Females 1

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Goshawks - 8

Immys 7  Males 5  Females 2

Adults 1   Males 0  Females 1

Cooper’s - 6

Immys 3  Males 2  Females 1

Adults 3   Males 1  Females 2

Sharp-shins - 162

Immys 117  Males 49  Females 11

Adults 45   Males 11  Females 34

Red-tails - 10

Immys 6  Males 5  Females 1

Adults 4   Males 3  Females 1

Rough-legs - None

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Broad-wings - 1

Immys 1  Males 1  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Harriers - 3

Immys 2  Males 2  Females 0

Adults 1  Males 0  Females 1

2014 Total Raptors 202

We caught only one banded bird this year, an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

We had a total of 43 bounce-outs. (28 more than last year)

Thanks for being such great friends and sharing an interest in our modest program!

This year was our 45th consecutive year of catching hawks in Mr. Mattson’s field.

I hope to see you all again next fall, and meanwhile keep your eyes on the skies!

Frank & Trudi Taylor

Tenth Weekend of Banding 2014

November 1, 2014

Hi All,

Here is my tenth report of the 2014 banding season, covering the weekend of November 1, 2014.

Trudi and I drove up to the Spirit Mountain McDonalds on Saturday morning where we met Rick at 8:00. Nancy and Chuck pulled in right behind us. We had a little breakfast and headed up to Hawk Harbor. Todd had gone up on Friday night and was already sitting in his blind when we drove by. We packed up the old van and drove it up to the main blind. We set up the banding station and were ready to start at 9:45. Skies were clear and the wind was light out of the southwest. Hardly any birds were moving. We saw a couple of Bald eagles, some ravens and some crows.

Around 10:15 we saw a female Northern Harrier working the other end of the field. It spotted Todd's rig and made a beeline straight for his lure. We got our first bird of the day at 10:17, an adult female Northern Harrier. Chuck walked down to Hawk Harbor to get it from Todd. When he got back, he banded it and we took a bunch of photos. Nancy and Chuck released that one. We have seen more Northern Harriers this year than any other year so far. I don't know if it is just that more harriers are attracted to the field because it was not hayed this year or that there are a lot more harriers moving through this year.

At 11:23, an adult female Northern Harrier (possibly the same one that we had just banded) started working our end of the field. It spotted our lure from the draw and made a direct run to the net. However, it hit high and bounced out. Aaargh!

We sat looking for more birds for what seemed like an eternity. Some Bald eagles and Rough-legged hawks came by but none of them seemed interested at all. We saw one adult Red-tailed hawk pass us far to the North and at 1:14 we saw another adult Red-tailed hawk soaring out over Homestead road. Rick pulled the lure, it stopped circling and then set its wings for a long shallow stoop. It came right in! We banded it, took some photos and Trudi let this one go. Twice that day we saw strange cloud formations. They looked like something was punching a hole in the cloud cover. Later on, we saw a falcon fly overhead. It passed so fast I was just able to get a distant photo. It was an F-16 "Fighting Falcon" jet that was part of the Bulldog Team of the Air National Guard, stationed in Duluth. I saw these guys perform at the 2008 air show in Duluth and took some closer shot of them then. Nothing else came in that day so we closed down at 4:00.

Todd joined Nancy, Trudi, Rick, Chuck and me to go have supper. However, the sad news is that Emily's Lighthouse restaurant has closed down for good! Thus ends my long and glorious tradition of Saturday night hot meatloaf sandwiches with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy, at the mere count of 71. Not being ones to steer too far from tradition, we drove to the old Lakeview Castle, where we used to go for supper years ago. It is now called the Clearwater Grill & Event Center, but still has a great view of Lake Superior from its huge front windows. I ordered the French dip sandwich because we were so near the French River, and to keep things traditional, I also asked for an extra load of fried onions on it. When we got back to Hawk Harbor, my brothers Tony and Mike were there. We built a nice big campfire and all warmed up before hitting the sack.

We got a total of 2 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.

1 Northern Harrier and 1 Red-tailed hawk.

On Sunday morning the skies were partly cloudy and the wind was very light out of the South. After some hot chocolate and some waxy donuts, we went back up to the main blind. Todd went over to his site but he only stayed for a short while since his knee was giving him trouble. We were all set up and ready to go at 8:45. At 11:30 my friend Jen Harner from Duluth and her boyfriend Steve Lawrence who was visiting from California, came up to see us. We saw a lot of Bald eagles and some Rough-legged hawks that day, but nothing came in. Another "skunked day", so we did the "Wish Bird" sign (wish we had a hawk to let go) as Jen and Steve left. We closed down the banding station for this season at noon. Then, we packed all the gear into the old van where it will be stored until next year. Chuck, Nancy and Rick did a farewell salute as I lowered the fake owl for the last time this year.

When we got back down to Hawk Harbor, my brothers Tony and Mike had brought a birthday cake and card for Trudi whose birthday is on Wednesday this week. We held a little birthday party for Trudi and then all said our farewells for the year. Tony and Mike stayed a little longer to help tarp some of the trailers and secure Hawk Harbor for winter camping.

We got a total of 0 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.

We got skunked on our last day!

Grand Total for the year is 203.

Age and sex of all birds that bounce-out are obviously a "best guesstimate" by the closest witness and should not be considered hard data.

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

01. Adult female Northern Harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

02. Chuck banding the harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

03. Female Northern Harrier doing the "Are You Looking at Me?" pose.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

04. Trudi, Nancy, Chuck and Rick with the harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

05. Adult female Northern Harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

06. Harrier showing the white rump patch and un-molted tail feathers.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

07. Nancy, Rick, Chuck and Trudi holding the harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

08. Harrier doing a "Yearbook" pose.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

09. Chuck and Nancy getting ready to release the Northern Harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

10. Chuck and Nancy releasing the Northern Harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

11. Adult Red-tailed hawk.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

12. Red-tailed hawk diving into the net.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

13. Rick and Chuck pulling the Red-tailed hawk out of the net.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

14. Chuck banding the Red-tailed hawk.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

15. Chuck showing us the front of the Red-tailed hawk.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

16. Adult Red-tailed hawk doing the "Are You Looking at Me?" pose.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

17. Chuck showing us the back of the Red-tailed hawk.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

18. Rick, Nancy, Chuck and Trudi with the Red-tailed hawk.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

19. Red-tailed hawk doing the "Profile" pose.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

20. Me holding the red-tail.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

21. Trudi took a picture of me taking a picture of the red-tail.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

22. Trudi's photo of the red-tail.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

23. Adult Red-tailed hawk doing the "Hello Down There" pose.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

24. Trudi and me with the last bird of our banding season.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

25. Trudi about to release the Red-tailed hawk.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

26. Trudi releasing our last bird of the season.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

27. We saw some very interesting cloud formations that day.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

28. A falcon flew over our blind, an F-16 Falcon that is.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

29. A closer look at an F-16 Falcon

belonging to the Air National Guard Bulldogs Team.

I took this photo at an air show in 2008.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

30. Another closer look at an F-16 Falcon

belonging to the Air National Guard Bulldogs Team, coming in for a landing.

I took this photo at an air show in 2008.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

31. An F-16 Fighting Falcon landing at the Duluth Airport.

I took this photo at an air show in 2008.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

32. Me, Steve and Jen doing the "Wish Bird Sign".

Tenth Weekend 2014.

33. Taking the banding gear out of the blind and packing it into the old van,

where it will be stored until next season.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

34. Chuck, Nancy and Rick doing a ceremonial salute as

the fake owl is taken down on the last day of the season.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

35. The fake owl being lowered for the last time this season.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

36. Some of the Taylor brothers, Tony, me and Mike.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

37. Trudi and Nancy serving up the birthday cake that Tony brought for Trudi.

Trudi's birthday is on Wednesday this week.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

38. Mike, Trudi, Nancy, Rick, Chuck and Tony celebrating Trudi's birthday at Hawk Harbor.

Tenth Weekend 2014.