Hi All,
Here is my ninth and last
weekly report of the 2015 banding season, covering the weekend of October 31st,
2015.
Trudi and I drove up on
Saturday morning to meet Rick at the McDonalds on London Road in Duluth. Nancy
and Chuck had work to do at home and couldn't make it up this weekend. Todd had
come up on Friday night and was there when we arrived. We loaded our stuff into
Rick's truck and drove up to the blind. We set up the nets and were ready to go
at 9:00. The sky was very overcast and a slight drizzle was coming down.
Nothing was moving!
At 10:00, Melissa Boman
brought up eleven other members of the University of Minnesota's Fisheries,
Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Club (FWCB). Melissa came up with the same
group last year and was the only one who didn't get to release a hawk. I was
hoping to have her release a hawk this year, but the weather did not
co-operate. I walked down to meet the group as they pulled up in their cars and
after a very wet introduction and migration talk, we hiked back up to the
blind. I explained how hawk banding is a lot like fishing and on some days,
well, nothing is biting! We scanned the skies for several hours and saw only
one eagle and one hawk. So the inevitable task fell to me and I showed them how
to do a "Wish Bird" sign with their hands. The 'Wish Bird" sign
is done by holding your hands in such a way as to resemble the hawk you
"wish" you had in your hands to release. We lined up for the group
photo, did the sign and then they all left for Hawk Ridge. One member, Amanda,
did such an excellent job of releasing her "Wish Bird" that we asked
her to do a re-enactment for the camera. In spite of the dismal weather
conditions this group displayed a remarkably good-natured attitude towards our
lack of birds. Melissa and Amanda will be first up for a release bird next
season!
The rain that was NOT
supposed to continue ALL DAY, . . . DID, and after spending a very wet six
hours sitting in the blind, we decided to close down at 3:00. This was our one
and only "Skunked" day of the season!
We got a total of 0 birds
and no bounce-outs on Saturday.
Nothing, Nada, Not a dang
thing, Zero, Zip, that's all folks!
Because of Emily's
Lighthouse Restaurant closing for good last weekend, I was facing the prospects
of no hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra cup of
gravy to comfort me after such a grueling day. Fortunately, the residual
effects of eating 78 of those hearty and delicious meals over the years gave me
enough energy to continue my search for a substitute. Trudi, Rick, Todd and I
drove on through the continuing drizzle all the way up to the Culver's
Restaurant in Two Harbors, Minnesota, where I ordered their chopped steak
dinner. Well, guess what? That hearty plate has two butter burger steak patties
smothered in beef gravy that contains fried onions and mushrooms, plus a roll
and a delicious side of coleslaw! (I also ordered extra gravy.) Whoop-Dee-Do!!!
I'm back in the saddle again!
On Sunday morning we got
a break in the weather and the sun poked through for a little while. We were
set up and ready to go at 8:15. A few birds started moving, including our
regular visitor to the blind, a Blue jay that was cashing in on the free seed
we had put out. A young white-tailed spike buck crossed the field in front of
us and a couple Northern shrikes were working the draw. One of the shrikes came
over for a look at our lure but wisely decided that it was twice his size.
At 10:00 our friend
Alisha Walden, who volunteers at The Raptor Center, came up. We gave her the
tour and got settled in to look for hawks. We started seeing some eagles and
hawks getting up and at 10:56 we spotted a Rough-legged hawk coming in over the
fake owl. Rick pulled the lure, it "locked on" and ploughed right in
to the front net! No "Skunked Day" today!!!
More and more hawks were
getting up with a lot of red-tails, rough-legs and eagles passing right over
us. Before we could band and photograph the Rough-legged hawk, an adult
Red-tailed hawk dropped into the field, skimmed low across the ground and
slammed the net. Shortly after that one, another adult red-tail took the same
approach and also hit the front net. WOW!!! What a difference a day makes!
After we banded those birds and took some photos, Alisha released the
Rough-legged hawk. Trudi released the Red-tailed hawk and Alisha got to release
the second Red-tailed hawk.
After scanning the sky
for a while we noticed another adult Red-tailed hawk already "locked
on" way out over the barn, over a half a mile away! It seemed like an
eternity as it sailed in over the draw, dropped low to the ground and cruised
right on in to hit the front net. That was our fourth bird and third Red-tailed
hawk of the day. We were sitting there thinking it couldn't get any better than
this, when another adult Red-tailed hawk shot in, popped up over the front net,
landed next to the lure and then Rick chased it into the back of the front net.
This bird was no stranger to nets as it was already wearing a band! We noticed
that this bird had a deformed tongue and was still molting its tail feathers.
We recorded the band number, measured it and then Trudi and Rick did a double
release with the last two Red-tailed hawks.
Around noon, things were
starting to slow down and we didn't see the same numbers of birds moving that
we had seen earlier. We were contemplating closing down when at 12:55 a young
Red-tailed hawk was spotted pumping its way toward us from out over our land.
It powered straight in, passing close in front of the blind and crashing into
the front net. Nice way to end the season! We banded it, took a load of photos
and then Trudi and Alisha did the release of that one.
We got a total of 6 birds
and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.
1 Rough-legged hawk and 5
Red-tailed hawks.
Grand Total for the year
is 152.
Trudi, Rick and I packed
up all the gear at the main blind and took it down to Hawk Harbor for storage
until next year. Hope you all enjoyed our reports from this year. In the next
two weeks, we will do one more report with the tally of species for the year.
We will also list and give a big Thank You to everyone who made this season
possible.
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)
Keep
your eyes on the skies.
Frank & Trudi Taylor
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01. Saturday's rainy view from the blind.
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02. Meeting the members of the University of Minnesota's
Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Club.
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03. Doing my little wet migration talk.
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04. Rick trying to stay dry in the blind.
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05. Explaining how our set up works to the club members.
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06. Erin and Guy getting the dry seats in the blind.
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07. Showing the group how to do the "Wish
Bird" sign.
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08. Laura, Guy, Joe, Erin, Kyle, Gabby, Frank, Zach,
Dan, Andrew,
Melissa, Amanda and Grace doing the "Wish Bird" sign.
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09. Amanda about to release her imaginary hawk.
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10. Amanda releasing her imaginary hawk.
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11. Supper at Culver's in Two Harbors, Minnesota.
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12. Hot chopped steak dinner with mashed potatoes, fried
onions, mushrooms, extra gravy,
a roll and a delicious side of coleslaw.
Hmmmm, that kind of reminds me of a few other meals I
have had up here on the North Shore.
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13. Sunday morning with a welcome break in the rain
clouds.
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14. An early morning Blue jay coming in for the free
birdseed that we put out in front of the blind.
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15. A young White-tailed buck out wandering the field in
front of us.
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16. A couple of Northern shrikes were hunting the field.
One came in and sat in the tree over the blind.
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17. The first hawk of the weekend to come in was a
Rough-legged hawk.
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18. A Rough-legged hawk coming in.
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19. Rick taking the Rough-legged hawk out of the net.
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20. A Rough-legged hawk.
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21. Frank holding the Rough-legged hawk.
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22. Frank banding the Rough-legged hawk.
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23. Frank, Rick and Trudi holding the Rough-legged hawk.
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24. Alisha holding the Rough-legged hawk.
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25. A Rough-legged hawk.
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26. An adult Red-tailed hawk.
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27. Alisha watching Rick take a Red-tailed hawk out of
the net.
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28. An adult Red-tailed hawk.
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29. Rick and Frank taking another Red-tailed hawk out of
the net.
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30. Trudi holding the second Red-tailed hawk.
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31. Alisha and Frank holding the Rough-legged hawk and
the first Red-tailed hawk.
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32. Trudi, Rick and Alisha holding the Rough-legged hawk
and the two Red-tailed hawks.
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33. Alisha about to release the Rough-legged hawk.
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34. Alisha releasing the Rough-legged hawk.
Photo by Rick Dupont
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35. Trudi about to release a Red-tailed hawk.
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36. Trudi releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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37. Another Red-tailed hawk coming in.
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38. An adult Red-tailed hawk.
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39. Rick taking another Red-tailed hawk out of the net.
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40. The backside of an adult Red-tailed hawk.
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41. Alisha about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
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42. Alisha releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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43. Frank and Rick taking another adult Red-tailed hawk
out of the net.
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44. Frank holding an adult Red-tailed hawk.
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45. Rick and Trudi about to do a double release of
Red-tailed hawks.
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46. Rick and Trudi doing a double release of two Red-tailed hawks.
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47. The fifth bird of the day was a banded adult
Red-tailed hawk.
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48. This bird came in already banded.
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49. Adult Red-tailed hawk with a deformed tongue.
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50. Tail feathers still in molt.
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51. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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52. Rick taking a young Red-tailed hawk out of the net.
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53. Rick bringing the Red-tailed hawk in for banding.
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54. Frank banding the young Red-tailed hawk.
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55. Rick showing us the front of a young Red-tailed hawk.
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56. Rick showing us the back of a young Red-tailed hawk.
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57. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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58. Alisha, Frank and Trudi holding the young Red-tailed
hawk.
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59. Trudi and Alisha about to release the young
Red-tailed hawk.
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60. Trudi and Alisha releasing the young Red-tailed hawk.
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61. Our 152nd and last bird of the season, a young
Red-tailed hawk.
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