Fourth Weekend of Banding 2021

Hello Everyone,

 

This is my fourth report of the 2021 banding season, covering the weekend of September 25th, 2021.  

Friday morning I drove up to Hawk Harbor to meet with Michelle Cook and her Saw-Whet Owl banding team. We tromped through our 14 acres of woods to find the best area to place their nets. They set up later that night and caught 6 owls. I stopped in as they were banding some of those owls and got to let one go. The next night they caught 7 owls before taking down the nets and heading for home. It was really fun seeing how a night-time owl banding operation works. The whole team was very dedicated and proficient. 

  

Saturday, September 25th 

Rick had come up Friday afternoon and stayed at Hawk Harbor. Nancy and Chuck arrived Saturday morning around 8:00 am. Trudi stayed home this weekend to help our son Tony with his kitchen renovation. So, the four of us loaded up the banding gear and headed out to the main blind. Skies were partly cloudy and there was a slight Southwest wind. We started at 8:30. 

  

Our first bird of the weekend was a young female Sharp-shinned hawk that came in at 8:57. We banded it and I took it back down to Hawk Harbor where my brother Dan and his family were camping. His 4-year old granddaughter was very excited to release it. 

 

We caught 12 more shins before a young male Merlin came blasting in from the fake owl. While we were catching all those shins and the Merlin, Linda and Rod, two members of Michelle's owl banding team, came up to see us. They got to release a bunch of shins and Linda released the Merlin. 

 

That afternoon Alisha, affectionately nicknamed "Owlisha," came up to join us. We caught seven more shins before an adult Cooper's hawk shot in from the South, went in between the nets, and got caught in the back of the front net. 

  

A little later that afternoon, Bruce Gilbertson and his son's family came by. We caught 5 more shins before we had our first bounce out of the day, another shin. One more shin came in before we closed down at 4:30. 

 

We got a total of 28 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday. 

26 Sharp-shinned hawks, 1 Merlin, and 1 Cooper's hawk. 

 

Sunday, September 26th 

I fixed hot chocolate and put out some donuts for the team. We packed up our gear and were back up at the blind, ready to go, at 7:45. Skies were clear with variable winds switching around to the Southwest.  

Our first bird of the day was a young male Merlin that shot into the field and took a couple passes at the fake owl. Rick started luring and it came right in. 

 

Our next 14 birds were all sharp-shinned hawks. Owlisha stayed over after the rest of the owl team had gone home and came up for a second day of banding. At 11:42, we were all looking towards the North at some shins that looked interested when, WHOOOSH, a young male peregrine came in hot from the South. When we pulled it out of the net, we could see that it was already banded by someone else! We recorded the band number, took a bunch of photos, and Owlisha released it. 

  

We caught 4 more shins and then had another one bounce out. We caught one more shin after the bounce out and then they stopped coming over. We closed down at 1:45. 

 

We got a total of 20 birds and 2 bounce-outs on Sunday. 

18 Sharp-shinned hawks, 1 Merlin and 1 Peregrine falcon. 

 

48 total birds for the weekend. 

155 total birds for the season. 

 

Please help hawks by supporting: 

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Midwest Peregrine Society, National Eagle Center, 

Raptor Resource Project, The Raptor Center, and Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch 

 

Keep your eyes on the skies!

  

Trudi & Frank Taylor

01. We caught 44 Sharp-shinned hawks this weekend.

02. My brother Dan and his family.
His granddaughter released the first bird of the day.

03. A four-bird release.

04. Rod and Linda from the owl banding team with Nancy and Chuck.

05. Rod about to release a shin.

06. Rod releasing the shin.

07. A Merlin.

08. Linda about to release the Merlin.

09. Linda releasing the Merlin.

10. One of 26 shins we caught that day.

11. Rod and Linda releasing some shins.

12. Alisha holding 2 shins.

13. Alisha releasing 2 shins.

14. An adult male Cooper's hawk came in.

15. The Cooper's hawk.

16. Bruce and his family stopped by in the afternoon.
All the kids and Mom got to release shins.

17. First bird of the day on Sunday was a Merlin.

18. One of the 18 shins we caught on Sunday.

19. Alisha releasing one of the Sunday shins.

20. A young male Peregrine falcon.

21. Chuck and Rick taking the peregrine out of the net.

22. The peregrine was a banded bird.

23. The young male Peregrine falcon.

24. Alisha holding the peregrine.

25. Alisha releasing the peregrine.

Third Weekend of Banding 2021

Hello Everyone,

This is my third report of the 2021 banding season, covering the weekend of September 18th, 2021.

Saturday, September 18th

Trudi and I met Rick, Nancy, and Chuck at Hawk Harbor Saturday morning at 8:00 am. We moved our camping gear into the trailers and put the banding gear into the back of Rick's pick-up truck. With the full team in place, it took us only a few minutes to get set up. We started our banding operation at 8:45. The winds were variable with a clear sky.

Our first bird of the weekend was an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk that came in at 8:53. That one was followed by three more shins and a bounce-out before we caught a young male Merlin at 9:50. We caught another shin and then had another one bounce out before we caught our first Red-tailed hawk of the day at 11:53. Our next bird was a shin and then we got our second Red-tailed hawk. After that we caught another shin, followed by our third red-tail. It seemed that the red-tails were moving in a wave as several passed over us, giving us a look, while the other ones got caught.

We banded three more shins with the last one coming in at 1:06 and then birds quit moving. We kept on trying until a young female Peregrine falcon flew over at 3:54. She made a couple lazy circles over us, but didn't come in. We closed down at 4:15 pm.

That evening, we all packed into Rick's truck and drove in to have supper on the deck of the Earthwood Inn, just outside of Two Harbors. (Best hamburgers and fries on the North Shore!) When we got back to Hawk Harbor, we made a small campfire and Trudi brought out cake with candles to celebrate Nancy and Rick's recent birthdays. I got the biggest surprise, however, as Rick and the banding team had all plotted for weeks to get me a compact portable HOT SHOWER unit as a pre-birthday present!!! You'll never hear me complaining about getting into my sleeping bag feeling "clammy" or "grungy" again!!! Thank You All so much!!! I had a wonderful hot shower before going to bed that night.

We got a total of 14 birds and 2 bounce-outs on Saturday. 

10 Sharp-shinned hawks, 1 Merlin, and 3 Red-tailed hawks. 

Sunday, September 19th

Sunday morning, Trudi fixed hot chocolate and put out some cookies and donuts for the team. We were back up at the blind and ready to go at 7:45. Skies were clear with variable winds switching around to the Southwest. 

Around 8:30, Gina Gorlaski and her daughter Emma stopped by for a visit. Gina used to bring groups from the Minnesota Zoo up to see our banding station. She and her daughter were on their way to a "girls' weekend out" camping on Madeline Island. We had just settled in when a Merlin started diving at the fake owl. Rick pulled the lure, but it didn't want to leave the owl. However, a larger bird had seen the lure and was coming fast and straight in at us. It hit the net at 8:53, and turned out to be a young male Peregrine falcon!!! We banded it, took a load of photos and Emma released it.

Our next bird was a sharp-shinned hawk and Gina released that one. Soon after that, Gina and Emma left to go camping. We caught three more shins and my brother Mike, who had stopped in on his way to a wedding up the shore, let one of those go. I was out in front of the blind going to film Trudi releasing our 99th bird of the year when the 100th bird of the year came blasting in from the north, totally ignoring us! We caught 7 more shins and had one shin bounce-out before closing down for the weekend at 12:30.

We got a total of 14 birds and 1 bounce-out on Sunday.

13 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Peregrine falcon.

28 total birds for the weekend.

107 total birds for the season.

Please help hawks by supporting: Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Midwest Peregrine Society, National Eagle Center, Raptor Resource Project, The Raptor Center, and Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch. 

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi & Frank Taylor

01. Our first bird of the weekend was a Sharp-shinned hawk.

02. Rick, Trudi, Nancy and Chuck holding the shin.

03. Chuck, chucking the banded shin.

04. Nancy releasing a shin.

05. Trudi releasing a shin.

06. The one Merlin we caught that day.

07. Rick releasing the Merlin.

08. Red-tailed hawks started coming in.

09. Our first of three Red-tailed hawks we caught on Saturday.

10. Frank, Trudi, Chuck, Nancy and Rick holding the red-tail.
Photo by Try Podd

11. Nancy and Chuck releasing the red-tail.

12. The second red-tail to come in.

13. Rick holding the second red-tail of the day.

14. Rick releasing the red-tail.

15. The third red-tail that came in on Saturday.

16. Chuck banding the red-tail.

17. Frank releasing our third red-tail of the day.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

18. We caught ten Sharp-shinned hawks on Saturday.

19. Rick, Trudi, Nancy and Chuck giving me an early birthday present.
A PORTABLE, OUT-DOOR HOT SHOWER SYSTEM!!!
Photo by Try Podd

20. Trudi checking out the Sunday morning sunrise from Hawk Harbor.

21. Our first bird of the day was a young male Peregrine falcon.

22. Chuck banding the peregrine.

23. Gina and Emma looking at the banded peregrine.

24. A young male Peregrine falcon.

25. Emma, Gina, Nancy, Chuck, Trudi, Frank, and Rick holding the peregrine.
Photo by Try Podd

26. Gina and Emma about to release the peregrine.

27. Emma and Gina releasing the banded peregrine.

28. Thirteen more shins came in on Sunday.

29. Emma and Gina about to release a shin.

30. Emma and Gina releasing a shin.

31. My brother Mike releasing a shin.

32. Our 100th bird of the year was a shin.

33. Rick holding our 100th bird of the year.

34. Rick, Chuck, and Nancy releasing our 100th, 101st, and 102nd birds of the year, all shins.