Hi Everyone,
Here is my ninth report of the 2020 banding
season, covering the weekend of October 24th, 2020. Sorry for this coming out so late. My
computer broke down on Oct. 16th and I just got my new one going.
Friday, October 23rd
I drove up to Hawk
Harbor on Friday morning to meet Brian and Niall from Illinois. They are a father
and son team of falconers who had obtained out-of-state permits to try to catch
a young goshawk. Kenny and Curt, two Minnesota falconers, also came up to help
out. Brian and Niall set their trapping rig up on the Hawk Harbor area for
falconers and started looking for any large accipiters that might be passing
by. Kenny and Curt went up to Curt's spot to try their luck there, while I
stayed at Hawk Harbor with the Illinois falconers.
Winds were out of the
Northwest with cloudy skies. Lots of red-tails and eagles started circling up and
there were more Rough-legged hawks than I have ever seen up there! Although we
were not trying to catch them, two rough-legs managed to hit the nets and get
caught. I figured as long as I was there, I might as well band them. We
finished the day with two hawks for me to band, but no hawks for the falconers.
We got a total
of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Friday.
2 Rough-legged hawks
Saturday, October 24th
Saturday morning, Rick came up to join me and open the
banding station. We wished the falconers luck at Hawk Harbor, and then we drove
up to the banding blind in Rick's truck. I rode on the tailgate for good social
distancing. We got set up and started at 9:00, with clear skies and light
Northwest winds.
Our first bird of the day was a smart looking little
Merlin that hit the net at 9:10. He was out taking a shot at the fake owl, saw
the lure, and came straight in. We banded him, took some photos, and Rick
released him. Red-tails and rough-legs started pouring through. In the next
hour, we caught a red-tail and a rough-leg. Then at 11:00, we had a Red-tailed hawk,
that we hadn't seen, come in high from the right, but it bounced out. We had a
few more come in, but they pulled up and landed in the trees above us. The next
two birds, a red-tail and a rough-leg, were caught by the falconers and sent up
from Hawk Harbor for us to band.
Around 11:15, I spotted a magpie out in the draw, feeding
with a few crows. That was my first sighting ever of a magpie at the banding
station. We caught two more red-tails and another rough-leg in the next 45
minutes. One of the red-tails was a very light colored bird that came in from
the fake owl. At 12:20, we got a call from Hawk Harbor, saying they had caught
another rough-leg. To save everyone a long walk up to the banding station, Rick
drove his truck down to get it. He brought it up and we banded it. Ten minutes
later, we got another call saying they had caught a second rough-leg. Rick took
his truck down again to get that one.
While he was gone, I sat in his spot and did a little lure
pulling, just to see if everything was working correctly. Suddenly at 12:50, a
gray streak passed low in front of me and hit the front net, very hard! I
thought it was an adult Goshawk because of the speed and the gray coloring. We
usually keep a glove on one hand when big birds are coming in. But, this one
was such a surprise, that I ran out and pinned it down without the glove. I was
shocked when it turned to look at me with a large falcon's face!
IT WAS A GYRFALCON!!! The first one we have ever caught
in over 50 years of trapping in this hay field!! Needless to say, I was in
shock! Just then Rick pulled up and put on the gloves so we could get it out of
the net without getting bit. Rick's first words were, "48 years of luring
and I step out for just a few minutes and this happens!!! Arrrgh!!!" We
banded it, took a load of photos, and I felt so bad for Rick missing this Gyr,
that we decided he should release it.
Shortly after we released the gyr, we had a Merlin come
in, but it bounced out. We caught only one more rough-leg before closing down for
the day at 3:00. We loaded all the extra gear from the blind into Rick's truck
and took it down to Hawk Harbor to be stored away for the season. Rick headed
home and I stayed on for one more day, since Kenny said he would help me on
Sunday at the banding station.
We got a total of 11
birds and 2 bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Gyrfalcon, 1
Merlin, 4 Red-tailed hawks and 5 Rough-legged hawks
Sunday, October 25th
Sunday morning, Kenny
and I went back up to the banding station while Brian and Niall set up at Hawk
Harbor. Curt went back to trap at his spot. We set up and were ready by 9:15.
Skies were overcast with light Northwest winds.
At 10:15, we spotted
a Northern Goshawk coming along above the woods on the North side of the field.
We started luring, but before the gos arrived, an unseen rough-leg zipped in
from the South and hit the net! We banded it, took some photos, and Kenny
released it. A little over a half an hour later, another rough-leg spotted the
lure from way out over the barn, set its wings, and made a very long, slanting
glide into the front net. We banded that one and released it. Fifteen minutes
later, we spotted another Northern Goshawk, again over the North side of the
field. This one was an adult that wasted no time and came in hard and fast. We
banded that one, took some photos, and Kenny released it.
We caught two more
rough-legs and had just released the last one when Mr. and Mrs. Lundgren, who
live just up the road, came hiking up to the blind. They were cutting across
the field to take the back way to their place and thought they would stop in to
say "Hi." I felt bad that we had released our last bird just before
they got there. I told them about the wolves we had seen in the field and
showed them some of my most recent photos. They had heard about the wolves from
the neighbors, but hadn't seen any yet. I suggested that they might need bigger
hiking sticks!!! Just then, we got a call from Hawk Harbor saying they had caught
a rough-leg and an adult goshawk that they were sending up for us to band. We
showed the hawks to the Lundgrens and Kenny helped them do the releases. The Lundgrens
headed off North into the woods, and we closed down for the season at 2:45.
We got a total of 7
birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.
2 Northern Goshawks
and 5 Rough-legged hawks
We got a total of 20
birds for the weekend.
1 Gyrfalcon, 1
Merlin, 2 Northern Goshawks, 4 Red-tailed Hawks and 12 Rough-legged hawks
We ended up with a
total of 147 birds for the season.
My next report will
have a recap of the data for the birds we banded during the 2020 season.
Please
help hawks by supporting:
Hawk Ridge
Bird Observatory (www.hawkridge.org)
Midwest
Peregrine Society (https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)
National
Eagle Center (www.nationaleaglecenter.org)
Raptor
Resource Project (https://www.raptorresource.org/)
The Raptor
Center (www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu)
Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch (http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/)
Keep your
eyes on the skies!
Trudi
& Frank Taylor
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01.
A selfie with my "Surprise Gyrfalcon."
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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02.
Lots of Rough-legged hawks around this weekend.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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03.
One of the Rough-legged hawks coming in low and slow.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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04.
Frank holding a rough-leg down at the falconer's trapping site at Hawk Harbor.
Photo
by Niall Canny
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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05.
Frank banding a rough-leg in the spare blind at Hawk Harbor.
Photo
by Niall Canny
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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06.
A Sunday morning Merlin.
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07.
Rick holding the Merlin.
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08.
A male Merlin.
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09.
Rick releasing the Merlin.
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10.
A young red-tail coming in.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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11.
Frank holding the red-tail.
Photo
by Rick DuPont
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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12.
A young Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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13.
Frank releasing the red-tail.
Photo
by Rick DuPont
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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14.
A Rough-legged hawk above the blind.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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15.
Frank holding the rough-leg.
Photo
by Rick DuPont
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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16.
A Rough-legged hawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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17.
Frank releasing the rough-leg.
Photo
by Rick DuPont
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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18.
A rare magpie sighting.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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19.
One of the many Rough-legged hawks going over.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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20.
A rough-legged hawk.
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21.
Rick releasing a rough-leg.
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22.
A young red-tail checking us out.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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23.
Rick holding a pair of Red-tailed hawks.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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24.
A young Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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25.
An adult Red-tailed hawk.
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26.
Rick doing a double red-tail release.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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27.
Rick with a very light colored red-tail.
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28.
A young light colored Red-tailed hawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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29.
Rick releasing the light colored red-tail.
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30.
A gray Gyrfalcon going by.
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31.
The Gyrfalcon spots the lure.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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32.
Frank with that "deer-in-the-headlights" look!
He
just caught the only Gyrfalcon in over 50 years of trapping at the Mattson farm.
Photo
by Rick DuPont
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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33.
Frank and Rick with the Gyrfalcon.
Photo
by Ken Wagner
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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34.
Rick holding the Gyrfalcon.
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35.
Our first and only Gyrfalcon.
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36.
The Gyrfalcon.
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37.
The Gyrfalcon.
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38.
The Gyrfalcon.
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39.
Rick releasing the Gyrfalcon.
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40.
Rick releasing the Gyrfalcon.
You
can see the new band shining in the sunlight!
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41.
Away it goes!
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42.
The Gyrfalcon climbing up and away from us.
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43.
A Sunday morning rough-leg.
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44.
A Sunday morning rough-leg.
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45.
Kenny holding the rough-leg.
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46.
Kenny releasing the rough-leg.
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47.
The North end of a South bound rough-leg, just after release.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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48.
A blurry photo of an adult Northern Goshawk coming in.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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49.
Kenny holding the adult goshawk.
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50.
An adult Northern Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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51.
Kenny releasing the goshawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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52.
Mr. and Mrs. Lundgren with Frank, holding a Rough-legged hawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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53.
Kenny helping the Lundgrens release the rough-leg.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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54.
Mr. and Mrs. Lundgren with Kenny, holding a Northern Goshawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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55.
Kenny helping the Lundgrens release the goshawk.
Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020
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