Banding Totals for 2018

Hi All,

Well, this is it, my final tally for the 2018 banding season. This year we banded a total of 106 birds. Last year we caught 132. We caught considerably fewer birds this year because of my eye surgery causing us to miss one weekend and a day called off for bad weather on one Sunday. Additionally, we never got good Northwest winds during the whole season.

We get lots of birds visiting each year, but we also get a good number of relatives, friends, falconers, birders and students coming up to share in the fun. I did a tally again this year of individuals who were up enjoying our banding activities. I counted each person only once, even if they came up multiple times. We had 39 individuals and 8 organized groups containing 56 people. A total of 95 guests were able to have an exceptional hawk viewing experience at our site this year!

I hope their visit inspires each of them to a greater appreciation for our feathered friends, the raptors, and to make donations to:

The Raptor Center (www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu),

The National Eagle Center (www.nationaleaglecenter.org),

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (www.hawkridge.org) and

The Midwest Peregrine Society (http://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/).

Please support the people who work to help the raptors in our state.

A very special THANK YOU goes to Mr. Mattson for letting us use his hay field for the forty-ninth year in a row.

Also a big THANK YOU goes to Tina Cisewski and Kevin Bartness for supplying our lure birds this year.

THANK YOU also goes to Greg Mikkelson for bringing up a full trailer load of firewood.

Last but not least, I really must say a BIG THANK YOU to every one of our banding crew who came up to do the banding again this year. What a great and dedicated team of regulars we have. Trudi Taylor, Rick DuPont, Chuck & Nancy Schotzko and Todd Rosengren: without your dedication and co-operation, we would not be able to do this thing we love so much, year after year.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!! 

2018 Total Raptors 106

We had a total of 11 bounce-outs (13 fewer than last year).

Thanks for being such great friends and sharing an interest in our modest program!

NEXT YEAR WILL BE OUR 50TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF TRAPPING HAWKS AT THIS SITE!!!

We hope to see you all again next fall, and meanwhile keep your eyes on the skies! 

Frank & Trudi Taylor

Here it is, the final breakdown.

Eagles - None

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Peregrines - 2

Immys 2  Males 2  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Merlins - 13

Immys 13  Males 7  Females 6

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Kestrels - 0

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Goshawks - 3

Immys 3  Males 2  Females 1

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Cooper’s - 3

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 3   Males 2  Females 1

Sharp-shins - 69

Immys 50  Males 25  Females 25

Adults 19   Males 7  Females 12

Red-tails - 16

Immys 12  Males 8  Females 4

Adults 4   Males 1  Females 3

Rough-legs - 0

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Broad-wings - 0

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0   Males 0  Females 0

Harriers - 0

Immys 0  Males 0  Females 0

Adults 0  Males 0  Females 0

Ninth Weekend of Banding 2018

Hello Everyone,

This was our ninth and last weekend of banding for the 2018 season.

NEXT SEASON WILL BE OUR  50th  CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM.

I drove to Hawk Harbor by myself on Saturday morning as Trudi was visiting relatives in Florida. I got there around 7:30 and Rick was already there but Todd had stayed home to work on his truck. Nancy and Chuck pulled in a few minutes later. To our surprise upon arrival we noticed two portable toilets instead of the one we usually rent for the season. There was a note inside the second one stating that the driver of the service truck had to go pick up some rentals in Two Harbors and didn't have enough room on the truck for all of them, so he left us an extra complimentary one all primed and ready for use!  We loaded up Rick's truck with the banding gear, headed up to the banding station and had everything set and ready to start at 9:00.

It was not a good day for banding as there was a slight drizzle and the winds were light out of the South. Only a few crows, ravens and Blue Jays were moving around at all. It was also a bit hazy and when I looked over at the South side of the field, I spotted what I thought was a young Red-tailed Hawk sitting in a tree. After calling it out and getting everyone else excited, Rick took a look with his 12 power binoculars and calmly stated that it, in fact, was a "Clumper's Hawk". A Clumper's Hawk is, in reality, only a clump of leaves that resembles a hawk perched in a tree. The banding team immediately questioned the outcome of my recent eye surgery and it will take me most of the next banding season to live that one down! In the past, even with good vision, I have on occasion also pointed out "Sharp-stick Hawks" (a broken branch that looks like a hawk) and "Bag-tailed Hawks" (a plastic bag hung up in a tree that looks like a young Red-tailed Hawk). We sat there for another hour or so before we spotted our first migrating raptor, an adult Bald Eagle that passed us way to the South, right over my Clumper's Hawk. Around 10:30, five members of the University of Minnesota Fish & Wildlife Club came out to visit us. We gave them a tour of the station and settled them all into the main blind, hoping to see any bird that might be catchable.

We sat there for hours watching the Blue Jays come in, grab some corn, and fly off to their private stashes. This group was extremely patient as most of them had been, or will be, working in situations outdoors, under extremely adverse and boring conditions. I was explaining how on some days banding was a lot like fishing, nothing biting for hours when suddenly one will strike. Or, we could sit here all day and not get a thing. Finally, at 1:07, I spotted a hunting shin at the far end of the draw. Rick pulled the lure line and it locked on. It made a textbook perfect, low approach all the way from the other end of the field and slammed right into the front net in full view of everyone! We showed them how we band it and record the data and then we lined up for a group photo. While we were doing the "Numbers Game" to decide who would release the shin, our friends Jen and Tim from Duluth came up. So, we reassembled for an adjusted group photo and then Hope released the shin.

Other than a couple of deer that walked by around 3:30, we didn't see much else for the rest of the day. A few Bald Eagles and a few Rough-Legged Hawks went by, but they did not look. We closed down at 4:30 and went into the Perkins in Duluth for supper.

 

We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Saturday.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

Sunday morning the sky was overcast but the winds were supposed to switch around from the North. We set up at 8:30 and started looking for hawks. My "Clumpers Hawk" was still there but we didn't see anything else until about 10:30 when a Northern Harrier came in to hunt the field. It made a few passes at the fake owl but didn't come anywhere near us. Some Bald Eagles started moving and a Rough-legged Hawk or two floated by. None of them were interested in our lure. At 11:00, a Sharp-shinned Hawk started buzzing the owl. Rick pulled the lure and it came right in. Yay!!! We didn't get skunked today! We banded it, took photos and Nancy released it. After that, hardly any birds were moving at all and the North winds that might have brought more birds never did develop, so we closed down for the season at 1:00.

We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

Total for the weekend was 2 birds and no bounce-outs.

2 Sharp-shinned Hawks

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)

The Midwest Peregrine Society (http://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi & Frank Taylor

01. The first bird of the weekend was a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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02. Members of the University of Minnesota Fish and Wildlife Club

watching Rick and Chuck take the shin out of the net.

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03. University of Minnesota Fish and Wildlife Club with a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Left to right: Rick, Nathan, Suzannah, Chuck, Dieter, Hope and Dana.

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04. Young female Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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05. Regroup shot with shin after Tim and Jen arrived.

Left to right: Hope, Suzannah, Dana, Chuck, Dieter, Nathan, Tim, Jen and Rick.

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06. Young shin trying to look like a goshawk.

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07. Hope about to release the shin.

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08. Hope executing a very stylish shin release.

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09. Some deer crossing the field.

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10. Sunday morning shin.

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11. Rick and Chuck taking a shin out of the net.

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12. An adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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13. Rick, Nancy and Chuck holding the shin.

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14. Chuck and Nancy releasing the shin.

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15. This shin was our last bird of our 2018 banding season.

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16. Doing double doody with our Bonus Biffy for the weekend.

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17. A "Clumper's Hawk" sitting in the tree.

In reality, just a clump of leaves that looks like a hawk.

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18. A closer look at the clump of leaves that looked like a hawk.

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Eighth Weekend of Banding 2018

Due to eye surgery I had last Wednesday (Oct. 17th, 2018), I was not able to travel up to 

Hawk Harbor last weekend for some raptor banding. So, instead of a report for the eighth weekend, I am including this video we made, years ago, of our hawk banding for a public access television station. 

Keep Your Eyes on the Skies! 

Trudi & Frank Taylor

Seventh Weekend of Banding 2018

Hello All,

Here is the report for the seventh weekend of our 49th year of hawk trapping at the Mattson Farm.

On Saturday morning, Trudi and I drove up to Hawk Harbor. Rick was already there and Chuck pulled in right behind us. Nancy was feeling a bit under the weather and stayed home. Todd, his daughter Jessie, and her boy friend Matt came up late on Friday. We loaded the gear into Rick's truck and went up to the banding station. Winds were light out of the Southwest with an overcast sky. We were ready to start at 8:45.

We sat looking at a bare field for about an hour and a half when finally a Merlin started buzzing our fake owl. Rick pulled the lure line and it came right in. We were taking it out of the net when Butch and his group of eight members of the Bee-Nay-She Bird Club pulled up. This group has been coming up for several years now, but for some of them, it was their first time. We gave them a quick tour of the station, showed them the Merlin, took a bunch of photos, and then Bob and his wife Jan released it. We started seeing a few more hawks getting up and a lot of Turkey Vultures heading South. At 10:30, a young male Sharp-shinned Hawk came in, but it just nicked the top of the net and bounced out. Arrgh!!! 45 minutes later, another Merlin came shooting across the field from the barn and went straight into the front net. Everyone got to see it come in. We banded it, took photos, and Karen got to release that one. A little while later, another shin, this time an adult male, made a steep stoop from above the over-flow blind and hit the back net. After banding it and taking some photos, Kimberly got to release that one. Butch and the group left for Hawk Ridge around noon, but before they did, I gave them my migration talk, handed out identification sheets, showed them some of my artwork and then gave each one signed art prints.

About an hour later, Chad, the Bethany Lutheran College biology professor who had come up with his students two weeks ago, joined us with his family. Chad's kids were very pleasant and super patient, even though we didn't see many hawks. They were starting to get a little bored sitting in the blind, not to mention that it was very cold, when a young Red-tailed Hawk was happily spotted in a tree next to the barn, down on the other end of the field. It moved to a tree over near Hawk Harbor and when Rick pulled the lure line, it came pumping across the field and shot low into the front net. Whoopee!!! We showed it to the kids, banded it, took photos and Chad's youngest son, Gideon, let it go. They took off for the cities and we closed down at 4:30. When we got back to Hawk Harbor, Todd, Jessie and Matt were preparing their supper on the grill. Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I drove into the Do North Pizzaria in Two Harbors, where Chuck treated us all to pizza and drinks. Todd and his family had a nice camp fire going when we got back.

We got a total of 4 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Red-tailed Hawk and 2 Merlins.

Sunday morning, we were expecting Northwest winds, but there was no wind and the sky was still overcast. We were ready to start at 8:00. Fifteen minutes later, we spotted a shin out hunting in the draw, Rick pulled the lure line, and it came right in. We banded it and Trudi released it.

Around 9:00, Nancy, who was a volunteer at The Raptor Center when I worked there and has been coming up every year, stopped by with her son Eric. At 11:00, we were luring for some shins that were chasing Blue Jays around the blind, when a young Red-tailed Hawk stooped in from high above. We banded it and were out getting some photos when we spotted a young Northern Goshawk passing just above treetop level on the North side of the field. We all jumped back into the blind with the red-tail in hand and watched as the gos "locked on". The gos powered in without slowing down and hit the net dead center! Wow!!! They are an amazing bird to watch in "attack mode". We banded the gos and resumed our interrupted photo session, only now with two birds. Nancy released the red-tail and Eric released the gos.

At 12:15, we had another young red-tail come in. This one was following the same path as the gos on the North side of the field when it saw our lure. It dropped into the field and came in low, cutting through a gap in the draw and slamming into the front net. We banded that one and Nancy released it. 45 minutes later, we caught two more shins. Chuck released one and Trudi let the other one go. A half an hour later, another red-tail, this time a rusty looking old adult bird, came in on a long sloping dive with its legs dropping down on the final approach. After banding it and taking a few photos, Trudi and I let it go. It started to snow a little and we were thinking about closing down at 2:00. Right at 2:00, however, we saw another Northern Goshawk down at the other end of the draw hugging the ground and pumping straight for our lure. It hit hard, fast, and low into the front net! We banded that one and Rick let it go. After that one, we closed down and headed for home.

We got a total of 8 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 3 Red-tailed Hawks and 2 Northern Goshawks.

Total for the weekend was 12 birds and 1 bounce-out.

4 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Merlins, 4 Red-Tailed Hawks and 2 Northern Goshawks.

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)

The Midwest Peregrine Society (http://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi & Frank Taylor

01. The first bird of the weekend was a Merlin.

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02. Chuck showing the Merlin to the Bee-Nay-She Bird Club.

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03. The Bee-Nay-She Bird Club with the Merlin.

Left to right: Trudi, Doug, Steve, Kimberly, Marilyn, Bob, Jan, Chuck, Carol, Butch, Karen and Frank.

Photo by Rick DuPont

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04. The Merlin.

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05. Jan and Bob about to release the Merlin.

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06. Jan and Bob releasing the Merlin.

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07. Kimberly, Karen, Steve, Marilyn, Doug, and Butch in the over-flow blind.

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08. The second Merlin.

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09. Chuck showing Steve the Merlin.

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10. A Merlin.

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11. Karen about to release the Merlin.

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12. Karen releasing the Merlin.

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13. A Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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14. Kimberly about to release the shin.

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15. Kimberly releasing the shin.

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16. Frank handing out identification sheets and signed art prints.

Photo by Trudi Taylor
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17. A young Red-tailed Hawk.

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18. Chad and his family watching Rick and Chuck take the red-tail out of the net.

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19. Chuck showing us the young Red-tailed Hawk.

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20. Chad's family and banding crew with the red-tail.

Left to right: Chad, Jenni, Isaiah, Chuck, Tilly, Lucy, Gideon, Rick and Trudi.

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21. Chad's family with the red-tail.

Left to right: Lucy, Jenni, Chad, Tilly, Isaiah, and Gideon.

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22. Gideon about to release the red-tail.

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23. Gideon levitating while releasing the red-tail.

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24. Frank showing Chad's family his artwork and then handing out identification sheets and signed art prints.

Photo by Trudi Taylor
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25. A Sunday morning shin.

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26. Rick, Chuck and Trudi never stop looking for hawks.

I guess I did tell them to "watch the birdy" before taking the photo.

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27. Trudi about to release a shin.

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28. Trudi releasing a "giant" shin.

It looks a lot bigger when it flies right at the camera!

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29. A young Red-tailed Hawk.

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30. A young Northern Goshawk.

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31. Chuck and Rick showing the gos and red-tail to Eric and Nancy.

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32. A young Northern Goshawk.

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33. Trudi, Chuck, Eric, Rick and Nancy showing us the gos and red-tail.

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34. Eric and Nancy with a gos and a red-tail.

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35. A young Red-tailed Hawk.

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36. Nancy about to release the red-tail.

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37. Eric and Nancy releasing the red-tail.

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38. A young Northern Goshawk.

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39. Eric about to release the gos.

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40. Nancy and Eric releasing the gos.

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41. Another young Red-tailed Hawk.

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42. A view of the red-tail's back.

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43. Chuck banding the red-tail while Trudi records the data.

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44. Nancy about to release another Red-tailed Hawk.

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45. Nancy releasing the red-tail.

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46. A young Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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47. Trudi about to release the shin.

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48. Trudi releasing the shin.

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49. An adult Red-tailed Hawk.

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50. Trudi and Frank about to release the red-tail.

Photo by Rick DuPont
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51. Trudi and Frank releasing the red-tail.

Photo by Rick DuPont
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52. Our second Northern Goshawk of the day!

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53. Chuck banding the gos while Trudi records the data.

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54. Rick about to release the gos.

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55. Rick releasing the gos.

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