Banding Season Totals for 2022

Hello Everyone,

Our nine weekends of the 2022 banding season seemed to go very fast this year. Having electricity at Hawk Harbor made the camping much more comfortable. However, the weather patterns were so odd this year that we only had a few days with major numbers of birds pushing through on the weekends that we were up there. That combined with some rained out weekends made the count this year the lowest we have had for the past 15 years.

Even so, socially this was a fun season at Hawk Harbor. We didn't have all the big groups that we used to have come up before Covid, but we did get some visitors and campers that made the nine weekends very enjoyable.

I would like to thank all the friends and neighbors who made this year so special, even though we had low banding numbers.

A very special THANK YOU goes to the Mattson family for letting us use their hay field for the 53rd year in a row.

Also a big THANK YOU goes to Bob Crosbie for supplying our lure birds this year.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU goes out to every one of our banding crew who came up to do the banding again this year. What a great and dedicated team of regulars we have. Trudi Taylor, Rick DuPont, Nancy & Chuck Schotzko, and Todd Rosengren: without your dedication and co-operation, we would not be able to do this thing we love so much, year after year.

Thanks for being such great friends and sharing an interest in our modest program!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!

We had a total of 70 birds for the season. (Last year we had a total of 172 hawks.)

We had a total of only 10 bounce-outs this year. (We had 18 bounce-outs last year.)

Here it is, the final breakdown.

Sharp-shins - 54

Immys 27. . . . Males 14 . . . . . Females 13

Adults 27. . . . Males 12 . . . . . Females 15

Red-tails - 7

Immys 4 . . . . . Males 1 . . . . . Females 3

Adults 3 . . . . . Males 3 . . . . . Females 0

Merlins - 3

Immys 3 . . . . . Males 2 . . . . . Females 1

Adults 0 . . . . . Males 0 . . . . . Females 0

Cooper's - 2

Immys 1 . . . . . Males 1 . . . . . Females 

Adults 1 . . . . . Males 0 . . . . . Females 1

Broad-wings - 1

Immys 0 . . . . . Males 0 . . . . . Females 0

Adults 1 . . . . . Males 1 . . . . . Females 0

Kestrels - 2

Immys 2 . . . . . Males 0 . . . . . Females 2

Adults 0 . . . . . Males 0 . . . . . Females 0

Goshawks - 1

Immys 1 . . . . . Males 0 . . . . . Females 1

Adults 0 . . . . . Males 0 . . . . . Females 0

Eagles - 0, Gyrfalcons - 0, Peregrines - 0, Harriers - 0, Rough-legs - 0.

Please help hawks by supporting:

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory ( https://www.hawkridge.org/ )

Midwest Peregrine Society ( https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/ )

National Eagle Center ( https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/ )

Raptor Resource Project ( https://www.raptorresource.org/ )

The Raptor Center ( https://raptor.umn.edu/ )

Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch ( http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/ )

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi and Frank Taylor

Ninth Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone,

This is my ninth and last report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of October 29th, 2022.

Friday, October 28th

Trudi and I drove up to Two Harbors on Friday morning to do some sight seeing and celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, which was actually on August 21st. Trudi had booked a room at the Country Inn and check in wasn't until 3:00, so we went over and had a great lunch at the Black Woods restaurant in town. After lunch, we stopped by the Burlington Station Candy Store for some treats. After we checked in at the motel, we headed up to hike around at Gooseberry Falls. A great way to celebrate on the North Shore and I must say that even after all these years, it still feels like we are newlyweds.

Saturday, October 29th

Trudi and I had breakfast at the motel, which included pancakes made in a machine with a conveyor belt that started up with the wave of your hand! We met Chuck at Hawk Harbor around 9:00 am. Nancy, Todd, and Rick could not come up due to commitments at home. The weather forecast for the North Shore called for clear skies, warm temps, and almost no wind. This has been our slowest year ever! The weather patterns have conspired against us almost every weekend this season. We set up the banding station and started looking for hawks at 9:30 am.

A lot of small birds were starting to move and at 9:47 we got our first bird of the weekend, a young female shin that was out hunting the draw. It popped up near the fake owl, Chuck worked the lure, and it came right in. We banded it, took some photos, and Trudi released it. An hour later we had another young female shin "lock on" from the north and hit the front net. We banded it, took photos, and Chuck released it.

A half an hour later, a pair of Northern Harriers dropped in and started working the other end of the field. The female went straight on through, but the adult male saw our owl and took a few shots at it. Chuck worked the lure and it started a flappy, but steady approach. In typical Harrier fashion, it pulled up at the last second, just nicking the top of the net, knocking it down without getting caught. A bounce out!!!

My brother Mike came up around 2:00, just in time to see a shin make a long slanting stoop from out over the barn, zooming right into the center of the net! We banded it, took photos, and Mike got to release that one. Mike had not slept at all the night before, so a little while later he went down to take a nap at Hawk Harbor.

We caught an adult female shin at 2:45. No one saw it come in! I heard what sounded like a shin peep while Chuck was luring for another bird out front. I looked out the side window of the blind and saw the shin was already caught in the net!

We had two more shins come in that day, both making long slanting stoops from way out over the field. Those are the most exciting ones to watch! The first one was another young female shin and the second was an adult male. We banded them, took photos, and I got to release the male.

Around 4:15, we had a White-tail doe walk out of the woods right next to the blind. It nibbled some grass out front while we took photos and then moseyed off to the north. We closed down at 4:30.

After securing the banding station for the night, Trudi, Chuck, and I went in to the Culver's in Two Harbors for supper.

We got a total of 6 birds and one bounce-out on Saturday.

6 Sharp-shinned hawks

Sunday, October 29th

Sunday was our last day of the 2022 banding season. Trudi, Chuck, and I drove back up to the blind just as the sun was coming up over the lake. Always a beautiful way to start the day! The weather forecast said the skies would be partly cloudy and the wind would be out of the south-west. We were all set up and ready to go by 8:00 am. My brother Mike had taken orders all around for McDonalds breakfast before we left for the blind. He bought us all breakfast and brought it up to us. Then he went back down to Hawk Harbor.

Talk about a SLOW day, we didn't see anything moving until about an hour after we got started. A single shin flew past to the south of us, but too far off to even notice our lure. Just after the shin went by, I heard a strange little buzzing sound. I looked up and saw a drone that came zipping in and stopping about two feet in front of my face. It was my brother Mike's drone that he was operating from down at the road. He came back up to the blind and showed us the incredible flying abilities of his fancy little drone. While sitting in the blind, he was able to send it down to Hawk Harbor, descend to just above ground level, and do a 360° scan of the entire campsite. Shortly after the flight demo, he left to visit our older brother Tony who was 50 miles south of us.

At 11:30, we caught our 70th and last bird of the season. It was a small young male Sharp-shinned hawk that was out hunting in the draw. It took a shot at the owl and then came straight in to our nets. We banded it, took photos, and Chuck released it.

We didn't see any other raptors moving until just after noon when eagles and red-tails started swarming up in kettles! We saw more than one hundred red-tails, all adults, and many eagles mounting up in thermals passing to the north of us! Some came over the blind to take a look, but none of them came in. Just as quickly as they started, they shut down. We closed up at 1:00.

We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 Sharp-shinned hawk

7 total birds for the weekend.

70 birds total for the season.

Please help hawks by supporting:

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (https://www.hawkridge.org/)

Midwest Peregrine Society (https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)

National Eagle Center (https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/)

Raptor Resource Project (https://www.raptorresource.org/)

The Raptor Center (https://raptor.umn.edu/)

Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch (http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/)

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi and Frank Taylor

01. The candy counter at Burlington Station in Two Harbors, MN.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

02. One of the tunnels on the way up to Gooseberry Falls.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

03. Trudi and I at Gooseberry Falls.
Photo by Friendly Passer By

04. Trudi at the Upper Falls.

05. Celebrating 30 years married to this beautiful lady.

06. Saturday morning shin coming in.

07. First bird of the weekend was a young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

08. Chuck, Trudi, and Frank holding the shin.
Photo by Troy Podd

09. A large young female shin.

10. Trudi about to release the shin.

11. Trudi releasing the shin.

12. Another Sharp-shinned hawk.

13. Chuck getting the shin out of the net.

14. A young female shin.

15. Frank banding the shin.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

16. Another young female shin.

17. Frank, Trudi, Chuck, and Mike holding the shin.
Photo by Troy Podd

18. A bulging full crop on this shin and it still came in.

19. Mike holding the shin.

20. Mike releasing the shin.

21. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

22. Frank and Chuck taking the shin out of the net.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

23. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.

24. Frank releasing the shin.
Excellent photo by Trudi Taylor

25. Trudi watching the deer in front of the blind.

26. A visiting deer came out in front of the blind.

27. The deer checking us out.

28. The deer slowly walking away.

29. Sunday morning sunrise over Lake Superior and the Mattson farm.

30. Another visitor to the blind.

31. Drone's-eye view of our banding station.
Photo by Mike Taylor

32. Mike landing his drone.

33. Only a few shins came over on Sunday.

34. The only shin we caught on Sunday.

35. Chuck and Frank taking the shin out of the net.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

36. Chuck, Trudi, and Frank with the shin.
Photo by Troy Podd

37. Chuck releasing the shin.

38. One of the many eagles that flew over on Sunday.

Eighth Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone,

This is my eighth report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of October 22nd, 2022.

Saturday, October 22nd

Trudi and I met Rick and Chuck at Hawk Harbor around 9:00 am Saturday morning. Nancy and Todd could not be there since they had things to take care of at home. The weather forecast for the North Shore called for clear skies, warm temps, and strong winds from the East-north-east (not the best for seeing hawks migrating). We set up the banding station anyway and started scanning the skies for hawks at 9:30 am.

Around 10:00 am, Sue, Theo, and Maddi stopped up to see us. Sue's dad (Theo's grandfather) is Del Hogen. Del was one of the founding members of the Minnesota Falconers Association. Theo and Sue have been coming up to the blind for many years, but this was Maddi's first time up and we hoped she would bring us some good luck, as most first timers do. We all settled into the blind and started searching for hawks.

Almost no little birds were moving and we hadn't seen any hawks at all. However, at 10:20, Maddi's good luck kicked in, and we saw a big bird chasing something down by the barn at the other end of the field. It was big and brown and had a long tail. At first, we thought it might be a harrier. It quit chasing whatever it was after and started to ring up in a soar. Rick started luring and it immediately "locked on"! It charged straight at us just above the draw and as it got closer, we could tell it was a very big Northern Goshawk! In typical goshawk fashion, it barreled straight into the front net with no hesitation! Maddi and the rest of us got a front row seat to a perfect raptor capture! We took the gos out of the net, banded it, and took a bunch of photos. Since it was Maddi's first time at the blind, she got to release the gos. This was our first Northern Goshawk of what has been a very slow season.

After the exciting event with the gos, we hardly saw any other hawks moving through. A few eagles, a couple red-tails and a few shins, but none of them came in. By early afternoon, boredom had set in and our guests decided to head into Duluth for some sightseeing. The rest of us stuck it out until 3:00, when we also had had enough and decided to close down the blind.

We did get one other visitor to the blind before closing down. It seems that if a Pileated woodpecker comes close to the blind, it mistakes the sound of the lure line movement for a bug in the bark of the tree that the line is attached to. This has happened a couple of times before over the years and has resulted in two of the woodpeckers getting caught in our nets. Trying to get a Pileated out of a mist net with no gloves is not a fun ordeal! However, this one examined the line very carefully, let us get some photos, and then moved on up the tree and flew off into the woods behind us.

After closing down the banding station for the night, Trudi, Rick, Chuck, and I went in to have supper at Culver's in Two Harbors.

We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Saturday.

1 Northern Goshawk

Sunday, October 23rd

Sunday morning, the four of us headed back up to open the blind just as the sun was coming up over the lake. What a beautiful way to start a day! The weather forecast said the skies would be clear and the wind would be not as strong, but still out of the East-north-east. We were all set up and ready to go by 8:00 am.

At 9:00, Eric, an annual visitor to the blind, came up. His mom Nancy usually comes with him, but she had moved to Arizona. We settled in and started looking for migrating raptors. To say it was "SUPER SLOW" would have been an understatement! We saw only about ten raptors that morning. They were all way off in the distance and not interested in us. It was so slow we decided to close down early at 11:00 am. Just before we were about to take down the nets at 10:55, a young Red-tailed hawk came into the field over the barn. It started circling up in a thermal that was coming off the field, but got closer to us as it went up. On one of its turns about half way up the field, it spotted our lure and leveled off. It made a beautiful long slanting stoop, with legs coming down at the last minute, right into the front net. This was one of the most aggressive birds we have had come in this season. It footed and bit Chuck and then took a nip out of my hand while I was trying to help Chuck band it. We took some photos and had Chuck chuck-it, as he had it under control and was now wearing a protective glove. We passed out bandages all around and closed down at 11:00 am.

We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 Red-tailed hawk

2 total birds for the weekend.

63 birds total for the season.

Please help hawks by supporting:

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory ( https://www.hawkridge.org/ )

Midwest Peregrine Society ( https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/ )

National Eagle Center ( https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/ )

Raptor Resource Project ( https://www.raptorresource.org/ )

The Raptor Center ( https://raptor.umn.edu/ )

Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch ( http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/ )

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi and Frank Taylor

01. First Northern Goshawk of the year coming in.

02. Chuck holding the Northern Goshawk.

03. Chuck banding the Northern Goshawk.

04. A large, young, female Northern Goshawk.

05. Sue, Maddi, Chuck, Theo, and Rick holding the goshawk.

06. A large, young, female Northern Goshawk.

07. Theo and Maddi with the goshawk.

08. Maddi releasing the goshawk.

09. A Pileated woodpecker came in to inspect the noise from our lure line.

10. The Pileated woodpecker looking for food.

11. Sunday morning sunrise over Lake Superior and the Mattson farm.

12. Chuck, Rick, and Trudi admiring the sunrise.

13. Eric came up to help us look for some hawks. Trudi, Chuck and Rick doing the same.

14. Frank, Eric, Chuck, and Rick, still looking for some hawks.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

15. A last minute, young, Red-tailed hawk saved us from having another "Skunked" day.

16. Frank, Chuck, and Rick getting the red-tail out of the net.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

17. Chuck and Frank banding a very grabby and snappy red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

18. Rick smiling and holding the camera while the red-tail grabs and bites Chuck and Frank.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

19. Eric, Chuck, Rick, Trudi, and Frank holding the red-tail.
Photo by Troy Podd

20. A young Red-tailed hawk.

21. Frank taking a photo of Chuck holding the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

22. Chuck holding the Red-tailed hawk.

23. Chuck releasing the red-tail.