Monday, October 5, 2015

5th Weekend of Banding 2015

Hi All,

Here is my fifth report of the 2015 banding season, covering the weekend of October 3rd, 2015.

Chuck and Nancy went up early this week to meet friends and do some banding on Thursday and Friday, October 1st and 2nd. On Thursday, cold East winds blew most of the migrating hawks inland, but they still managed to catch a large young Red-tailed hawk at 9:47. At 3:28 they saw a Peregrine falcon come pumping in from the farm, take a shot at the fake owl and head on out of the field to the Southwest. At 4:15 that same day, they caught a young female Sharp-shinned hawk. They closed down at 5:15 on Thursday. The cold East winds kept on blowing hard on Friday and they managed to catch only one hawk that day, an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk. They closed down Friday at 3:45.

 Nancy and Chuck got a total of 3 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Thursday and Friday.
1 Red-tailed hawk and 2 Sharp-shinned hawks.

On Saturday morning I met Rick at the McDonalds on London Road for breakfast before heading up to meet Nancy and Chuck at Hawk Harbor. Todd stayed home this weekend to pull his boat, but Mike Klimas was there when we arrived. He was packing up his trapping gear that he used over on our land. We got to see his beautiful male Peregrine falcon that he caught a couple weeks ago under a special Peregrine take permit.

Nancy had to head home but Chuck stayed on to help us band for the weekend. The weather forecast looked pretty grim for the next two days with a continuance of the strong East winds. When we got to the path that leads up to the blind, it was filled with farm equipment ready to harvest the soybean crop. We carefully drove around it and had our gear set up at the banding station by 9:00 am.

A strong cold wind off the lake was blowing straight into our faces, chilling us to the bone. We broke out some extra layers of clothes and hung in there. At 10:00 Joe Schultz, a falconer friend, and his friend Cait Monette came up to sit in with us. We saw a young male Peregrine falcon start soaring up over the barn at 10:30, but it didn't even give us a glance and took off towards Duluth. After staring at a blank sky for several hours, Cait and Joe decided to do some sightseeing up the shore. We did the "Wish-bird" symbol and they took off. We had a couple Merlins stoop the owl and buzz our rig that afternoon, but they didn't hit the net. We were 10 minutes away from closing down at 4:30, when a young male Merlin came in to take a shot at the owl. Rick pulled the lure line and the Merlin made a straight run right into the front net. That was a close call for getting our first "skunked" day of the year!!! We banded it, took some photos and Chuck let it go.

Rick, Chuck and I were the only ones around at the end of the day, so we headed over to Emily's Lighthouse restaurant where I had my 76th hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra cup of gravy. Later that night Cait and Joe came back to camp at Hawk Harbor and we had a nice campfire before everyone headed off to sleep.

We got a total of 1 bird and 0 bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Merlin.

Sunday morning the winds had died down to nothing so Rick, Chuck and I got an early start and headed up to the blind. We had everything ready to go at 7:30. We saw a Harrier down at the other end of the field but it wasn't interested in us. Some Turkey vultures were getting up and a few eagles were soaring by, but not much else was moving. At 8:15 a Merlin came in from the owl but passed by way out in front of the net. At 9:47 one of the few passing shins we saw started stooping in from the sun, when a little adult male shin cut it off and flew into the woods behind the nets. Rick gave a tug on the lure line and the little shin came out of the woods, over the back net and hit the back of the front net. Yeah, another "Skunked Day" averted!!!! Just then Cait and Joe came back out to the blind so we banded the shin, took some photos and had Cait let it go. A little while later a couple of adult Bald eagles were chasing each other so hard that they almost hit the ground out in the center of the field. Cait and Joe left for home around 10:30. At 11:30 Chris Karraker, a falconer from Wisconsin, stopped up to see us. Unfortunately due to such a slow day we had decided to close down at noon. So, Chris and I did the "Wish-bird" sign for his visit and we closed down.

We got a total of 1 bird and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.
1 Sharp-shinned hawk.

Total for the long weekend was 4 birds and 0 bounce-outs.
1 Red-tailed hawk, 1 Merlin and 2 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Grand Total for the year is 112.

One of the nice things about closing down early when it is slow is that I get a chance to wander around the woods and see all the little details that make the North shore so beautiful. It also means that I have a little time before heading home to stop by Hawk Ridge. When I arrived up there on Sunday afternoon, there were a number of birds going over, including Sharp-shins, Red-tails, Bald eagles and Turkey vultures. I also got to see a Peregrine falcon fly by and visit with David Carman, a past director of Hawk Ridge, and with Karen Stubenvoll, who is chairman of its Board of Directors. What a great place to hang out! If I didn't have my own banding station, I would be up there all fall. If you haven't been there yet, go see it! A friendly and knowledgeable group of volunteers will point out every passing bird and will help you experience one of the greatest natural wonders that takes place every fall on the North shore.

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. Nancy and Chuck caught a big young Red-tailed hawk on Thursday.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


02. Nancy and Chuck also caught a young female Sharp-shinned hawk on Thursday.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


03. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk was the only bird Nancy and Chuck caught on Friday.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


04. Farm equipment parked in the field Saturday morning.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


05. The big combine is ready to pick some soybeans.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


06. Interesting "Feather Clouds" formed over the field.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


07. Joe, Cait and Frank doing the "Wish-bird" symbol.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


08. Late evening Merlin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


09. Rick and Chuck taking the Merlin out of the net.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


10. A pale young male Merlin. Photo by Rick Dupont.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


11. A "Profile" pose of the Merlin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


12. Chuck banding the Merlin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


13. Young male Merlin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


14. The Merlin bobbing its head.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


15. Chuck releasing the Merlin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


16. Rick's shot of Chuck releasing the Merlin. Photo by Rick Dupont.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


17. Sunday morning sunrise over the Mattson farm.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


18. An early Sunday morning adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


19. Chuck and Rick taking the shin out of the net.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


20. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


21. The shin doing a "Yearbook" pose.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


22. Chuck banding the shin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


23. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


24. This shin had a mark on its iris.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


25. A closer look at the shin's eye.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


26. Cait holding the shin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


27. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


28. Joe and Cait getting ready to release the shin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


29. Joe and Cait releasing the shin.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


30. Chris and Frank doing the "Wish-bird' symbol.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


31. Slow days allow for time in the woods to see more details.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


32. Lichen on a tree.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


33. Mushrooms on a tree.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


34. Mushrooms on the ground.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


35. Moss covered stumps look like fairy castles.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


36. Who's little home is this?
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


37. The door is always open for your imagination.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


38. Another little dwelling in the woods.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015


39. A stop at Hawk Ridge on the way home is always a big treat.
Fifth Week of Banding 2015

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