Hi All,
Here is my sixth report
of the 2015 banding season, covering the weekend of October 10th, 2015.
Trudi and I drove up to
Hawk Harbor on Friday afternoon. We wanted to drive up during daylight hours to
be able to see all the Fall colors, which are at their awesome peak right now.
Todd was already there when we arrived. He was just finishing setting up his
nets. Trudi and I put our stuff away in the trailer and headed into Two Harbors
for supper. The next morning Todd started trapping around 7:00 am. Trudi and I
were setting out our gear on the picnic table when Todd walked back into camp
at 7:45 with a young male Merlin. Trudi and I banded it just as Nancy, Chuck
and Rick pulled up. We loaded our gear into Rick's truck and drove up to the
main blind. We took some photos of the Merlin and Nancy got to release it. No
"skunk day", even before we got started!
We had the main blind set
up and ready to start at 9:00 am. Skies were hazy and a slight breeze was
blowing out of the Southwest. At 9:23 we got our first
bird at the main blind, an adult male Sharp-shinned hawk. We took some photos
and Trudi did the release on that one. At 9:30 Trudi and I had to leave for
home. We would have just enough time to get there, clean up, and head down to
Henderson, Minnesota, to attend Mattie Lasch and Sara England's wedding
reception. Mattie has been coming up to the blind every year since he was a
"wee lad". While they did not serve hot meatloaf sandwiches with
fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy, the food they did serve,
was excellent! We had a great time at the reception. A big CONGRATULATIONS to
Sara and Mattie Lasch on their special day!
Meanwhile, back at the
blind, Brynn Johnson and four of her friends, Holly, Jennifer, Katy and Kelsey,
came up for a visit at 10:00. Brynn and friends have
been annual visitors to the blind for over ten years. While they were there,
the crew caught three more shins, all adult females. Jennifer, Holly and Brynn
got to release those birds. They closed down for the day at 5:00.
We got a total of 5 birds
and 0 bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Merlin, 4 Sharp-shinned
hawks.
Sunday morning Trudi and
I drove the one hundred and forty miles back up to Hawk Harbor. We saw Todd
heading toward Duluth on divided highway 61 to go look at a new camper he is
planning on buying. Rick, Chuck and Nancy were just getting set up for the day
at the main blind when we arrived. We had everything was ready to go by 8:00.
The skies were clear with a light wind out of the Southwest.
Our White Bear Lake
neighbors Deb and Gary Wiederhold were on their way home from sightseeing near
Grand Marais, Minnesota, and stopped in to see us around 8:15. At 8:48 a young
male Merlin came blasting across the field and slammed into the front net.
Chuck banded the Merlin and Deb got to let it go. Right after the Merlin was
released, Brynn and her friends also came back up to the blind. They got
settled in to the "Overflow Blind" and at 9:53 an adult male shin
dropped down along the tree line from the North and hit the net. After we banded
it and took some photos, Gary got to release it. The wind was freshening out of
the West and lots of birds started migrating through. We caught a couple more
shins, banded them and had Katy and Kelsey, who didn't get to release birds on
Saturday, let them go.
As Brynn and her friends
were leaving the field to go to Hawk Ridge around 11:00, my daughter Becky came
up with our grandson Jack. Jack had just had his third birthday the day before
on Saturday. This was Jack's first time at the blind; what a treat for Grandpa
Frank! Jack wore his special hawk-print shirt for the occasion! We caught a
couple more shins while they were there so Jack got to participate in all
aspects of banding. Good training for the future, I hope. Jack got to release
some birds (with Mom's help) and then at noon they took off for Jack's favorite
place in Duluth, The Depot Museum.
The shins kept pouring
through. Most of them were adults that would buzz over the blind but not come
in. Just after Becky and Jack left, our good friends Sally and John Hunter
stopped by to see us. Sally is a
retired professor who taught with Trudi at the University of Saint Thomas. As
soon as they got settled in, I fired up the grill to serve some of those delicious
Johnsonville Polish sausages. We caught seven more shins while Sally and John
were there, including the last bird of the day, a shin, at 1:39. It seemed like
the migration suddenly stopped, so we closed down at 2:00.
We got a total of 14
birds and 1 bounce-out on Sunday.
1 Merlin and 13 Sharp-shinned
hawks.
A big THANK YOU goes out
to Rick for his excellent luring technique and
lightning fast sprint from the
blind to secure the hawks!!!
Total for the weekend was 19 birds and ONLY 1 bounce-out!
2 Merlins and 17 Sharp-shinned hawks.
Grand Total for the year
is 131.
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 weekend, a Merlin with full Fall
colors.
Sixth Week of Banding 2015
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02. Todd holding the Merlin.
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03. Frank banding the Merlin at Hawk Harbor.
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04. Young male Merlin.
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05. Trudi holding the Merlin.
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06. Merlin and Hawk Harbor sign.
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07. Merlin in the trailer at Hawk Harbor.
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08. Male Merlin.
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09. Chuck and Nancy releasing the Merlin.
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10. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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11. Trudi holding the shin.
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12. Trudi releasing the shin.
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13. Jennifer, Holly, Brynn, Katy and Kelsey up to see
some banding.
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14. Chuck showing the group a shin.
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15. Jennifer about to release a shin.
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16. Jennifer releasing the shin.
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17. Holly and Brynn about to release some shins.
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18. Holly and Brynn releasing the shins.
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19. Congratulations to Sara and Mattie who got married
today!
Sarah and Mattie up at the blind with a shin in 2012.
Sixth Week of Banding 2015
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20. A Sunday morning Merlin.
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21. Frank, Deb, Gary and Trudi holding the Merlin.
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22. Frank, Deb, Gary and Trudi holding the Merlin.
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23. Chuck showing Deb how we measure the Merlin.
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24. Gary and Deb about to release the Merlin.
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25. Deb releasing the Merlin.
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26. Holly, Katy, Brynn, Jennifer and Kelsey in the
"Overflow Blind".
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27. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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28. The group watching Rick and Chuck take a shin out of
the nets.
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29. Gary getting ready to release the shin.
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30. Deb and Gary with the shin.
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31. Deb and Gary releasing the shin.
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32. Adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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33. Chuck showing the group the shin.
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34. The whole gang holding a couple shins.
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35. Kelsey and Katy holding shins.
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36. Katy about to release a young male shin.
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37. Katy releasing the shin.
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38. Kelsey about to release an adult shin.
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39. Kelsey releasing the shin.
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40. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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41. Our three-year old grandson Jack looking out of the
blind.
Sixth Week of Banding 2015
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42. My daughter Becky and grandson Jack looking for
hawks.
(Please notice Jack is wearing his "Hawk
Banding" shirt.)
Sixth Week of Banding 2015
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43. Grandson Jack watching a shin go into the net.
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44. "Let's get out there! We got one!!!"
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45. Rick, Chuck, grandson Jack and Grandpa Frank taking
the shin out of the net.
Sixth Week of Banding 2015
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46. Grandpa Frank showing Jack and Becky the shin.
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47. Chuck showing Jack how we measure the shin's tail.
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48. Chuck getting help from Jack to band the shin.
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49. Becky and Jack releasing the shin.
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50. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
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51. Frank working the "behind the blind" grill.
How many do you want?
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52. John, Sally and Trudi holding a shin.
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53. Sally and Trudi holding a shin.
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54. John and Sally holding Sharp-shinned hawks.
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55. John and Sally about to release their shins.
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56. Sally releasing her shin.
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57. John releasing his shin.
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58. John and Sally about to do a double shin release.
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59. John and Sally doing a double shin release.
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60. An eagle flew in to say "Hello" to Sally
and John after they did their releases.
Sixth Week of Banding 2015
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