Here is my fifth report of the 2020 banding season, covering the weekend of September 26th, 2020.
Saturday, September 26th
Trudi and I arrived at Hawk Harbor (our land) around 9:00 am. Rick, Chuck, and Todd were already there. Nancy stayed home this weekend to work on other projects. Maddie, a biology student at the Pine Technical & Community College, arrived a little later. Eric, a falconry friend and Maddie's professor at PT&C College, who had come up the night before, had arranged for her to spend the day with us. We loaded our banding gear into Rick's truck and drove up to the blind. Eric and Maddie hiked up to the banding station and set up a separate pop-up blind for Maddie before Eric headed off to Hawk Ridge where he had other students waiting.
We had everything set up and ready to start by 9:45 am. The weather was about the worst it could be for banding! We were socked in by fog that was so thick you could barely see half-way across the field. Fifteen minutes later, we were lamenting the bad weather when a Merlin came out of the fog, shooting past the blinds and chasing a small bird out into the draw! Rick pulled the lure, the Merlin turned on a dime, and came in fast and low, hitting the front net! We were all relieved that we actually caught a bird in these crappy conditions! We banded the Merlin, took photos, and Maddie got to release it. A half an hour later, we saw another Merlin that started screaming and diving on the fake owl. It made several stoops at the owl before it noticed our lure and came zipping in. We banded it, took photos, and Trudi released that one.
We were checking out the local weather radar app that showed approaching rain showers when Mark and his grand-daughter Brielle came up. The rain showers arrived about the same time they did. We broke out the umbrellas and gave them a tour of the station. Mark's wife works at the same place my brother Mike does. They had asked Mike if they might stop in to our banding station since they were going to be in Duluth for the weekend. No birds were moving in the bad weather, so we all did the "Wish Bird" sign and I gave them some art prints before they headed back to Duluth.
After Mark and Brielle left, the weather app gave us even more bad news. A huge set of rain showers stretching all the way across the state was moving in fast. We decided to close down for the day at 1:30. I gave Maddie some art prints and she headed for home. We drove back down to Hawk Harbor in the rain and got ready for a very soggy afternoon.
When suppertime came, we were all delighted to find out that Nancy had prepared a huge pot of her excellent beef stew, loaded with fresh vegetables from her garden. Chef Chuck fired up the camp burner and heated the stew to perfection. Under umbrellas and rain coats, we were grateful to be eating a hot, delicious, home cooked meal! THANK YOU, Nancy and Chuck!
We got a total of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.
2 Merlins.
Sunday, September 27th
Sunday morning, we broke out the usual hot chocolate and Rick brought out some cup cakes on the occasion of my 71st birthday. After that, we loaded up his truck and set off for the blind. What a difference a day makes! It had rained all night, but now the skies were clear and the sun was rising up over the treetops. The fall colors were breathtaking! We set up the blinds and were ready to start at 7:50 am.
At 8:00, a shin came in from the owl, but it bounced out! Arrrgh! Not to worry! Shins started getting up all over the place! Ten minutes later, we caught our first bird of the day, a Sharp-shinned hawk that was our 100th bird of the season! We banded it, took photos, and I got to release it because it was my birthday.
Right away we had another shin bounce-out and then the shins started pouring in! We had caught several more when Mike and my daughter Becky, who were staying in Duluth for the weekend, brought up our grandsons Jack and Max, along with Becky's Mom Kate and her husband Ray. We did a five-shin release, all the while catching more shins. My brother Dan and his wife Kate, who had been in Ely for the week visiting their son Colin, stopped in as well. Their other son Jake with his friend Adel, who both live in Duluth, pulled up a short time later. What a great birthday party! With social distancing the norm these days, our party moved a short distance from the blinds, where we could spread out in the field and still see birds coming in. Jack and Max tried out the pop-up blind and then gave Grandpa Frank his birthday presents. Adel had never done a raptor release before, so we had her release one of the shins while Jake filmed it. After that, the impromptu birthday party left and we settled into the blinds, catching more birds every few minutes! Shins were coming in groups of twos and threes. A lot of them would just buzz the nets and pull up in the trees.
At 12:25, we had a Merlin come in from the owl and get caught. That was the only non-shin that came in that day.
Around 1:30, things started to slow down and rain clouds were moving in. We decided we better close down at 2:00, so we could pack up the banding gear while it was still dry. We had caught 26 birds by then and we thought how nice it would be to end the day of September 27th with 27 birds banded. Time was running short for that to happen, when at 1:40, a shin made two passes at the lure and then bounced out of the back net! Arrrgh!!! Just when we were about to give up for the day, at 1:56, a lone shin came popping over the draw and shot straight into the front net!
WOW!!! What a GREAT DAY!!! A family gathering with 27 birds banded on my 71st birthday, on the 27th day of September! We closed down for the weekend at 2:00, and headed for home 160 miles away.
We got a total of 27 birds and 7 bounce-outs on Sunday.
26 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Merlin.
We got a total of 29 birds for the weekend.
26 Sharp-shinned hawks and 3 Merlins.
126 total birds for the 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. Maddie in her blind, looking out on a foggy field. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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02. Chuck and Rick pulling our first bird of the day out of the net. A Merlin! Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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03. A wet, rainy, and foggy-day Merlin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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04. Chuck showing the Merlin to Maddie and Trudi. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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05. Trudi, Maddie, Chuck, and Rick holding the Merlin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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06. Maddie about to release the Merlin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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07. Maddie releasing the foggy-day Merlin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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08. Our second Merlin and last bird of the day. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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09. Trudi about to release the second Merlin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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10. Trudi releasing the Merlin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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11. Frank, Mark, and Brielle doing the "Wish Bird" hand sign. Photo by Trudi Taylor Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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12. Chef Chuck heating up the much appreciated beef and vegetable stew that Nancy made for us. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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13. A Sunday morning shin was the first bird of the day. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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14. Chuck, Frank, and Rick holding the 100th bird of the season. Photo by Trudi Taylor Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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15. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk was our 100th bird of the season. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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16. Frank releasing the 100th bird on his birthday. Photo by Rick Dupont Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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17. A shin coming in through the gap in the draw. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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18. A young Sharp-shinned hawk. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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19. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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20. Rick, Trudi, and Chuck holding four shins. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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21. Chuck, Rick, and Trudi doing a quadruple release. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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22. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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23. A young Sharp-shinned hawk. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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24. An adult shin checking out all the people coming up to the blind to celebrate Frank's 71st Birthday! Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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25. Frank, Kate, Jack, Ray, Max, Becky, Mike, and Trudi about to release some shins. Photo by Kate Taylor Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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26. Kate, Ray, Jack, Max, Becky, Mike, and Trudi releasing five shins. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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27. Grandsons Jack and Max trying out the pop-up blind. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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28. Another young Sharp-shinned hawk. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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29. Jack showing Max how to safely hold the shin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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30. Grampa Frank opening birthday presents from grandsons Jack and Max. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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31. Nephew Jake, Adel, brother Dan, and sister-in-law Kate posing for Adel's first raptor release. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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32. Dan and Kate watching Adel release the shin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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33. A friendly little visitor to the banding station. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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34. An after the birthday party Merlin. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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35. The only Merlin we caught on Sunday. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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36. The banded Merlin on its way. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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37. The last and 27th bird of the day, a young Sharp-shinned hawk coming in. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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38. Our 27th bird of the day on the 27th of September. Fifth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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39. Frank and Trudi holding a shin that was the 27th and last bird of the day. Photo by Rick Dupont |
