Thursday, October 6, 2016

5th Weekend of Banding 2016

Hi All,

After the weekend of my last report, Nancy and Chuck stayed up at the blind to try to improve our numbers and to have a few of their friends join them for some banding. On Monday, they caught 10 Sharp-shinned hawks, saw 2 Peregrines, and had 8 bounce outs. On Tuesday, they caught 24 Sharp-shinned hawks, 2 Northern harriers, and had 4 bounce outs. On Wednesday, they caught 2 Sharp-shinned hawks, 1 Northern goshawk, 1 Red-tailed hawk, and 1 Blue Jay with no bounce outs. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!

They got a total of 40 birds (not counting the Blue Jay!) and 12 bounce outs for the three days.
36 Sharp-shinned hawks, 2 Northern Harriers, 1 Northern Goshawk and 1 Red-tailed hawk.

On Saturday morning, the 1st of October, Rick, Chuck and I met Todd at Hawk Harbor around 8:00 am. Nancy would be staying home this weekend and Trudi would be coming up to join us on Sunday. We drove up to the main blind and had everything set and ready to start at 8:30. Just as we were set up, Todd called to say he got the first bird of the weekend, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk. We banded it, took a couple photos and Chuck chucked it into the woods behind the blind.

At 10:00 Nancy Wilson and her son Eric came up to join us. They have booked a day with us for several years now. Around noon Katie Burns and her aunt Jane Barnes came up. Katie has been up to the blind many times in the past, but this was Jane's first time visiting. Birds were moving, but everything was thermalling up and not paying any attention to our lure. Nancy and Eric had to leave around 1:00, so we did the "Wish-bird" symbol and they headed for home. At 3:12 a female Merlin came blasting over the draw out near the fake owl and came straight in. A great reward after such a long wait! We banded the Merlin, took a bunch of photos and Jane got to release it. That was the only other bird we caught that day. We closed down at 5:00 and headed to the Culvers restaurant in Two Harbors for supper. Todd had a nice campfire going when we got back and Jane shared some really good beer she brought in all the way from Wisconsin.

We got a total of 2 birds and 0 bounce outs on Saturday.
1 Sharp-shinned hawk and 1 Merlin.

Katie and Jane had camped out at Hawk Harbor Saturday night, so on Sunday morning we all headed up to the blind early and got set up by 7:20. After a beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior, we got a visit from three deer that came across the field right in front of us. Around 8:30 my friend Justin DancingHawk, a talented artist from Northern Minnesota, came up for his first visit to the blind. Just as we settled in, we noticed a shin out crabbing with a crow near the owl. Rick pulled the lure and we had our first bird of the day, an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk. We banded it, took our photos, and since it was Justin's 60th birthday, he got to release it. We had two more shins buzz us in the next two hours but both of them bounced out. At 11:25 a young male shin came in slow, pulled up and sat in the trees over us for a few minutes and then dove down into the back net. Katie got to release that one. Just before noon we had an adult male shin come straight down the tree line from the North and hit the back net. Jane got to release that one, but I was a little slow on the camera and missed the release photo.

We didn't catch anything else that day so Katie and Jane headed for Hawk Ridge around 2:00. Rick and Chuck headed home around 2:30 and Trudi came up to join us around 3:00. Just before we packed it in for the day, Tim Veile, our friend from Duluth, stopped up. We closed down for the day at 5:00. Afterward, Trudi and I took Justin and Tim out for supper at Do North Pizzaria in Two Harbors to celebrate Justin's birthday.

We got a total of 3 birds and 2 bounce outs on Sunday.
3 Sharp-shinned hawks.

On Monday, our good friend Larry Miller from Illinois came up for a few days of banding. Larry has been coming up for many years, but this time was special because he brought along his fiancé Jude Dunn. This was Jude's first time at the blind, so we were hoping to show her some birds. Things were pretty slow as the winds were light out of the South. We saw a lot of Bald eagles and Turkey vultures with some adult shins passing really high. We waited for our first bird of the day until 12:33 when a young Red-tailed hawk made a long gliding approach and hit the front net. Jude had a great view of her first trapped hawk coming in. We banded it, took photos, and Jude got to release it. At 2:12 we got our only other bird of the day, an adult Red-tailed hawk. This bird made a similar approach to the first one and we were all treated to the long sloping attack of a Red-tailed hawk coming in!

Things REALLY slowed down after that, so we closed down at 3:30 and headed in to Betty's Pies in Two Harbors for supper.

We got a total of 2 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Monday.
2 Red-tailed hawks.

Tuesday morning, Jude and Larry met Trudi and me at the blind around 8:00. Again the winds were out of the South and getting stronger all day. At 10:25 we had a young Red-tailed hawk start circling up on the far end of the field. It spotted our lure and came straight in. We banded it, took photos, and Jude released it. At 11:21 another young Red-tailed hawk was spotted at the far end of the field and turned in our direction. Again we saw the long sloping stoop of a determined red-tail. Just as it dropped its legs for the grab, it saw the front net, popped over that one and into the back net. However, it hit the back net near the end pole and got out. Even though we didn't catch it for banding, it was an exciting approach to watch! I had just reset the nets after the red-tail bounced out, given a test pull, and was arranging myself inside the blind when Larry called out, "Merlin in the net!!!!" A female Merlin must have been cutting across the field when I did my test pull and it shot in from the South with none of us seeing its approach! We banded it, took a lot of photos, and Larry got to release that one.

Just after noon we were all contemplating the weather forecast that called for rain that night and thinking it would be a good idea to close down and pack up before we and all the gear got soaked, when I saw a bunch of crows getting up at the far end of the field. It soon became apparent what was spooking them, as a big bird with a long tail and short wings came powering up out of the woods from under them. I had no sooner said, "I think it's a goshawk", when it saw the lure and "locked on". At 12:38 a beautiful young male Northern goshawk ploughed into the front net and we had our second gos of the year. After we banded it and took our photos, Larry got to release the gos. Three birds of three different species was a pretty good count for such a slow day. We packed up for the weekend at 2:00. Trudi and I headed for home while Jude and Larry stayed up to spend the rainy day sight seeing around Duluth.

We got a total of 3 birds and 1 bounce out on Tuesday.
1 Red-tailed hawk, 1 Merlin and 1 Northern goshawk.

Total for the weekend and five weekdays was 50 birds and 15 bounce-outs.
2 Northern goshawks, 2 Northern Harriers, 4 Red-tailed hawks, 2 Merlins and 40 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Grand Total for the year is 138.

Remember also, to go to You Tube and search Frank Taylor Films or click on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4sdI11-TvxPaQ5nO3PsKKA and then scroll to View All.

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. Chuck with young male Northern goshawk.
Photo by Nancy Schotzko
Fifth Weekend 2016


02. A young Sharp-shinned hawk, the first bird of the weekend.
Fifth Weekend 2016


03. Chuck and Rick with the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


04. Frank, Eric and Nancy doing the "Wish-bird" symbol.
Photo by Rick Dupont
Fifth Weekend 2016


05. A female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


06. Jane and Katie watching Rick and Chuck take the merlin out of the net.
Fifth Weekend 2016


07. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


08. Chuck holding the merlin while Katie and Jane take photos.
Fifth Weekend 2016


09. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


10. Katie and Jane with the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


11. Katie and Jane releasing the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


12. Campfire at Hawk Harbor.
Fifth Weekend 2016


13. Sunday morning sunrise at the blind.
Fifth Weekend 2016


14. Three early morning visitors at the blind.
Fifth Weekend 2016


15. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


16. Chuck holding the shin while Justin takes some photos.
Fifth Weekend 2016


17. Adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


18. Katie, Jane and Justin taking photos of Chuck and Rick taking the shin out of the net.
Fifth Weekend 2016


19. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


20. Justin about to release the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


21. Justin releasing the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


22. A young male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


23. Jane, Katie, Chuck, Justin and Rick holding the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


24. Young male shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


25. Jane and Katie about to release the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


26. Katie releasing the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


27. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


28. Adult male shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016    


29. Jane about to release the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


30. I missed Jane's release of this adult male shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


31. Justin, Tim and Frank in front of the Yellowstone steam engine in Two Harbors.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


32. Trudi, Jude and Larry looking for hawks on Monday morning.
Fifth Weekend 2016


33. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


34. Frank banding the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


35. Larry, Frank and Jude holding the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


36. Larry holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


37. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


38. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


39. Jude and Larry holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


40. Larry and Jude about to release the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


41. Larry and Jude releasing the young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


42. An adult Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


43. An adult Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


44. Frank banding the adult red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


45. First year, adult Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


46. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


47. Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


48. Larry and Jude about to release the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


49. Larry and Jude releasing the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


50. The lighthouse at Two Harbors.
Fifth Weekend 2016


51. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


52. Larry and Frank with the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


53. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


54. Frank showing the red-tail to Larry and Jude.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


55. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


56. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


57. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


58. Larry and Jude releasing the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016


59. A female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


60. Trudi, Larry and Jude holding the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


61. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


62. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


63. Larry releasing the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016


64. A young male Northern goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


65. Frank holding the goshawk.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


66. A young male Northern goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


67. Frank banding the young goshawk.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016


68. A young male Northern goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


69. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016


70. Larry releasing the goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016

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