It's that time
of year again, when we start our weekly trips up to the banding station. This
is my first report of the 2017 season, covering
the weekend of September 2nd,
2017.
THIS SEASON MARKS OUR 48th CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF
TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM.
Since my last report in
early November 2016, Trudi and I have had yet another interesting year. On
November 7th, we were blessed to welcome our newest grandchild Max to our
family. He is our sixth grandchild, all boys. Later in November, Dr. Patrick
Redig and I took our annual trip to the North American Falconers Association
meet that was held in Elk City, Oklahoma. It was great fun to see all our old,
and getting older, falconry friends. We also took a side trip to Sia, the
Comanche Eagle breeding facility in Cyril, Oklahoma, where Pat was honored for
his years of technical support to the facility. In December, we started our
thirteenth hunting season with Mim (my Red-tailed hawk). We caught a few
rabbits and got some good winter exercise.
In March,
Trudi and I were invited to spend a week with my brother Mike at his time-share
in Orlando, Florida. We also took a day trip to Key West on Mike's birthday,
March 15th. In April we took our annual Amtrak train trip from Kansas City to
Flagstaff, Arizona, to meet friends who live in Phoenix, Arizona.
In mid-August, Trudi, I and members of the Minnesota
Falconers Association, manned the falconry tent at our 36th annual
Game Fair in Ramsey, Minnesota.
On August 21st Trudi and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary
with a nice dinner at the Dock Cafe' in Stillwater, Minnesota.
In my retirement, I
continue to add short videos of my varied interests to my You Tube page. If you
would like to see some of them, 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.
Saturday, September 2nd, I met Rick and Chuck at the
McDonalds on the hill above Duluth at 8:00 am. We had a short breakfast and
headed off to Hawk Harbor. Todd had come up on Friday and was already there
when we arrived. Trudi was recovering from an eye operation and was under
travel restrictions. Nancy had commitments at home and couldn't be there
either. After setting up camp at Hawk Harbor, we loaded all the banding gear
into Rick's truck and drove up to the blind. We weed whipped, swept cobwebs,
sorted out seats, placed the fake owls and strung up the nets. Also, this
year's set up was made much easier by using our riding mower that my brother
Greg had tuned up and refurbished.
Saturday the skies were partly cloudy and the wind was
blowing light from the West. Lots of Bald eagles, Turkey vultures, some shins,
and a ton of dragon flies were moving through. We finished setting up and had
everything ready to go at 12:30 pm.
We had just settled in the blind, Rick pulled the lure line,
and BAM!!!, at 12:31, we caught our first hawk of the year, a young female
Sharp-shinned hawk. Rick took it out of the net, Chuck banded it and I recorded
the data. We took some photos and Chuck released it. We caught our next hawk,
another young female shin, at 1:04. It was flying down the road to our South,
saw the lure and shot straight up the tree line and into our nets! Rick
released that one. The birds seemed to quit moving mid-day and we didn't catch
another one until 4:02. This time, it was an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
At 4:13, two shins were out diving at the fake owl, saw the lure and came in
together. One hit the front net and the other went over the top. The one we
caught was another young female Sharp-shinned hawk. The last bird of the day
was an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk that hit the net at 5:03, but bounced
out. We closed down for the day at 6:00.
We got a total of 4 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.
4 Sharp-shinned hawks.
After a good first day
of hawk banding, we were pleased to learn that Emily's Restaurant in Knife
River had re-opened! They no longer offered the hot meatloaf sandwich, but they
did have a tasty hot roast beef sandwich. So I ordered one with fried onions,
mushrooms and lots of extra gravy! When Emily's closed back in 2015, my count
for hot meatloaf sandwiches consumed had reached 78. This would be my 79th hot
sandwich at Emily's. I'm back in the saddle again!
Sunday morning was
overcast and hazy from the western forest fires with the winds coming from the
Southwest. We opened the blind and had the nets set and ready to go at 7:15.
There wasn't much moving
right away. The first birds we spotted at 7:50 were three shins hunting in the
draw out by the fake owl. Rick tugged on the lure line and one of the shins
came right in. Our first bird on Sunday was a young male Sharp-shinned hawk. We
banded it and I got to let it go. We caught another young male shin at 8:21.
Later we caught two young female shins, one at 8:50 and one at 9:37. At 10:15 a
young male shin came in, hit the front net and bounced out. Another shin, this
time a young female, came in at 11:39, from the woods behind us, hit the back
of our mist net and bounced out.
After a couple of bounce
outs, we decided to take a break and eat lunch. Our traditional lunch at the
blind consists of: a can of diet Pepsi, Blind Burgers (Ritz crackers with
sliced summer sausage), Cheetos, Chuck and Nancy's cherry tomatoes from their
garden and a waxy doughnut for dessert. Of course, we celebrate each banded
hawk with a round of Nancy's delicious cookies that she so generously provides
every weekend. Food of the Gods!!!
At 12:39, a young female
Sharp-shinned hawk came in from behind and hit the back net. This was our first
bird of the year to get caught in the mist net. Everything slowed down after
that. Our last and final bird of the day, you guessed it, was a young female Sharp-shinned
hawk that came in at 2:59. We closed down at 5:00 and went in to the Subway in
Two Harbors for supper.
We got a total of 6 birds and 2 bounce outs on Sunday.
6 Sharp-shinned hawks.
Monday morning we drove up to the blind under a
beautiful sunrise through the last remaining clouds of the previous night's
rain. The skies were clearing and the winds were starting to build, coming out
of the Northwest. At 7:00 we had opened the blind, set the nets and were ready
to go.
We thought there would be some shins out working the
draw for a little breakfast warbler, but there were no hawks in sight. Rick was
doing a free advertising pull on the lure at 7:46 when a small black flash shot
by in front of the blind, heading North up the tree line. Rick pulled again and
a beautiful young female Merlin turned around and plowed into the front net. We
banded it, took some photos and Chuck released it. That was our first bird of
the day and second species of the year. We caught two young male shins at 10:02
and 10:34. Next we caught a young female shin at 11:07.
Around noon, my long-time falconer friend Everet
Horton from Michigan drove up on his motorcycle. He was doing a ride around
Lake Superior and was planning to camp at Hawk Harbor (our land) for the next
few days. Everet is also a raptor bander and has spent many years banding
during the spring migration at Whitefish Point. We caught another young female
shin at 12:11 and Everet got to release that one. At 12:55 a young female shin
came out of the woods and hit the back of the mist net. At the same time we
caught a young Red-tailed hawk in the front net. Our first double of the year!
The Red-tail had spotted the lure from way out over Mr. Mattson's farmhouse on
the other end of the field and made a long shallow glide into the net. Everet
couldn't believe that we could lure it in from that far out.
Chuck released the Red-tail and Rick released the
shin.
Around 1:30 we heard some thunder in the distance.
Rick checked his phone and saw that a huge storm cell was headed right for us.
We closed down for the weekend in less than 20 minutes. When we got back down
to Hawk Harbor, falconer Chris Funke pulled in to say hi. He was up scouting
for trapping spots along the shore.
We got a total of 7 birds and 0 bounce outs on Monday.
1 Merlin, 5 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Red-tailed hawk.
Total for the weekend was 17 birds and 3 bounce-outs.
1 Merlin, 15 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Red-tailed hawk.
In an effort to keep this email file small and save some
time resizing photos, I am including my
"North Shore Banding - Frank Taylor" link so you
can look at the photos from this last weekend.
Click on the link below and then scroll down to the bottom
of the text to see all the photos. You can also review any of my weekly reports
from the last three years by clicking on the 2012/13/14 links at the right side
of that page.
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.
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01. Our daughter Becky and our newest grandson Max, born
November 7th, 2016.
First Weekend 2017
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02. Birds in the weathering area, last November, at the
North American Falconers Association meet in Elk City, Oklahoma.
First Weekend 2017
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03. Pat Redig with the staff at Sia in Cyril, Oklahoma.
First Weekend 2017
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04. A pure white Red-tailed hawk at Sia.
First Weekend 2017
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05. Mim and me out hunting last winter.
First Weekend 2017
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06. A beautiful sunset and schooner in Key West, Florida.
First Weekend 2017
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07. Riding the Amtrak train out to Flagstaff, Arizona.
First Weekend 2017
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08. Trudi, Mim and I with Amy Klobuchar out at Game Fair
in Anoka, Minnesota.
First Weekend 2017
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09. Trudi and I celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary.
First Weekend 2017
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10. Chuck and Rick setting up the nets for the first
time this year.
First Weekend 2017
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11. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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12. Chuck and Rick with our first bird of the year.
First Weekend 2017
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13. Rick and Chuck with the Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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14. Chuck banding the shin.
First Weekend 2017
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15. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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16. Chuck releasing the shin.
First Weekend 2017
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17. Another young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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18. Rick releasing the shin.
First Weekend 2017
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19. An old adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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20. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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21. Comparing an adult shin (left) to a young one
(right).
First Weekend 2017
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22. Old Frank and old shin.
First Weekend 2017
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23. Frank releasing the old shin.
First Weekend 2017
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24. Emily's Restaurant in Knife River, Minnesota, is
open again.
First Weekend 2017
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25. Rick and Chuck at Emily's Restaurant with my 79th
hot sandwich in front.
First Weekend 2017
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26. A Sunday morning fungus growing down at Hawk Harbor.
First Weekend 2017
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27. One of the many flowers I saw on the way up to the blind
on Sunday morning.
First Weekend 2017
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28. A young male Sharp-shinned hawk on Sunday morning.
First Weekend 2017
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29. Rick and Chuck getting the shin out of the net.
First Weekend 2017
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30. A young male Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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31. Me about to release the Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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32. Releasing the shin.
First Weekend 2017
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33. The perfect trapping blind lunch.
First Weekend 2017
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34. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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35. Chuck and Rick taking a shin out of the back net.
First Weekend 2017
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36. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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37. A Monday morning sunrise over the Mattson farm.
First Weekend 2017
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38. A young female Merlin.
First Weekend 2017
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39. Rick and Chuck taking the Merlin out of the net.
First Weekend 2017
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40. Chuck banding the Merlin.
First Weekend 2017
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41. A young female Merlin.
First Weekend 2017
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42. Frank, Chuck and Rick with the Merlin.
First Weekend 2017
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43. Chuck releasing the Merlin.
First Weekend 2017
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44. A young shin in the tree.
First Weekend 2017
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45. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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46. Chuck and Rick taking a shin out of the net.
First Weekend 2017
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47. Frank and Everet with the shin.
First Weekend 2017
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48. A young Sharp-shinned hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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49. Everet about to release a shin.
First Weekend 2017
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50. Everet releasing the shin.
First Weekend 2017
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51. A young Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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52. Chuck banding the Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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53. Frank, Everet, Chuck and Rick with the Red-tailed
hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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54. A young Red-tailed hawk.
First Weekend 2017
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55. Everet and Chuck giving us a look at the Red-tail's
back.
First Weekend 2017
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56. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk that was part of
the double.
First Weekend 2017
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57. Rick releasing the shin.
First Weekend 2017
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