Ninth Weekend of Banding 2023

Hello Everyone,

Here is my ninth and last report of the 2023 banding season, covering the weekend of October 28th, 2023.

Saturday, October 28th

A cold North wind greeted Rick and me as we met up at Hawk Harbor. We were the only members of the team able to make it up for the last weekend of banding before the opening of deer season. We had the nets and blind ready for action by 9:00. We started seeing lots of red-tails and eagles getting up at around 10:30. They went up and up and up, but didn't even give us a glance. It seemed like hundreds were moving, but all of them were going over at various altitudes, high above and out of reach for our set up. The temperature outside the blind was around 24° f. It was a good thing that I had brought up a Mr. Heater gas fired ceramic heater. That made the long hours of waiting for a close bird bearable but still a bit chilly.

We kept seeing red-tails and eagles going over in great numbers, but nothing coming our way. A lone male Northern Harrier made a circle around the far end of the field and lifted off down the road heading South. The biggest surprise of the day was a Black-billed Magpie that flew across the field in front of us.

We sat there all day trying to lure something in. At 2:33, A young Red-tailed Hawk hit the front net without us seeing it approach! Thank goodness!!! We are not skunked! We took it out of the net, measured it, and banded it. While we were doing that, a second young red-tail made another unseen surprise stoop right into the front net! Wow!! Two within ten minutes! While we were banding the second one, Kenny, who was trapping for a falconry bird down at Hawk Harbor, called to say he had just caught an adult Red-tailed Hawk and wanted to know if he should bring it up to the banding blind for us to band it. He did, we did, and then each of us released one of the three red-tails that were all caught within fifteen minutes of each other.

We had a few more red-tails come in at us that day, but they all pulled up and sat in the trees above us. We closed down at 4:10. Later we met up with falconers who were trapping at other sites and all went in to Do North Pizza for supper.

We got a total of 3 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.

3 Red-tailed Hawks.

Sunday, October 29th

Sunday morning at 7:30 the temperature was still around 24° f. We figured that nothing would be moving anyway until around 10:00, so Rick and I went in to have a nice warm breakfast at Judy's Cafe in Two Harbors. We were back at the blind and set up by 9:30. It was still pretty cold out, but this time I had brought a second and even bigger Mr. Heater up with us. Running two Mr. Heaters made the inside of the blind quite comfortable for us old guys!

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday with lots of birds getting up, but all going way too high for us to have a chance at catching one. We sat there for hours watching loads of them go over at nose bleed height. At 12:00, from out of nowhere, an adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk dropped in over the front net and got caught in the back net! Hooray! Another skunk day averted!!! We banded it, took photos, and Rick released it. Almost an hour later, a young adult Red-tailed Hawk made a surprise attack, hitting the front net. We banded that one, took photos and I got to let it go. An hour later, the last bird of our banding season came in. It was another young adult Red-tailed Hawk. This one came in from over the farmhouse. It hit the back of the front net, got out of that net, and flew straight into the back net! We banded it, took photos, and Rick released it. Other than a few deer that ran across the field in front of us, we had a couple more red-tails make half-hearted attempts, ending up in the trees above us. We closed down at 3:30 and cleaned out the blind for the year.

We got a total of 3 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk and 2 Red-tailed Hawks

6 total birds for the weekend.

97 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

01. The first bird of the weekend was a young Red-tailed Hawk.

02. Rick holding the red-tail.

03. Frank banding the red-tail.

04. Another young Red-tailed Hawk.

05. Frank and Rick holding the young red-tails.

06. An adult Red-tailed Hawk going into Hawk Harbor.

07. An old Red-tailed Hawk.

08. Kenny brought the old red-tail up for us to band.

09. It had an un-molted tail feather.

10. Frank banding the old red-tail.

11. Three red-tails within fifteen minutes.

12. Frank releasing red-tail number one.

13. Rick releasing red-tail number two.

14. Kenny releasing red-tail number three.

15. 25° outside the blind on Sunday morning, 50° inside.

16. The first bird on Sunday was a shin.

17. An adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk.

18. Frank and Rick holding the shin.

19. Frank banding the shin.

20. An adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk.

21. Rick holding the shin.

22. Rick releasing the shin.

23. A red-tail coming in.

24. A young adult Red-tailed Hawk.

25. Frank banding the red-tail.

26. A young adult Red-tailed Hawk.

27. Frank holding the red-tail.

28. Frank releasing the red-tail.

29. Another Red-tailed Hawk coming in.

30. Another young adult red-tail.

31. Rick holding the red-tail.

32. Rick holding the same red-tail.

33. Frank and Rick holding the last bird of our 2023 banding season.

34. I stopped by Hawk Ridge on my way home.

35. A last look back at Duluth for the season.

Eighth Weekend of Banding 2023

Hello Everyone,

Here is my eighth report of the 2023 banding season, covering the weekend of October 21st, 2023.

Saturday, October 21st 

Another rainy Saturday was in the forecast for the North Shore, so Trudi and I decided we would take our time and leave home around noon. We would stay overnight at Hawk Harbor and get an early start on Sunday morning. On the way up we stopped at the Pine City MacDonalds for a snack and a walk-around to stretch our legs. As I was doing a circuit around the car, I spotted a screw sticking in the right front tire! The air was still holding in the tire and I didn't want to unload everything from the car to change it. So, we drove through town to see if we could find a place that could fix it. Nothing was open so we continued on out to the Walmart Automotive Center. They were very busy and said it would take over two hours to get us in. They suggested that as long as the tire was still inflated we should drive up to Slim's Auto Repair in Hinckley, 12 miles up the road. When we got to Slim's, the mechanic was out on a road call and might not be back for an hour or so. They suggested that we stop by the Cenex station a few blocks up the road as they have a small shop and a mechanic on duty. I pulled into the Cenex and went in to see what they could do. Kurt, the mechanic, was just about to leave, but said he would take a look. It took him only a few minutes to fix the tire and we were back on the road. Needless to say the tip I gave him was three times what he was going to charge us for the service!

Later we met Rick at Hawk Harbor, and since it was still raining, we went into town and had supper at Judy's Cafe. (At Judy's, I had another delicious hot hamburger sandwich with fried onions and extra gravy!)

Sunday, October 22nd

When we got up, it was still pretty wet out so we took our time getting the banding station set up. It looked like a perfect day for migrating birds! It was cloudy and there was a slight North wind. We were ready to start just after 8:00. Right after we started, a lone coyote stepped out on the North side of the field, just visible through a gap in the draw. Other than the coyote, nothing else was moving!

We sat there watching an empty sky until 9:30, when Dave, a photographer from Rochester, MN, came up to visit, hoping to get some shots of incoming hawks. Dave is a good friend of my brother Dan and has been up before. We all watched the empty sky for a little while more, and then Eric showed up. Eric brought all his fancy camera gear out as well, hoping to get some great shots. Eric is the son of Nancy who I worked with at The Raptor Center years ago. They have been regular visitors to the blind for many years. Later we saw a few shins going over and an eagle or two, but nothing gave us even a glance. This was our second "Skunked Day" of the year. We closed down at 2:15.

We got a total of 0 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

2nd Skunked Day of the year!

Monday, October 23rd

Instead of setting up on a cold damp morning with little prospect of catching an early bird due to the South winds, we decided to go have a warm breakfast at Judy's Cafe in town. That was nice!

It was almost 10:00 by the time we got going on Monday. The sky was still overcast but was supposed to clear up by noon. Dave had stayed over at Hawk Harbor and was still full of high hopes for getting some good photos. I think somebody turned the migration switch to TOTALLY OFF!!! We saw a couple of Northern Harriers, a few shins, and some eagles but none of them were interested in our set up. A shrike came in to hunt the draw and buzzed our fake owl. Just as we were thinking of closing down, a single Rough-legged Hawk pulled up in the trees at the other end of the field. It sat there for what seemed like forever while Rick tried every trick he knew to lure it in. Finally, the hawk saw our lure and made for us. We all held our breath, hoping it would hit the net, but at the last second, it pulled up into the tree above us. We tried mouse calls, lure wiggles, everything we could think of to lure it in. After all our efforts, it just hopped into the air, did few circles above us, and headed down the shore. We closed down at 12:30 with our 3rd "Skunked Day" in the books.

We got a total of 0 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

3rd Skunked Day of the year!

0 total birds for the weekend.

Still 91 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

01. Trudi's view from the overflow blind looking North East.

02. A lone coyote stepped out on the North side of the field.

03. Frank, Trudi, Eric, Dave, and Rick, doing the "Wish Bird Sign".

04. A shrike buzzed to fake owl.

05. A Rough-legged Hawk landed at the far end of the field.

06. A Rough-legged Hawk was the only one to even come close to us!

Seventh Weekend of Banding 2023

Hello Everyone,

Here is my seventh report of the 2023 banding season, covering the weekend of October 14th, 2023.

Saturday, October 14th

Rain was predicted for the North Shore on Saturday, so Trudi and I went down to help our neighbors pull out our communal dock, seeing as there was no rush to get up North. We left home at noon and met Rick up at Hawk Harbor around 3:00. When we got there, it was still raining, so we decided to have an early supper at Judy's Cafe in Two Harbors and turn in for the night. (At Judy's, I had a delicious hot hamburger sandwich with fried onions and extra gravy!)

Sunday, October 15th

The rain stopped overnight so Trudi, Rick, and I drove to the banding station and set up at 8:30. The weather looked very promising with a slight North wind and clear skies. We sat there waiting to see our first bird of the day. Nothing! Not even a shin hunting the draw! We sat there looking at an empty sky until 9:00, when Rick spotted an adult American Goshawk flying over Hawk Harbor! We tried to lure it over to the banding station, but it just kept going down the road, just over the trees. 10 minutes later we saw a peregrine over the farm house, we lured it, it turned, but made a long shallow stoop, straight North up Homestead Road and disappeared.

Around 10:00, 6 members of the University of Minnesota Fish and Wildlife Club stopped by the blind. (We are not scheduling visits with large groups at the banding station anymore due to covid and the uncertainty of the weather. Also we want to be flexible as to which day or days on either side of the weekend might give us the best chances of banding some birds. Now that all of our banding team is retired, we can head up when the birds are moving and not just on weekends.) I did tell this group when they called earlier in the year that if they were visiting Hawk Ridge, give us a call on that day to see if we were working the banding blind and if we would be able to have them stop by.

Sorry to say, we weren't able to catch a single bird while they were there. We did see our first Rough-legged Hawk of the year and a Northern Harrier that passed over later. I told them that anyone who had to sit in the blind and listen to me ramble on while no birds were coming in would be rewarded with some art prints. So, when the time came for them to leave for home, I showed them my digital artwork and gave them all sets of prints. After that it seemed like the entire migration took the day off and we ended up with our first "Skunked Day" of the year. We closed down at 2:30.

We got a total of 0 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

0 Skunked.

Monday, October 16th

Trudi, Rick, and I were back out at the banding station and ready to start at 7:45. The sky was a heavy overcast with a slight North wind. Not a bird was moving anywhere! After an hour or so, we saw a young Bald Eagle circle down and land just behind a rise in the far end of the field. We couldn't see what he went down on, but a few minutes later, a couple more young Bald Eagles went in at the same place! Later that day our neighbor Don was driving his four wheeler on that end of the field so I called him and asked him to check out that spot. He said there were a few big dark feathers scattered around. I remembered that we had seen a small flock of wild turkeys down there on October 7th. Maybe it could have been one of them?

We sat there for the rest of the morning staring at an empty sky until at 11:30, when we decided we would close down at noon. Just as we started to pack up, I noticed a small raptor out over the pines (which are really spruces)! Rick pulled the lure and it turned toward us. It came straight in and at the last second, it turned and shot into the woods just North of us! Arrrggghhh! But then, it came out of the woods from behind the nets and made a pass at the lure. It missed and took a stand in a tree, just above the nets, in plain sight! It was a young male Sharp-shinned Hawk. He sat there preening and bobbing his head every time Rick pulled the lure. After what seemed like an eternity, he took one more shot at the lure and hit the front of the back net! Hoorah! We were not skunked again! We banded it, took a load of photos, and Rick released it. We closed down at 12:15.

We got a total of 1 bird and 0 bounce-out on Monday.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.

1 total bird for the weekend.

91 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

01. Trudi's view from the blind looking towards Hawk Harbor.

02. Rick, Maddie, Aubrey, Sandy, Adla, Hannah, Michael, Trudi, and Frank.

03. Frank explaining how the nets work to the students from the University of Minnesota's
Fish and Wildlife Club.

04. Showing the students my digital artwork.

05. Handing out art prints to the students.

06. Some nice mushrooms.

07. Evening surfers out off Stony Point.

08. Catching a Lake Superior wave.

09. Frank and Rick doing a little patch up on the old blind.

10. The one and only lonely shin that came in.

11. A young male Sharp-shinned Hawk.

12. Rick holding the one and only lonely shin.

13. Our one and only lonely shin of the weekend.

14. The young male shin.

15. Frank banding the one and only lonely shin.

16. Frank, Rick, and Trudi holding the one and only lonely shin.

17. The same young male Sharp-shinned Hawk.

18. Rick releasing the one and only lonely shin.