Hi All,
Here is my eighth report
of the 2015 banding season, covering the weekend of October 24th, 2015.
Trudi and I drove up on
Saturday morning to the McDonalds on London Road in Duluth to meet Rick and
Chuck for breakfast. Nancy stayed home this weekend and Todd came up the night
before. After a small breakfast, we left for Hawk Harbor. When we got there, we
transferred all our banding gear into Rick's truck and drove out to the blind.
The skies were clear and a slight wind was blowing from the Northwest.
Everything was set up and ready to catch birds at 9:15 am.
We saw a lot of adult
Red-tails, eagles and some adult shins and Rough-legged hawks getting up all
around us. They all just passed over us without showing any interest in our
lure.
Around 9:30 my friend
Larry Aho who lives on Ely Lake near Eveleth, Minnesota, came up to spend the
day with us. Larry is retired and likes to travel around the area taking
photos. Just after we showed Larry how our set up works, Shelley Paquette came
with her husband Guy and their two sons Lee and Ben. Shelley works at Rise
Inc., the company I retired from a year ago. Shelley and her family have been
coming up to see us every year for the past ten years.
At 12:18 we spotted a
young Northern goshawk coming towards us from the North side of the field. Once
it saw the lure, it came straight in and slammed into the front net. Yeay!!!
Our first Northern goshawk of the year. We banded it, took some photos, and
because it was Larry's first time visiting the blind, he was chosen to release
the gos.
Right after that we broke
out the grill and prepared some of those (oh, so delicious!!) Johnsonville
Polish Kielbasa sausages.
Things didn't improve
much after lunch. Every bird we saw was going over so high, they were almost
out of sight. At 1:38 we saw a shin coming along over the spruces to the North.
Rick caught its attention before it found a thermal to rise up on and it
dropped down over the spruces, glided across the North field, popped up over
the draw and came in low right into the front net. We banded that one, took
some photos and as it was Ben's birthday on Friday, he got to let the shin go.
We had a couple
Red-tailed hawks come in and sit in the tree above the blind, but the shin was
our second and last bird of the day so we closed down at 5:00. Larry and the
Paquette family left for home while Trudi, Rick, Chuck, Todd and I went over to
Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant for supper. I am so sad to say that I had my 78th
and LAST hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra cup of
gravy at Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant that night, as the owners have decided
to get out of the restaurant business. Ben Ohlander was up trapping with Jack
Vooge for the weekend and stopped in on his way home to have supper with us.
Several other falconers who had been trapping stopped in as well but Emily's
was so crowded, due to their closing, that they didn't want to wait in the long
line. After supper we went back to Hawk Harbor for a nice campfire. Falconers
Chris Karraker and Tim Hochsprung arrived later and also camped at Hawk Harbor.
We got a total of 2 birds
and no bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Northern goshawk and 1
Sharp-shinned hawk.
Sunday morning we got up
to the blind and had everything set up by 8:00 am. The skies were clear and
there was not a breeze to be felt. Trudi fixed us all a hot cup of chocolate
and Rick broke out the "waxy donuts". After that, we had some of
Nancy's wonderful chocolate chip cookies for desert. Falconer Chris Karraker
went up to Dan Orth's trapping spot and Tim Hochsprung went to meet up with
Michael Cogar at his trapping field. The Raptor Education Group Inc. from
Wisconsin was supposed to come up on Sunday but had to cancel since they had
received so many injured birds for rehab last week. If you can, please make a
donation to help them through this busy time.
Around 10:00 we started
seeing birds get up, but like yesterday, they caught the first thermal and rose
up out of sight. Just when we thought nothing was looking our way, we spotted a
young Northern goshawk coming toward us over the flat top pine. Rick showed it
the lure and it swooped in low across the field and was caught. That was
goshawk number two for the year and our first bird of the day. We banded that
one, took a load of photos and Rick, Trudi and Chuck did a group release while
I took the photo.
At 11:00 Michael Cogar
and Tim Hochsprung came up to our blind to see our set up. We told them that if
things are slow we usually close down for the weekend at noon. At 11:59 just as
Rick was telling them that he couldn't believe we hadn't had even one
Red-tailed hawk make a pass at the lure, a small, young Red-tailed hawk dropped
in from straight above the blind without hitting any net. Rick exploded out of
the blind and chased it into the back net. We banded it, took photos and
Michael was chosen to do the release. Nice way to end the weekend!!!
We got a total of 2 birds
and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.
1 Northern goshawk and 1
Red-tailed hawk.
Grand Total for the year
is 146.
Trudi and I packed up and
left Hawk Harbor around 2:00. We figured we could just make it to Crex Meadows
wildlife area just north of Grantsburg, Wisconsin, by sundown. If you get a
chance to go there at this time of year, near sunset, you will witness one of
wildlife's greatest natural phenomenons. Thousands of Sandhill cranes come in
from the surrounding area every night to roost in the Crex Meadows wildlife
area. The sight of thousands of these graceful birds approaching in long lines
that cross the sky is something to behold! The noise they make is incredible!
In the midst of the cranes are Bald eagles, Northern harriers, swans, geese,
ducks and grebes. I tried to get some shots but the low light made it difficult
to get any photos that were not grainy. We stayed until dark and then headed
home.
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.
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01. First bird of the day, a young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015
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02. Chuck and Rick taking the goshawk out of the net.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015
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03. Young male Northern goshawk.
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04. Young male Northern goshawk.
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05. Chuck banding the goshawk.
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06. Young male Northern goshawk.
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07. Shelley, Trudi, Lee, Ben, Chuck, Guy, Larry and Rick
holding the goshawk.
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08. Young male Northern goshawk.
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09. Larry about to release the Northern goshawk.
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10. Larry releasing the Northern goshawk.
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11. Banded goshawk heading South.
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12. Frank fixing lunch on the grill behind the blind.
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13. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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14. Rick and Chuck taking the shin out of the net.
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15. Guy, Ben, Lee and Chuck contemplating what this shin
must be thinking.
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16. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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17. Ben, Guy, Chuck, Lee, Larry and Rick holding the
shin.
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18. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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19. Guy, Lee and Ben about to release the shin.
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20. Guy, Lee and Ben releasing the shin.
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21. An adult Red-tailed hawk in the tree above the blind.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015
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22. Rick, Chuck, Ben, Frank, Trudi, Todd and the owners
and staff of Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant
celebrating Frank's 78th and LAST hot meatloaf sandwich
before the restaurant closes for good.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015
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23. Trudi fixing hot chocolate behind the blind on an
early and cold Sunday morning.
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24. A young male Northern goshawk.
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25. Rick and Chuck taking the gos out of the net.
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26. A young male Northern goshawk.
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27. Chuck banding the goshawk.
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28. Rick taking photos of the gos.
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29. A young male Northern goshawk.
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30. Frank and Trudi holding the goshawk.
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31. A young male Northern goshawk.
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32. Trudi and Chuck releasing the goshawk while Rick
takes photos.
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33. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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34. Rick taking the Red-tailed hawk out of the net.
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35. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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36. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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37. Rick, Michael, Chuck, Tim and Trudi holding the young
Red-tailed hawk.
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38. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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39. Tim and Michael holding the Red-tailed hawk.
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40. Michael releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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41. Crex Meadows Information Center.
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42. A family of swans watching the Sandhill cranes start
coming in to roost.
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43. Dad, Mom and two youngsters. Photo by Trudi.
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44. A young swan stretching its wings.
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45. Young and adult Tundra swans.
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46. An adult Tundra swan.
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47. A Pied-billed grebe swimming along.
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48. An American coot swimming past.
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49. Sandhill cranes coming in to roost.
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50. Many were already there.
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51. There seems to be safety in numbers.
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52. Setting their wings for landing.
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53. Looking for just the right spot to land.
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54. More Sandhill cranes coming in.
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55. Sandhill cranes coming in from every direction.
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56. Passing over close.
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57. As the light faded, more and more cranes came in.
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58. The evening light makes silhouettes of the cranes.
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59. Endless lines of noisy cranes coming in over the
trees.
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60. More Sandhill cranes coming in at sunset.
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61. And even more Sandhill cranes coming in at sunset.
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62. The light is fading fast.
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63. The cranes keep coming in over us.
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64. A foursome coming in.
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65. They kept coming over as it got dark and we left for
home.
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