First Weekend of Banding 2018

Hello Everyone,

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 2018 banding season, covering the weekend of September 1st, 2018.

THIS SEASON MARKS OUR 49th CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM.

Since my last report in early November 2017, I have started doing some digital pictures from the photos that I have taken over the years up at the banding station. I started doing them in March when I was asked to design an invitation for the Minnesota Falconers Association's annual Game Dinner. Our guest speaker was Lauren McGough, an internationally known eagle expert. So I did a digital picture of a Golden eagle in an oil painting style. That was so much fun and so relaxing to do that I started doing a bunch of other pictures. (See my last blog entry for examples).

Also 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 1st, Trudi and I met Rick and Chuck at Hawk Harbor (our land and camping area across the road from the main banding station). Todd and my brother Dan were already there. Dan had brought us a new blind for Todd to use at the falconer's trapping site located on our land. We loaded the main blind's banding gear into Rick's truck and Trudi, Rick and Chuck drove up to get that blind and the banding station set up. I stayed with Todd and Dan to help place the new falconer's blind. The very warm day with high humidity made the work seem extra difficult. By the time I got back up to the main banding blind, Trudi, Rick and Chuck had everything set up and ready to go. We officially started the 2018 banding season at noon sharp.

There was a slight breeze blowing out of the South-southwest with a partly cloudy sky. We had not seen even one migrating raptor the whole time we were getting things set up. As we got into the blind, Rick spotted the first raptor of the day, a young Bald Eagle. A little while later Chuck saw a young Red-tailed Hawk dive straight down out of sight, into the far end of the field. Several minutes later, as we were wondering where it went, we got a call from Todd at 12:15 saying he had just caught a young Red-tailed Hawk and was bringing it up for us to band. Yeay!!! First bird of the year in the books!!! We banded it, took some photos and Chuck let it go.

We settled back into the blind to look for more birds. It was a hot and sticky afternoon, so not many hawks were moving. We saw a few Bald Eagles and a bunch of Turkey Vultures pass over. A couple lines of American White Pelicans flew over, while thousands of dragonflies zipped around over the field. Around 3:00, a young female Merlin buzzed past the nets, climbed up in front of us and proceeded to catch a several dragonflies and eat them on the wing, before exiting the field toward the Southeast.

At 3:15, we got our first bird at the main blind, a young female Sharp-shinned Hawk that shot into the nets before we even saw where it came from. We banded it, took more photos and Trudi released that one. We spent the rest of the day watching hundreds of Common Nighthawks pass over. Nothing else came near our station, so we closed down at 5:00.

Dan had left for home earlier in the day so Trudi, Rick, Chuck, Todd and I headed into Two Harbors for super. We thought we would try something new this season, so we stopped at the Earthwood Inn Bar & Grill just outside of Two Harbors. I had their SUPER one half pound California hamburger, with fried onions and beer battered fries. A great meal and very friendly service! After that, we headed back to Hawk Harbor for a campfire before turning in just as it got dark.

We got a total of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.

1 Red-tailed Hawk and 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Sunday morning was overcast and I heard a few drops of rain on the trailer roof before getting up around 6:30. The temperature was much better at 65° so we made some hot chocolate and ate some cookies that Nancy (Chuck's wife) had sent. Before we could get the gear packed into Rick's truck to head up to the blind, Rick showed us his smart phone with the weather forecast. A huge band of thunderstorms with damaging winds was racing towards us from the Southwest and due to hit our area around 10:00! Sitting in a storm tossed blind, waiting for the rain and lightning to stop, did not sound like a fun option. Also the weather for that afternoon and the next day did not look good for any great migration movement, so we decided to pack up and head for home, hoping for better weather next weekend.

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

1 Red-tailed Hawk and 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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!

Trudi & Frank Taylor