Monday, October 28, 2019

Ninth Weekend of Banding 2019

Hello Everyone,

This is my ninth report of the 2019 banding season, covering the weekend of October 26th, 2019.

THIS SEASON MARKS OUR 50th CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM ! ! !

Saturday, October 26th
Saturday morning around 8:00, Trudi and I met Rick, Chuck, and Nancy at Hawk Harbor. Todd had two falconers, Kenny and Bob, with him at the falconry-trapping site at Hawk Harbor. Kenny had been up since Wednesday trying to get a large young female Northern Goshawk for falconry. He had caught a couple of male goshawks and some red-tails that week, but had released them. Rick got a new truck on Friday and brought it up to haul our gear up to the blind. We set the nets, opened the blind, and were ready to go by 8:30. Skies were clear and the winds were light out of the South-southwest.

At 9:00, seven members of the University of Minnesota's Fish and Wildlife Club came up to see us. I gave them a quick migration talk, showed them how the nets work, and we all settled in to look for hawks. This group has been coming up every year since 2013. A few eagles and a lot of ravens started moving but not much else. We sat there scanning the skies until 10:15, when a young male Northern Goshawk locked on to the lure from quite a ways out in front. We were all able to see it coming, as its rhythmic wing beat propelled it straight as an arrow into the front net! We banded it, took a bunch of photos, did the "guess the number" game, and Brandon won the release.

We started seeing red-tails and shins, but most of them were adults and paid no attention to us. Finally, at 12:03, a young Red-tailed hawk that was soaring off to the North saw our lure and started a long curving dive toward us. About half way in, a group of ravens started mobbing the red-tail and distracted it for only a moment. It shook off the ravens and resumed its attack, making a long sloping glide down into the net. The students all rushed out of both blinds to watch Rick and Chuck take it out of the net. We banded it, took a bunch more photos, did the "guess the number" game, and this time, Cydnee won the release.

The students left around 1:00, and we kept on trying for more birds. Most of them were adults and passing over at such a great height that we could barely see them. At 4:00, we decided to pack it in early and closed down.

We got a total of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Northern Goshawk and 1 Red-tailed Hawk

Sunday, October 27th
Sunday morning was beautifully clear and more promising for banding since the winds had switched around during the night and were blowing strong out of the Northwest. We all drank a round of hot chocolate and ate waxy donuts as the temperature had dropped into the 30s overnight and none of the trailers at Hawk Harbor had their heaters turned on! We headed up to the blind and had everything set up and ready by 8:30.

A short while later Melinda came up. Melinda wins the award for most distance traveled to get to Hawk Harbor, as she now lives in Sydney, Australia. Melinda's first trip to Hawk Harbor was in 1993 when she was a student at Eden Prairie High school. Every year or so she comes back to Minnesota to visit her parents and tries to sneak in a trip up to Hawk Harbor. We are always delighted to see her.

Around 9:30, a lot of hawks started getting up and moving. Again, most of them were adult shins and adult red-tails that were not interested in us. At 10:02, our first bird of the day, a young Red-tailed hawk that seemed to take forever getting to us because of strong headwinds, put on a burst of speed and came in high from the Southeast hitting the front net. We banded it, took a lot of photos, and Melinda released it. Chuck took a photo of me photographing Melinda doing the release, as I was sporting my bright yellow "Big Bird Designer Boots". The hay field has been super soggy lately and I had left my good boots at home and had to use these "pull over" boots that everyone makes fun of. I looked like someone had been feeding me too many day old chicks (falconry joke: feeding day old chicks makes a hawk's feet turn bright yellow).

Just before 11:00, we saw the flashing ghost of a goshawk go shooting across the far end of the field toward the falconry-trapping site at Hawk Harbor. Sure enough, a little while later we got a call from Kenny saying they had trapped another young male goshawk. Kenny was still holding out for a big female and didn't want this one. So, Trudi, Melinda, and I walked down to get it for banding. As we approached the trapping site, we met our neighbors from just the other side of Homestead Road. John, Heather, and their son Jedidiah were out for a walk and saw the goshawk fly across the road and into Kenny's nets. We picked up the goshawk and took a group photo. Then we took it back up to the main blind, banded it, and Melinda got to release it. Shortly after that Melinda headed back to the cities and we settled in to look for more hawks.

About an hour later, we saw a goshawk pumping along in a straight line from the North, but high up. It saw our lure, dropped down into the field, and made a low and fast approach just above the grass. The young male goshawk hit the center of the front net and Rick rushed out to secure it. After that, all the birds seemed to be passing over us at a tremendous height, totally ignoring our lure, so we closed down for the season at 2:00. We cleaned out the main blind and packed everything into Rick's truck for the last run down the hill.

At the Hawk Harbor campsite, we said our good-bys to the team and after they left, Trudi and I started winterizing and closing down Hawk Harbor. Around 4:00, we heard Kenny holler out something like "Godfrey Daniels!!!" from over at the falconry-trapping site. He was still there trying to catch a goshawk when an adult red-tail had shot in unseen and hit his nets. Kenny had been trying to scare off any red-tails before they hit his nets, so that he would be ready if a goshawk came by. I went over to see if he was OK and helped him get the red-tail out of his nets so he could reset them right away. I took the red-tail over to Trudi at the Hawk Harbor campsite where we measured and banded it. Trudi released it and we headed home.

We got a total of 4 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.
2 Northern Goshawks and 2 Red-tailed Hawks

We got a total of 6 birds and 0 bounce-outs for the weekend.
3 Red-tailed Hawks and 3 Northern Goshawks.

My next report will have a breakdown of the species we banded and the totals for the season.

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)
Midwest Peregrine Society (https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)
Raptor Resource Project (https://www.raptorresource.org/)
Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch (http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/)

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi & Frank Taylor

01. One of the Northern Goshawks we caught this weekend.
Ninth Weekend 2019

02. Rick's new truck.
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03. The old blind is showing its age.
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04. Frank showing student members of the University of Minnesota's Fish and Wildlife Club how the nets work.
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05. Frank sharing photos and stories in the overflow blind during a slow time.
Left to right: Brandon, Mason, Frank and Logan.
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06. A young male Northern Goshawk coming in.
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07. Chuck showing the goshawk to the students.
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08. Chuck holding the young male Northern Goshawk.
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09. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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10. The University of Minnesota's Fish and Wildlife Club members and our banding team with the goshawk.
Left to right: Frank, Nancy, Logan, Claire, Claire, Cydnee, Chuck, Olivia, Brandon, Mason and Rick.
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11. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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12. Brandon about to release the goshawk.
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13. Brandon releasing the goshawk.
It looks like Brandon is reaching out to shake hands, just as he gets attacked from behind by a giant goshawk.
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14. Students looking for more hawks from the overflow blind.
Left to right: Cydnee, Claire, Claire and Olivia
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15. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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16. Students running to see Rick and Chuck pull the red-tail out of the net.
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17. Chuck showing the red-tail to the students.
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18. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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19. Cydnee about to release the red-tail.
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20. Cydnee releasing the red-tail.
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21. Frank handing out art prints and information sheets to the students.
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22. Chuck and Rick looking for more hawks Sunday morning.
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23. First bird of the day on Sunday, a young Red-tailed hawk.
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24. Melinda watching Rick and Chuck take the red-tail out of the net.
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25. Chuck measuring and banding the young red-tail.
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26. Trudi, Nancy, Chuck, Melinda and Rick holding the red-tail.
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27. A closer look at the red-tail with Trudi, Frank and Melinda.
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28. A young Red-tailed hawk on Sunday morning.
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29. Melinda about to release the red-tail.
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30. Frank wearing his designer "Big Bird Boots" taking a photo of the release.
Photo by Chuck Schotzko
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31. Melinda releasing the red-tail.
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32. The falconer's trapping site on our land at Hawk Harbor.
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33. Kenny's lookout blind on the mound behind the Hawk Harbor falconer's trapping site.
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34. Kenny's view of the falconer's trapping site at Hawk Harbor.
Kenny and Bob setting up their nets.
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35. View from the blind at the falconer's trapping site at Hawk Harbor.
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36. A young male Northern Goshawk at Hawk Harbor.
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37. Bob and Kenny taking the goshawk out of the net at Hawk Harbor.
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38. Kenny, Trudi, Bob, Melinda, Heather, Jedidiah and John with the goshawk.
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39. Chuck measuring while Nancy records data on the young goshawk.
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40. Melinda, Chuck, Nancy and Rick with the goshawk.
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41. Melinda releasing the goshawk.
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42. Another young male Northern Goshawk up behind the blind.
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43. Rick taking the goshawk out of the net.
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44. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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45. Nancy about to release the goshawk.
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46. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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47. Nancy releasing the goshawk.
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48. The banded goshawk sitting in the trees behind the blind after being released.
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49. The blind all closed down for the season and the team loaded up and ready to leave.
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50. A late-in-the-day adult Red-tailed hawk caught by Kenny at Hawk Harbor.
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51. Frank with the adult Red-tailed hawk.
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52. Mis-shaped pupil in the eye of the red-tail.
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53. Trudi about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
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54. Trudi releasing the red-tail.
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