Monday, October 26, 2015

8th Weekend of Banding 2015

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.

Frank & Trudi Taylor

01. First bird of the day, a young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

02. Chuck and Rick taking the goshawk out of the net.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

03. Young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

04. Young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

05. Chuck banding the goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

06. Young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

07. Shelley, Trudi, Lee, Ben, Chuck, Guy, Larry and Rick holding the goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

08. Young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

09. Larry about to release the Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

10. Larry releasing the Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

11. Banded goshawk heading South.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

12. Frank fixing lunch on the grill behind the blind.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

13. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

14. Rick and Chuck taking the shin out of the net.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

15. Guy, Ben, Lee and Chuck contemplating what this shin must be thinking.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

16. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

17. Ben, Guy, Chuck, Lee, Larry and Rick holding the shin.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

18. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

19. Guy, Lee and Ben about to release the shin.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

20. Guy, Lee and Ben releasing the shin.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

21. An adult Red-tailed hawk in the tree above the blind.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

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

23. Trudi fixing hot chocolate behind the blind on an early and cold Sunday morning.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

24. A young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

25. Rick and Chuck taking the gos out of the net.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

26. A young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

27. Chuck banding the goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

28. Rick taking photos of the gos.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

29. A young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

30. Frank and Trudi holding the goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

31. A young male Northern goshawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

32. Trudi and Chuck releasing the goshawk while Rick takes photos.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

33. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

34. Rick taking the Red-tailed hawk out of the net.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

35. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

36. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

37. Rick, Michael, Chuck, Tim and Trudi holding the young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

38. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

39. Tim and Michael holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

40. Michael releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

41. Crex Meadows Information Center.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

42. A family of swans watching the Sandhill cranes start coming in to roost.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

43. Dad, Mom and two youngsters. Photo by Trudi.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

44. A young swan stretching its wings.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

45. Young and adult Tundra swans.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

46. An adult Tundra swan.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

47. A Pied-billed grebe swimming along.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

48. An American coot swimming past.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

49. Sandhill cranes coming in to roost.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

50. Many were already there.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

51. There seems to be safety in numbers.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

52. Setting their wings for landing.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

53. Looking for just the right spot to land.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

54. More Sandhill cranes coming in.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

55. Sandhill cranes coming in from every direction.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

56. Passing over close.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

57. As the light faded, more and more cranes came in.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

58. The evening light makes silhouettes of the cranes.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

59. Endless lines of noisy cranes coming in over the trees.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

60. More Sandhill cranes coming in at sunset.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

61. And even more Sandhill cranes coming in at sunset.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

62. The light is fading fast.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

63. The cranes keep coming in over us.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

64. A foursome coming in.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015

65. They kept coming over as it got dark and we left for home.
Eighth Week of Banding 2015