Hello Everyone,
This is my third report of the 2019 banding
season, covering the weekend of September
14th, 2019.
THIS SEASON MARKS OUR 50th CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF
TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM ! ! !
Saturday, September 14th
Saturday
morning, Trudi and I arrived at Hawk Harbor around 9:00, closely followed by
Nancy and Chuck. Todd stayed home this weekend to do some chores. Rick came up
Friday night and was already there. We loaded his pick-up with our gear and
headed to the banding station across the road.
The
weather was great with clear skies and no wind. We were set up and ready to
catch hawks by 9:30. Things started happening really fast when a shin that was
hunting in the draw saw the lure and locked on. That first shin was followed by
two more that were racing it to the lure. The first one hit the front net and
bounced out, the second one hit the back net and bounced out, while the third
shin shot over the top of the others and into the woods. Whew!!! Three shins,
two bounce outs and a flyby, all within fifteen minutes of setting up!
Our
first "Bird in the Books", another shin, came in five minutes later.
It came down the tree line from the North, went over the front net, and into
the back net at 9:50. As we were taking it out of the nets, Sara and Kevin, our
new neighbors who live just West of Hawk Harbor, came up to see us. We caught
three more shins before noon and then things dried up. Around noon, Joel, a
professional videographer, and his son Sam came up with Sam's friend Ryan. A
little while later, my brother Tony and my cousin Ashley joined us. We saw lots
of birds going over, but we didn't catch any while they were there. However, I
gave out some art prints before they all left. Dave, the farmer who was
harvesting hay at the Mattson farm this year, stopped by with his rig to say
Hi. Talk about a really nice guy, Dave was concerned that the haying might
disrupt our banding. We assured him that his crop was far more important than
our little weekend operation and that hawks usually don't show concern for farm
equipment moving along at a normal pace.
We
caught only one more bird that day, a Merlin that dove at the fake owl and then
raced a shin to the lure. The Merlin got there first! We banded it, took photos
and Rick released it. We closed down for the day at 5:00.
We
got a total of 5 birds and 2 bounce-outs on Saturday.
4 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Merlin.
Sunday,
September 15th
After
the usual Hawk Harbor morning gathering, with hot chocolate and waxy donuts,
Rick, Nancy, Chuck, Trudi and I headed back up to the blind. We set up and had
everything ready to go at 8:00. It was a cloudy day with light and variable
winds. We didn't have to wait long, as our first bird of the day, a shin, came
in at 8:07. It shot in fast over the front net, hit the back net, bounced out,
and flew back into the other panel of the back net! When Nancy let that bird
go, it flew right at the camera and looked like another one of those
"GIANT" shins.
We
caught a couple more shins and then a great treat for Trudi and me happened
when our daughter Becky and her family came up to see us. We gave Becky, Mike,
and the grandkids Jack and Max a tour of the banding station and then settled
in to catch some more hawks. Grandson Jack got to release two shins and Becky
released one for Max, since he is still a little too little for that. Then,
Becky, Mike, Jack and Max, along with Grandma Trudi and Grandpa Frank, hiked
down to Hawk Harbor for a look around. Becky's family had to leave too soon in
order to get back to the Twin Cities for a birthday party. We said our goodbyes
and Grandma and I headed back up to the blind.
While
we were at Hawk Harbor, the team back at the blind had caught three more shins.
After releasing those three, we banded three additional birds that day, a
Merlin and two more shins. Chuck did a "Double Release" with the
Merlin and a shin. Trudi got to release the last and eleventh bird of the day,
another shin. We closed down for the weekend at 1:00.
We
got a total of 11 birds and 1 bounce-out on Sunday.
10 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Merlin.
We
got a total of 16 birds and 3 bounce-outs for the weekend.
14 Sharp-shinned hawks and 2 Merlins.
What a great weekend with family, old friends, new friends,
good food, and cool weather for sleeping in that fresh North Shore air!
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)
Midwest Peregrine Society (https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)
Raptor Resource Project (https://www.raptorresource.org/)
Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch (http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/)
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01. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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02. Chuck and Rick taking our first bird of the weekend out
of the mist net.
Third Weekend 2019
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03. Rick, Nancy, Chuck, Sara, Kevin and Trudi with a shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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04. A young Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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05. Sara about to release a young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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06. Kevin and Sara releasing the shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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07. Another Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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08. Sara and Kevin releasing the shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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09. An old Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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10. Nancy releasing the old Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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11. Another Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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12. Trudi releasing a shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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13. Joel, me, Sam and Ryan with commemorative prints.
Third Weekend 2019
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14. Brother Tony, cousin Ashley and me.
Third Weekend 2019
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15. Dave stopped his haying to say Hi.
Third Weekend 2019
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16. A late-in-the-day Merlin.
Third Weekend 2019
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17. Nancy, Rick and Chuck banding the Merlin in the blind.
Third Weekend 2019
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18. Rick releasing the Merlin.
Third Weekend 2019
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19. A Sunday morning shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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20. Trudi and Nancy releasing another one of those
"GIANT" shins.
Third Weekend 2019
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21. Grandson Max, Grandma Trudi and Grandson Jack looking
for hawks.
Third Weekend 2019
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22. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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23. Rick, Mike, Nancy, Chuck, Jack, Becky, Trudi and Max
holding a shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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24. Chuck showing Jack and Max how we measure the shin's
tail.
Third Weekend 2019
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25. Max, me, Trudi, Becky, Jack and Mike with three shins.
Third Weekend 2019
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26. A nice looking shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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27. Grandsons Max and Jack about to release a shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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28. Grandsons Max and Jack releasing a shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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29. Another Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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30. Mike, Max, Becky and Jack holding another shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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31. Mike, Becky and Max watching Jack execute a very "stylish"
release.
Third Weekend 2019
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32. Trudi, Mike, Jack and Max watching Becky release a shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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33. Grandson Jack looking for more hawks from the
"overflow" blind.
Third Weekend 2019
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34. A "Noontime" Merlin.
Third Weekend 2019
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35. A "Noontime" Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2019
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36. Comparing the Sharp-shinned hawk and the Merlin.
Third Weekend 2019
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37. Chuck about to do a "Double" release with the
shin and the Merlin.
Third Weekend 2019
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38. Chuck, double-chucking the Merlin and shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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39. One more shin.
Third Weekend 2019
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40. Trudi got to release the last bird of the weekend.
Third Weekend 2019
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