Second Weekend of Banding 2015

Hi All,

Here is my second report of the 2015-banding season, covering the weekend of September 12, 2015.

Trudi and I left for Duluth on Saturday morning around 5:15 am. The drive up is two and a half hours long and is incredibly beautiful as you watch the sun come up. You pass through misty farmlands that transition into pine forests, lakes and rocky outcroppings. The mist shrouding the pines and swamps, combined with the morning colors that paint the landscape, is stunning. The final breath-taker comes when you crest the hill above Duluth and look out over the harbor and see the great lake beyond stretching for miles toward the Northeast. At 7:45 we met Rick and Chuck at the McDonalds on London Road, grabbed a bit to eat and took off for Hawk Harbor. Todd had come up on Friday and was already set up and waiting for us when we got there.

After getting our camping gear put away in the various trailers, Rick drove Trudi, Chuck and me up to the main blind. We had every thing set up and ready to go at 9:30 am. The sky was clear blue with a very light Northwest wind. Just then Todd came walking up to the main blind with a young female Sharp-shinned hawk. Whoops, in our haste to get set up, I forgot to turn on the two-way radio that Todd calls us on to let us know if he has caught a bandable bird down at his site. Oh well, we had our first bird of the day without doing a thing to get it. We banded it and Trudi let it go. At 10:22 a young male shin that was lurking out in the woods behind us came in, hit the back net and bounced out and went back into the woods just behind us. We think it was the same bird that came in again, a few minutes later, up over the back net, hit the back of the front net, flew back into the front of back net and then, BOUNCED OUT AGAIN! At 10:36 another shin came in, hit the back net and bounced out! Three bounce outs in a row!

At 10:50 a shin popped up out in front by the fake owl, locked on to our lure, and shot right into the front net. Yeay!!! We got our first bird of the day at the main blind. We banded the young female Sharp-shinned hawk and Rick released it. We caught two more shins in the next hour and a half and then a small young female Cooper's hawk came in low from the draw and hit the front net. Our first Cooper's hawk of the year! A young female shin came in right after we caught the Cooper's hawk. We banded both of them, took a load of photos and then Trudi released the shin and Chuck released the Cooper's. Rick got a nice shot of the Cooper's with his new camera right as Chuck released it.

Around 12:30 I started fixing some Johnsonville Polish sausages on the grill behind the blind. We caught another young female shin at 12:35 while I was working the grill. At 1:16 we caught an adult female shin. It was a second year bird that still had some un-molted juvenile feathers. We banded it and Chuck released it. Rick got another cool shot with his camera, just as Chuck released it. We caught two more shins after that and then it really slowed down. A young female Merlin shot straight past the front of the blind at 4:00, but never gave us a look! We closed down at 6:00.

Todd's daughter Jessie and her boyfriend Matt had come up to help Todd down at his blind. So, Trudi, Jessie, Rick, Chuck, Todd, Matt and I all headed over to Emily's Lighthouse restaurant for supper. I ordered my 72nd hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy. When we got back to Hawk Harbor, we had a nice campfire before everyone headed off to sleep.

We got a total of 7 birds and 5 bounce-outs on Saturday.

1 Cooper's hawk and 6 Sharp-shinned hawks.

On Sunday morning the skies were clear and the wind was very light out of the Southwest. We had everything set up and ready to go at 7:00 am. Trudi fixed us a nice cup of hot chocolate while we watched a family of six kestrels playing around out in the draw. At 8:16 we had two shins come in. They both flew up over the front net, made a couple tight circles inside the nets, just over the lure. One hit the inside of the front net and the other popped up and out over the back net and went back into the woods. We caught two more young shins at 8:21 and 9:59, one male and one female. We banded them and Trudi did a double release of the shins. At 10:17 we caught a male kestrel. It came straight in from above the draw, out near the owl. What a beautiful little falcon! At 10:46 and 11:05 we caught two adult female Sharp-shinned hawks. Chuck released one of them and Rick took another cool shot of me releasing the other one. We didn't see any hawks flying after that so we closed down at noon and loaded into the back of Rick's truck for the trip back to Hawk Harbor.

Trudi and I stopped up at Hawk Ridge on our way home. A couple Turkey vultures, a young Merlin and a young Cooper's hawk flew by while we were there. I am always impressed with the team up at Hawk Ridge. The naturalists pointing out the passing birds to everyone are so knowledgeable and helpful to those who are not experienced at hawk watching. They have dedicated volunteers safely directing traffic and friendly people running the gift shop trailer and educational displays. What a great place to go to see our incredible hawk migration. Please go there if you can and support their efforts. I bought a cute hat and some red-tail earrings for Trudi.

We got a total of 6 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 American kestrel and 5 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Grand Total for the year is 30.

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. The first bird of the second weekend was a young female Sharp-shinned hawk caught by Todd.

Second Weekend 2015.

02. Trudi about to release the first shin.

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03. Trudi releasing the shin.

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04. Someone is watching us from the woods.

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05. Rick and Chuck with our first bird of the day at the main blind.

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06. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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07. Rick releasing the shin.

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08. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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09. Frank banding the shin while Trudi records the data.

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10. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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11. Chuck releasing the shin.

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12. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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13. Trudi releasing the shin with style.

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14. Chuck holding a young female Cooper's hawk.

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15. Trudi's photo of Rick and me taking photos of Chuck and the Cooper's hawk.

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16. Young female Cooper's hawk.

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17. Banded Cooper's hawk.

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18. Cooper's hawk foot.

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19. Young Cooper's hawk.

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20. Young Cooper's hawk doing the "Are you looking at me?" pose.

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21. Young Cooper's hawk.

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22. Young Cooper's hawk.

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23. Trudi and Chuck comparing a Sharp-shinned hawk and a Cooper's hawk.

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24. Sharp-shinned hawk and Cooper's hawk.

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25. Chuck releasing the Cooper's hawk.

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26. Rick's shot of the released Cooper's hawk.

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27. Frank fixing Polish sausages on the grill while Rick pulls a shin out of the net.

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28. Rick, Trudi and Chuck enjoying some Johnsonville Polish sausages at the blind.

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29. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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30. Adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

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31. Sharp-shinned hawk's tail with un-molted immature feathers.

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32. Adult Sharp-shinned hawk doing the "Are you looking at me?" pose.

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33. Adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

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34. Rick's photo of Chuck releasing the shin.

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35. My photo of Chuck releasing the same shin.

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36. "Ships that pass in the day". View from the blind.

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37. A dragonfly near the blind.

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38. A flower near the blind.

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39. Little flowers near the blind.

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40. Trudi, Rick, Chuck, Matt, Jessie and Todd having supper at Emily's Lighthouse restaurant.

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41. My 72nd lifetime hot meatloaf sandwich at Emily's Lighthouse restaurant.

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42. Jessie, Matt, Todd, Rick, Trudi and Chuck enjoying the campfire.

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43. A roaring campfire.

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44. A pair of Sunday morning kestrels out in the draw.

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45. Rick and Chuck taking our first hawk of the day out of the net.

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46. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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47. Rick and Chuck taking another shin out of the back net.

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48. Young male Sharp-shinned hawk.

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49. Comparing two young Sharp-shinned hawks.

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50. Trudi about to release the shins.

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51. Trudi doing a double shin release.

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52. Male American kestrel.

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53. Kestrel hitting the net.

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54. Rick taking the kestrel out of the net.

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55. Male American kestrel.

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56. Chuck banding the kestrel.

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57. Male American kestrel.

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58. Male American kestrel.

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59. Male American kestrel.

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60. The back side of the male kestrel.

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61. Frank about to release the kestrel.

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62. Frank releasing the kestrel.

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63. Chuck and Rick taking another shin out of the net.

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64. Adult female Sharp-shinned hawk doing the "Are you looking at me?" pose.

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65. Adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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66. Adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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67. Chuck releasing the shin.

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68. Adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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69. Adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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70. Rick's photo of Frank releasing a shin.

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71. Trudi and Frank riding back down the hill on Rick's tailgate while Chuck looks out the window.

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