Tuesday, October 20, 2015

7th Weekend of Banding 2015

Hi All,

Here is my seventh report of the 2015 banding season, covering the weekend of October 17th, 2015.

Saturday morning I met Nancy, Chuck and Rick at the McDonalds in Duluth for our usual breakfast and then we all drove up to Hawk Harbor. Trudi stayed home this weekend and Todd was busy winterizing his boat, so just the four of us headed out to the blind. We had everything set up and ready to start at 9:15 am. Skies were partly cloudy and a slight breeze was blowing from the Northwest.

Five minutes after we began, a young female Merlin started stooping the fake owl. Rick worked the lure and the Merlin turned and made a straight shot right into the front net. Whoopee!!! The first bird of the weekend was a beautiful female Merlin. At 10:09 we saw an adult Red-tailed hawk circling high out over the barn. It set its wings and made a long gliding stoop into the net. I love to watch those long approaches when a red-tail is focused on our rig. While we were taking the red-tail out of the net, my good friend Nancy Wilson and her son Eric came up to spend the day with us. Nancy was a volunteer at The Raptor Center way back when I worked there fifteen years ago and comes up every year to see us. We took a bunch of photos and then Nancy released the Merlin and Eric released the Red-tailed hawk.

Around 10:30 Pam Basset who is one of our banding team members came up with her son Geno and her grandson Pieter. For many years Pam translated our field notes and prepared the data for computer submission to the Bird Banding Lab. Right after they got settled in, a young Red-tailed hawk that was sitting in the trees behind the blind stooped in over the back net and hit the back of the front net. Red-tail number two for the day! This bird had deformed pupils in both of its eyes. We took some photos and Pieter got to release it. The Northwest winds of the previous days had pushed a lot of birds into our area and we started seeing them get up all around us. An adult red-tail that was passing to the North of us made a low ground-hugging approach and came right in. Red-tail number three in the bag! This one had some badly molted feathers on its wing and a tail feather missing. We banded it, took more photos, and then Pam got to release it before they took off for Hawk Ridge.

Our good friend from Duluth, Jen Harner, and her friend John Swardstrom from Two Harbors, stopped up to see us at 11:30. Right after they got into the blind, another Red-tailed hawk, this time an adult bird, was passing to the South of us when it locked on and barreled into the front net. Red-tail number four for the day! We banded that one and John got to let it go since this was his first time visiting our blind. At 12:24 a young Red-tailed hawk came straight in from out front and got caught. Red-tail number five for the day! This bird had a full crop and still had feathers from its last kill stuck to its feet. Jen got to let that one go before they left.

At 12:55 we caught another young Red-tailed hawk. Red-tail number six for the day! This one dropped straight down from high above the blind and no one saw it coming. Nancy Wilson got to release that one. After a little dry spell, at 2:22 we caught a crusty old Red-tailed hawk that came in from out front in a long shallow glide. Red-tail number seven for the day! This one had a bad cere and pox scarred feet. It also had a partially molted tail with a very broad terminal band. Eric got to release that one. Then at 2:47 we were all watching an adult red-tail that was locked on and gliding in from out over the barn when a young Red-tailed hawk shot by in front of our blind from the South and toppled the net. Red-tail number eight for the day! Rick released that one.

We saw our first catchable Northern goshawk of the year at 3:10. It was a huge gray adult female that was heading low over the pines to the North of us. Just before it disappeared Rick got its attention. However, instead of coming straight in as most Northern goshawks do, this one came down the tree line from the North and ducked into the brush just before making the hit. That move caused it to hit the back edge of the mist net where the pocket is not very deep, and it bounced out. Aaarrrgh!!!! Our only bounce out of the day and it had to be a goshawk. Oh, well, next time.

Right after the gos incident, Tim Viele, our good friend from Duluth, came up to the blind to see if he could join us for supper at Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant. While we were visiting at 4:27, another young Red-tailed hawk came bombing into the net. Red-tail number nine for the day! We banded it, took some photos and Tim got to release that one. We closed down for the day at 5:00.

When we got back to Hawk Harbor we met Cris Manzano, Michael Cogar and Tim Hochsprung, all falconers who had been trapping farther up along the shore and were camping at Hawk Harbor. They thanked us for letting them camp there and then they all packed up and headed for home.

Nancy and Eric Wilson left for home while Rick, Nancy, Chuck, Tim and I drove over to Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant for supper. On the way there we ran into Greg Mikkelson who also joined us for supper. I had my 77th hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra cup of gravy!

We got a total of 10 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.
1 Merlin, 9 Red-tailed hawks.

Sunday morning the skies were clear and the wind was calm but was supposed to switch around to the Southeast. We had everything set and ready to go at 8:00 am. Some Bluebirds and a Hermit thrush were hanging around the blind but we didn't see any hawks moving. At 9:45 Chuck caught a glimpse of something moving out by the draw and pulled the lure line. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk shot across the field and right into the front net. Hooray, no "skunk day" today!!!

Two years ago my brother Tony had talked to a guy named Butch Ukura who lives near Palisade, Minnesota. Tony told Butch about our banding operation and Butch, being an avid birder, said he would like to visit. We were too booked up last year for Butch to come up, but this year he called early and reserved a place for himself and members of his birding club. He belongs to the BEE-NAY-SHE Bird Club from the Brainerd, Crosby and Ironton area that has been together since the early sixties. Sunday morning they arrived at ten o'clock in three cars. I met them down by the road and did my usual introduction and migration talk. I gave them my handouts and we started hiking up to the blind. We were about half way to the blind when we spotted a Sharp-shinned hawk "locked on" and diving for the net. The shin was three quarters of the way there when a Merlin attacked it and they spiraled up over the blind. Thanks a lot, Merlin! The Merlin buzzed the blind a couple times and went to sit in a tree while the shin soared up and over the group, heading South. Those were the last catchable birds we saw that day. We scanned the skies until noon, saw nothing, did the "Wish Bird" sign, and then the group headed off to Hawk Ridge. We packed up our gear and closed down at 12:30.

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

A big THANK YOU goes out to Greg Mikkelson who brought up a trailer load of oak pallets that we can cut up for firewood.

Grand Total for the year is 142.

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. Our first bird of the weekend, a young female Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


02. Rick and Chuck taking the Merlin out of the net.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


03. Young female Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


04. Young female Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


05. Young female Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


06. Frank holding the Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


07. Adult Red-tailed hawk. (First red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


08. Rick holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


09. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


10. Frank, Nancy and Eric holding the Merlin and Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


11. Nancy about to release the Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


12. Nancy releasing the Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


13. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


14. Eric about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


15. Nancy and Eric releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


16. Young Red-tailed hawk with odd pupils. (Second red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


17. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


18. Frank showing Pieter how we band the hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


19. Young Red-tailed hawk showing deformed pupil of right eye.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


20. Young Red-tailed hawk showing deformed pupil of left eye.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


21. Pam, Pieter, Frank and Geno holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


22. Geno, Pam and Pieter about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


23. Geno, Pam and Pieter releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


24. Adult Red-tailed hawk. (Third red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


25. Badly molted feathers.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


26. One tail feather missing.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


27. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


28. Pieter and Pam about to release a Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


29. Pieter and Pam releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


30. Adult Red-tailed hawk. (Fourth red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


31. Red-tail showing some banding in tail feathers.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


32. Jen, John, Pam, Geno, Pieter, Rick, Nancy and Eric holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


33. John holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


34. Jen and John about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


35. Jen and John releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


36. Young Red-tailed hawk. (Fifth red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


37. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


38. This bird still had feathers from its last kill stuck to its feet. (Any guesses as to what it was?)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


39. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


40. Rick, John, Chuck, Jen, Eric and Nancy holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


41. John and Jen releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


42. Rick and Chuck taking another Red-tailed hawk out of the net.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


43. Young Red-tailed hawk. (Sixth red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


44. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


45. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


46. Nancy about to release the young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


47. Nancy releasing the young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


48. Crusty old Red-tailed hawk. (Seventh red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


49. Old Red-tailed hawk with very broad terminal band on its tail.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


50. Some very bad looking feet.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


51. Nancy, Chuck, Nancy, Eric and Rick holding the old Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


52. Eric releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


53. Young Red-tailed hawk. (Eighth red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


54. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


55. Rick about to release the young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


56. Rick releasing the young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


57. Another young Red-tailed hawk. (Ninth red-tail of the day.)
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


58. Frank and Tim holding the young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


59. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


60. Tim about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


61. Tim releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


62. Cris, Frank, Michael and Tim back at Hawk Harbor.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


63. Rick, Frank, Nancy, Chuck, Greg and Tim at Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


64. Sunday morning Bluebird sitting on the net pole.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


65. Rick and Chuck taking a young female Sharp-shinned hawk out of the net.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


66. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


67. A little Hermit thrush came out of the woods to say "Hi".
Seventh Week of Banding 2015


68. Members of the BEE-NAY-SHE Bird Club doing the "Wish Bird" symbol
Left to right: Karen, Cindy, Kim, Butch, Doug, Frank, Nancy, Lesley, Carol, Karen and Deb.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.