Saturday morning October 21st, I drove up from the cities to
meet Nancy, Chuck and Rick at the McDonalds near Spirit Mountain outside of
Duluth. Trudi stayed home to catch up on some things she needed to get done. We
had a quick breakfast and got up to Hawk Harbor around 8:00 am. Todd was
already there with his wife Jenny and had their camper set up. Their daughter
Jessie and her boyfriend Matt were there as well camping in a tent. Everet
Horton, a long time falconer friend, was also there with his falconer friend,
Isaac Gayle, who had a non-resident permit to catch a Northern goshawk. We set
up our camping spots and headed up to the banding blind.
The sky was overcast when we started at 8:45 and just after
that it started to rain. Not exactly a good day for hawk trapping! Around 9:00
eight members of the University of Minnesota Fish & Wildlife Club, led by
Jeff Tilley, came up to see us. Four members went into the dry main blind with
Nancy, Chuck and Rick while I sat with the other four members in the overflow
blind that does not have a roof. It kept on raining the whole time they were
there. Good training for most of them who would eventually get jobs and
internships in the great outdoors (rain or shine). We had a few Northern
harriers go by but they didn't come in and at 10:50 a lone soaked shin that was
hunting the draw saw our lure and came stooping in. Every one rushed out to
watch Rick and Chuck take it out of the net and band it, while Nancy recorded
the data. As a very nice gesture to Emma, the only senior in the group, who
would be graduating that year, everyone decided to have her do the release. We
took a bunch of photos in the rain and Emma, with the help of other members,
sent the shin on its wet and weary way. While we were out taking photos of the
shin, a Merlin made a pass at the net but overshot it and went up into a tree.
We switched out members in each blind and the dry four came out to sit with me
in the wet blind. They stayed until 12:30 but no more hawks came in. Just
before the Fish & Wildlife Club left, I gave them the usual handouts, art
prints, I. D. sheets and bookmarks.
My White Bear Lake neighbor Nick Temali brought up JoAnn
Moats and Patty and Dave Muckala while I was walking the wildlife club group
back down the hill. Nick was an administrator for the Mounds View School
District for many years and we worked together years ago on a logo for the
Laurentian Environmental Center, near Britt, Minnesota. We sat for a while out
in the overflow blind and I showed them my photo books of birds we had caught on drier days. We moved into the main blind and they stayed for an hour or
so, and then they headed back to Duluth. Due to the pouring rain, I forgot to
get my camera out for a photo of Nick's group. Hopefully, we will see them
again next year and the weather will be much better.
After Nick and his group left, Chris Brandt along with his
wife Lynette and their two sons, Levy and Bugsy, came up to see us. Chris's
sister-in-law, Sherri, and her son Cory also came along. They stayed until we
closed down at 4:00. We saw a few Northern harriers and some eagles but nothing
came in. Nancy, Chuck, Rick and I went into Two Harbors for supper at the
Subway sandwich shop. It was so wet that night that we did not have a campfire.
We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Sharp-shinned hawk.
Sunday morning it didn't get light until about 7:00. The
rain had stopped but it was still very overcast and threatening. Nancy, Chuck,
Rick and I went up to the main blind and got set to up by 8:15. Around 9:00 our
friend Alishia Walden who volunteers at The Raptor Center and does some Saw-wet
owl banding came up. There was no wind, no rain and no birds moving. Strong
Southwest winds were predicted, but it wasn't until after 10:00 that we started
to feel a breeze. As the skies cleared and the wind picked up, birds started
moving in pretty good numbers. We got our first bird of the day at 10:38, a
young male Sharp-shinned hawk that was chasing a Blue jay around the
blind. We caught another young
male shin a little while later and while we were out getting that one out of
the net, an adult male shin came in, flew right in between us, hit the front
net but bounced out. We took photos of the two shins and Alishia did a double
release. Three more shins came in rapid succession, we caught two, and one
bounced out.
At 12:47 a young Red-tailed hawk came in, but it pulled up
and landed in the trees above the blind. Then it moved down the tree line a
little and waited a bit before dropping in over the front net. It hit the front
of the back net while Rick made a mad dash to secure it. It got out past Rick
and hit the back net again, further down. Rick continued the chase! It then
flew around past Rick again, as he made a desperate grab for it, only this
time, it hit the back of the front net. Rick moved like lightning and was on it
before it could say, "Who the hell is that guy!" We banded it, took a
bunch of photos, and Alishia let it go. Rick relaxed!
We caught five more shins in a row without any bounce outs,
did some slow motion filming, took photos, hypnotized a couple, and Alishia did
another double release. Around 2:50 things started slowing down a bit. We
looked out over the "flat top" and saw a larger bird pumping along
and headed straight for us. Rick pulled the lure and it "locked on".
It wasn't until after it came in low over the draw that we noticed the
"white eyebrow". Boom!!! A nice young male Northern goshawk, straight
into the center of the front net. Whoopee Ding Ding!!! We banded it, took a load
of photos and Alishia did the release. Nice way to end the day, so we closed
down at 3:00 and packed up for home.
We got a total of 11 birds and 2 bounce outs on Sunday.
9 Sharp-shinned hawks, 1 Red-tailed hawk and 1
Northern goshawk.
Total for the weekend was 12 birds and 2 bounce-outs.
10 Sharp-shinned hawks, 1 Red-tailed hawk, 1 Northern
goshawk.
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)
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01. Young male Northern Goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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02. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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03. A rainy day Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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04. Fish & Wildlife Club students watching Rick and
Chuck take the shin out of the net.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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05. Frank, Emma, Devan, Dieter, Jeff, Chuck, Marielle,
Clare, Natalie and Logan holding the Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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06. Dieter, Devan, Jeff, Marielle, Clare, Logan and Emma
about to release the Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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07. Dieter, Devan, Jeff, Marielle, Clare and Logan
helping Emma release the Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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08. Cory, Sherri, Lynette, Bugsy, Chris, Levy and Frank
on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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09. A young male Sharp-shinned hawk on Sunday morning.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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10. Chuck banding the shin while Nancy records the data.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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11. Frank, Rick, Alishia, Chuck and Nancy holding the
first shin of the day.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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12. The second bird of the day, another young male shin.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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13. A close look at the Hyppoboscid fly on the second
shin's eye.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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14. Alishia about to do a double release of the two
young shins.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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15. Alishia doing a double release of the two young
shins.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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16. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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17. Alishia taking photos of Chuck and Rick pulling the
red-tail out of the net.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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18. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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19. Chuck banding the young red-tail.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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20. Rick, Nancy, Chuck, Alishia and Frank holding the
red-tail.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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21. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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22. Rick, Chuck, Nancy and Alishia about to release the
Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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23. Rick, Chuck and Nancy helping Alishia release the
Red-tailed hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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24. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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25. Alishia watching Chuck band the shin.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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26. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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27. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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28. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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29. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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30. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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31. Alishia about to do a double adult shin release.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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32. Alishia doing a double adult shin release.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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33. A young male Northern Goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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34. Rick and Chuck getting the goshawk out of the net.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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35. Chuck checking out the goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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36. A back view of the Northern Goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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37. Chuck banding the goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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38. A young male Northern Goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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39. Alishia about to release the Northern Goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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40. Alishia releasing the Northern Goshawk.
Eighth Weekend 2017
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