Second Weekend of Banding 2025

Hi Everyone,

This is my second report of the 2025 banding season, covering the weekend of September 12th, 2025.

Friday, September 12th, 2025

Trudi and I hosted the annual Minnesota Falconer's Camp & Cookout again at Hawk Harbor this weekend. We drove up Friday morning to meet Rick at Hawk Harbor. While we were unpacking all the fixings for the cookout, Ron, my falconry apprentice, pulled in. Rick arrived a bit later and then Mr. & Mrs. Mattson stopped by in their side-by-side. They were checking to see how we were doing and to let us know that they were glad to see we were back using their hay-field for the 56th year in a row. They have been such good friends to us all these years!

After we unloaded all the tables, chairs, food, and drinks for the cookout, we loaded Rick's truck with all the banding gear and drove up to the banding blind. The skies were overcast and the winds were light out of the Northeast. We didn't get the blind and nets set up until 3:45 pm, when Brynn O. stopped by to help with the banding.

After getting such a late start, we didn't think we would have much of a chance to catch anything. However, we didn't have to wait long. A Merlin started diving at the fake owl; Rick worked the lure and it came in fast and hard! Yeay! No "Skunked Day" today! We banded it, took some photos, and Ron released it. Just after that a doe and a fawn walked across the field in front of us, always nice to see. We didn't see anything else moving that day, so we set up the overflow blind in anticipation of the group that would be showing up for the weekend. We closed down at 5:30 pm. When we got back to Hawk Harbor, our first camping guests had arrived. Brynn J., Holly, and Maddie set up their tents and settled in for the night. Ron headed home, while Brynn O., Trudi, Rick, and I went to the Culver's in Two Harbors for supper.

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

1 Merlin.

Saturday, September 13th, 2025

Rick and I were up at 6:30 am, and loaded his truck with the banding gear. Maddie joined us for the ride up to the blind while Brynn J. and Holly went in for breakfast at Two Harbors. Brynn O. drove up just as we got to the blind and helped with the set up. A little while later Thomas arrived. Trudi stayed back at Hawk Harbor to greet the arriving campers.

We started our banding day at 7:15 am. The skies were still over-cast and fog had settled around the field with limited visibility. The winds, again, were light out of the Northeast, not great for banding. Luck was with us though, and at 8:30 am, we caught our first bird of the day, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk that was out hunting the draw. We banded it, took some photos, and Maddie got to do her first-ever release of a banded hawk.

More and more club members started showing up, filling the main blind and spilling over into the overflow blind. We caught two more shins that new members of our club got to release for the first time. Around noon, Trudi came up to the blind with some food and snacks for lunch. We had quite a sizable group by then, Trudi did a "fishes and loaves" thing with what she had brought up, and then we all settled back into the blinds to try for more birds.

Our next and last bird of the day was another young female shin that dropped in from the trees above the blind, hitting the back of the front net and getting caught. We still had several people who had never released a bird, so we had them pick a number to see who would do the honors. We also let a few people take a photo carefully holding the bird, before Damien, who picked the lucky number, did a fine job of releasing it.

The cook-out down at Hawk Harbor was set to start at 5:30 pm, so we closed down the blinds at 5:00 pm. Then every one trotted back down off the Mattson hayfield to socialize and eat at Hawk Harbor.

The cook-out was a huge success! More MFA members started showing up and soon the road outside Hawk Harbor was filled with cars. Trudi had the food tables looking great, all spread out with good food, snacks and decorations. Mattie was grilling the hot dogs and Anthony was preparing some pan fish he had brought to share. Everyone got in line and supper was served for the thirty seven people shown in the group photo. Several others had to leave earlier or came later.

We got a total of 4 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.

4 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Sunday, September 14th, 2025

Sunday morning, Brynn O. met Rick, Trudi, and me at Hawk Harbor and we headed out to open the banding station. We were ready to start at 7:20 am, with freshening winds out of the Northeast, and overcast skies. The winds grew stronger throughout the day, so Rick had to set the nets extra tight, causing more bounce-outs than we would have liked. A little while later Edwin, Anthony, Kaden, Holly, and Brynn J. came up to sit in.

Our first bird on Sunday came in at 7:45 am, a female Sharp-shinned hawk. We banded it, took photos and Kaden got to release it. At fifteen minute intervals, two more shin came in, one from out in the draw and one from the woods behind the blind. They both bounced out! The next two shins were males that came in minutes apart around 9:00 am; one got caught in the mist net, and the other in the Dho Gaza.

By 10:00 am, we had caught four more shins, three females and one male. A few minutes later we had another shin come in from behind, hit the back of the front net, and bounce out! Arrrgh! At 10:11 am, another young female shin came from behind and got caught in the mist net. Ten minutes later, a young male shin came in with a full crop! Two minutes later, a young female shin came in with a full crop!

At 10:45 am, we saw a larger accipiter starting to thermal up near the farm house. Rick worked the lure and it locked on! It shot past right in front of us into the front net and Rick dashed out to secure it. It was a large young female Cooper's hawk! We banded it, took some photos, and Rick released it, right after he and Trudi compared it to the most recent shin, and after Trudi released that shin.

Just after 11:00 am, while the winds were getting stronger and stronger, we had another shin that was out diving on the fake owl shoot in. At the last second, it veered up over the nets and landed in the woods. It sat there for a while contemplating lunch and then decided to strike. However, it hit the wind-blown mist net and bounced out!

By noon we were not seeing any more hawks and the wind was getting even stronger, so we packed it in at 12:30 pm. After loading up all the stuff we brought up for the cookout, we headed home.

We got a total of 11 birds and 5 bounce-outs on Sunday.

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

16 total birds and 5 bounce-outs for the weekend.

28 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. Mr. & Mrs. Mattson stopped by to say "Hi".

02. Our first bird of the weekend, a female Merlin.

03. Frank, Ron, Rick, and Brynn with the Merlin.

04. Frank banding the Merlin.

05. Ron holding the Merlin.

06. Ron releasing the Merlin.

07. A doe and her fawn walked out across the field.

08. The overflow blind set up and ready for visitors.

09. Our first bird of the day on Saturday, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

10. Thomas, Brynn, Rick, Maddie, Holly, and Brynn with the shin.

11. Maddie holding the shin.

12. Maddie releasing the shin.

13. Another young female shin.

14. Thomas, Eric, Phoebe, Maddie, Steve, Alex, Rick, Callista, Jerry, Trudi, Frank, 
and Brynn with the shin.

15. Calista holding the shin.

16. Calista releasing the shin.

17. Alex holding a shin.

18. Alex releasing a shin.

19. Trudi serving lunch to the group.

20. Alex, Brynn, Peter, Maya, Stephanie, Thomas, Griffin, Jerry, Santino, Rick, Zee,
Damien, Maddie, Steve, Grant, Brynn, Phoebe, and Frank with a shin.

21. Another Sharp-shinned hawk.

22. Zee holding a shin.

23. Santino holding a shin.

24. Phoebe holding a shin.

25. Griffin holding a shin.

26. Damien holding a shin.

27. Damien releasing the shin.

28. Having fun and watching for hawks in the overflow blind.

29. Lots of people arriving for the MFA Cook-out.

30. Trudi had everything decorated beautifully.

31. Our NAFA Central Director & MFA President Mattie doing the grilling.

32. Anthony frying up some pan fish that he brought to share.

33. Jean, John, Maya, Peter, Gerry, and Trudi at the food tables.

34. Lots of goodies on the dessert table.

35. Trudi, Kirk, Ben, Jean, John, Gerry, Maya, Griffin, and Peter at the food tables.

36. Lots of food and friends.

37. Lots of food and friends.

38. A long line of good stuff!

39. Kaden, Griffin, and Maya checking the menu.

40. Zee, Damien, Thomas, Maddie, Alex, and Anthony at the cook out.

41. Don, Colin, Amber, and Grant at the cook out.

42. Eric relaxing at the cook out.

43. Holly and Brynn relaxing at the cook out.

44. Stephanie, Ben, and Gerry relaxing at the cook out.

45. Damien, Zee, Bri, and Santino ready for dessert.

46. Maya, Griffin, and Peter ready for dessert.

47. Stephanie and Edwin visiting at the cook out.

48. Curt actually smiling and looking at the camera! (Nice stash!)

49. Everyone enjoying the food.

50. Frank handing out art prints to Stephanie, Maddie, Damien, Zee, and Brynn.

51. Thirty-seven people who stayed for the group photo!

52. We had a nice campfire that night.

53. A beautiful Sunday morning sunrise at Hawk Harbor.

54. Our first bird of the day on Sunday, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

55. Frank, Rick, Edwin, Brynn, Anthony, Kaden, Trudi, Holly, and Brynn with the shin.

56. Anthony and Kaden with the shin.

57. Anthony and Kaden releasing the shin.

58. Kaden built a fort that he said anyone could use.

59. A shin out in the draw.

60. One of the young male shins.

61. Frank banding a shin while Edwin looks for another one.

62. Frank, Anthony, Kaden, Edwin, Brynn, and Rick with three shins.

63. Edwin holding a shin.

64. Edwin, Anthony, and Kaden holding three shins.

65. Edwin, Anthony, and Kaden doing a triple shin release.

66. Another Sunday shin.

67. Brynn releasing a shin.

68. Frank and Rick doing a double shin release.

69. A Cooper's hawk coming in.

70. A big young female Cooper's hawk.

71. Frank banding the Cooper's hawk.

72. A young female Cooper's hawk.

73. Edwin, Brynn, Kaden, Anthony, Rick, Trudi, and Frank with the Cooper's hawk.

74. Rick and Trudi comparing the female coopers to a female shin.

75. Trudi releasing the shin.

76. The Cooper's hawk profile.

77. Rick holding the Cooper's hawk.

78. Rick releasing the Cooper's hawk.

79. Packing up the van to head home.

80. The van packed up to the top!