Sixth Weekend of Banding 2025

Hi Everyone,

This is my sixth report of the 2025 banding season, covering the weekend of October 11th, 2025.

Sunday, October 12th, 2025

Trudi and I drove up to Hawk Harbor Saturday evening after stopping at Sapsucker Farms near Pine City for the Minnesota Falconer's October meeting. Thank you, Debbie and Jim Morrison, for hosting the meeting. Rick and Brynn went up earlier that weekend to set up nets so that we would be ready to start right away on Sunday morning.

We were at the banding blind and ready to start at 8:00 am Sunday morning. Winds were predicted to be out of the Southeast with scattered light showers all day, not very promising for banding. We didn't see anything moving until 8:30 am, when a very dark-eyed adult female Sharp-shinned hawk started buzzing the fake owl out in the draw. Rick worked the lure, it peeled off the owl, and came in flying low, right into the front net. Yeay!!! We are not skunked today! We banded it, took photos, and Trudi released it.

We sat there staring at the empty sky for another two hours until an adult male Merlin stooped into the field from the North and started making several passes at the fake owl! After venting its anger at the fake owl, it shifted its attention toward our lure and powered into the front net. Adult male, or "Jack", Merlins are so incredibly beautiful! We banded it, took some photos, and Brynn released it.

Around 11:00 am, we had a Merlin shoot into the field from the farm and make a pass at our lure, but it missed the net and took off toward the South. An hour and a half later, we had a shin come in from the North; it made a few passes over the nets, and then took off into the woods behind us. Rain showers threatened us all afternoon but didn't amount to more than a slight drizzle. At 12:45 pm, we saw a Peregrine falcon coming toward us from the farm. It seemed to be on a migration mission and proceeded South of us down the road in front of Hawk Harbor without giving us so much as a glance. We saw one more peregrine that day around 4:00 pm. That one came straight at us and passed over the blind without dipping a wing! We closed down at 4:30 pm, just in time before the heavier rains started.

We got a total of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 Sharp-shinned hawk and 1 Merlin.

Monday, October 13th, 2025

Rick, Trudi, and I headed back up to the banding station hoping to catch an early hunting shin. Brynn had to work and couldn't come out that day. The weather looked promising, with clear skies and Southwest winds 10 to 12 miles per hour. We got in the blind and were ready to go at 7:45 am.

Things looked really good for banding that day and birds were getting up all around us. However, they were mostly Bald eagles, Ravens, Crows, Turkey vultures, and adult Sharp-shinned hawks that started soaring high up on thermals. By the time they passed over us, they were way too high to lure down.

An hour after we started, we saw a Sharp-shinned hawk flying low enough to look like it might be catchable. Rick started luring and while we were concentrating on the approaching shin, a female Merlin shot in right under our noses from the South. WOW!!! Not skunked today! We banded it, took some photos, and I did the release.

Around 10:00 am, we were sitting there watching every raptor in sight circling up to the heavens in a clear blue sky, with no chance of luring them down. Just then, we saw a hunting Sharp-shinned hawk moving low over the pines to the North of us. Rick pulled the lure and it "locked on"! The little adult male shin made a nice long slating stoop right into the front net! We banded it, took some photos, and Rick released it.

We started seeing a few Red-tailed hawks going over high up. We hadn't seen any red-tails since the one we caught on our first weekend of banding. At 12:15 pm, we had a low flying red-tail lock-on from out over the road to the East of us. It came straight in but at the last second pulled up and sat in the trees above the blind. What we didn't see was another red-tail that had come in from the South and over the tree line behind us. We all jumped in surprise as it swooshed down, right in front of us, into the net!

When we pulled that red-tail out of the net, we noticed it had some pure white feathers and light colored talons. Bill Clark told me this about the condition of this bird, "It is a partial albino. This condition only occurs in adult RTs. Their young have normal plumage and only get these white feathers in their adult plumages. It is not leucism, which occurs in all ages of RTs and is characterized by feathers with reduced pigmentation, not absence of pigments. Two different conditions". We banded it, took LOTS of photos, and Rick released it.

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

1 Merlin, 1 Sharp-shinned hawk and 1 Red-tailed hawk.

We tried something new for us this weekend. I have had some bands that are used for Saw-whet owls for a while and never seemed to have the time to try out owl banding. We have had other owl banders set up at our place in the past with some success, so we thought we might try it ourselves. Brynn researched all the technical information and technique required to get started, so we set up one test net and caught four Northern Saw-whet owls.

9 total birds and no bounce-outs for the weekend.

65 total birds for the season.

Side Note: Our Hawk Harbor neighbor Don texted me some photos that he took of a large male Black bear that keeps coming into his yard to eat apples off his trees! This bear shakes the tree and then lays down in front of the pile of apples and scoops them into his mouth. Don wanted us to be "bear aware" in case it wanders through Hawk Harbor!

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. Adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

02. Frank, Trudi, Brynn, and Rick with the shin.

03. Brynn banding the shin.

04. Adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

05. Trudi with the shin.

06. Trudi releasing the shin. Photo by Rick Dupont.

07. An adult male Merlin.

08. Frank, Trudi, Rick, and Brynn with the Merlin.

09. Frank banding the Merlin.

10. An adult male Merlin.

11. Brynn holding the Merlin.

12. Brynn releasing the Merlin. Photo by Rick Dupont.

13. Peregrine falcon passing to the South.

14. Peregrine falcon coming straight at us.

15. A Monday morning sunrise.

16. A female Merlin.

17. Frank banding the Merlin with encouragement from Rick.

18. Trudi and Rick with the Merlin.

19. A female Merlin.

20. Frank holding the Merlin.

21. Frank releasing the Merlin.

22. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.

23. Rick holding the shin.

24. Rick releasing the shin.

25. A Red-tailed hawk pulling up into the trees.

26. Red-tailed hawk with white feathers coming in.

27. A Red-tailed hawk with white feathers coming in.

28. The Red-tailed hawk.

29. Back view of the Red-tailed hawk with white feathers.

30. Frank banding the red-tail.

31. Trudi, Rick, and Frank with the red-tail.

32. The Red-tailed hawk.

33. It had some light colored talons.

34. Rick holding the red-tail.

35. Rick releasing the red-tail.

36. Back view of the departing red-tail.

37. Frank and Brynn getting a Saw-whet owl out of the net.

38. Brynn with a Saw-whet owl.

39. A Saw-whet owl. Photo by Brynn Olsen.

40. A banded Saw-whet owl.

41. Front edge of the owl's feathers that deadens sound.

42. Trudi and Brynn holding a Saw-whet owl.

43. A big male Black bear reaching for apples in Don and Carol's yard.

44. The bear laying down near the apple pile and scooping them in.

Fifth Weekend of Banding 2025

Hi Everyone,

This is my fifth report of the 2025 banding season, covering the weekend of October 5th, 2025.

Sunday, October 5th, 2025

Rick and I drove up to Hawk Harbor Saturday night so we could set up the nets at the banding station and be ready to go first thing Sunday morning. Trudi had commitments at home and did not come along this weekend.

Brynn drove out to Hawk Harbor from Duluth and met Rick and me Sunday morning around 7:00 am. We loaded up the banding gear and headed out to the blind just in time to see the sun coming up over Lake Superior. The skies were clear and the winds were light out of the Southwest. We were all set up and ready by 7:25 am.

The first bird of the day, a young male Sharp-shinned hawk, came in slow from the draw at 8:15 am. It went over the top of the front net, zipped around over the lure, then tried to shoot back out into the field, but hit the the back of the front net! While we were banding that one, a second shin, this time an adult male, came shooting in from the North right into the front net! We banded both birds, took some photos, and then Brynn and Rick did a double release.

At 8:40 am, a big female Merlin started stooping at our fake owl. Rick worked the lure and it came in fast and low right into the front net! We banded it, took photos, and I got to let that one go.

Around 10:30 am, Dave and Larry came up to the banding station. Dave is a retired photographer for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and Larry is a retired Minister. Dave has been coming up to see us for a few years now and this was Larry's first time. We all got settled into the main blind and at 11:00 am, an adult male Sharp-shinned hawk dropped into the field from the North, shot down the tree line and right into the front net! We banded it, took photos, and Larry got to do the release. At 12:15, we got our second Merlin of the day! It was a young male that made the same approach as the last shin, and powered into the front net from the North. We banded that one and Dave did the release.

Things slowed down quite a bit after that, and we were all looking around at a mostly empty sky when at 1:05 pm, a young male Peregrine falcon dropped into the far end of the field and shot towards us along the draw! Rick pulled the lure and the peregrine hit the front net fast and low! Wow!!! A feather perfect young male peregrine! We banded it, took some photos, and Brynn got to let it go.

Almost 3 hours passed without seeing anything, when we noticed an adult Peregrine falcon circling up over the farmhouse at the East end of the field. Every time it faced us in the soar, the sun illuminated its bright white chest feathers, showing it to be an adult. Rick worked the lure every time it came around to face us. After a couple circuits, it noticed our lure and broke out of the soar. We all held our breath as it powered in from high up over the field. Just before it was about to hit the net, it veered off toward the North, made a quick loop around out in front of the blind, and shot into the net from the South! TWO peregrines in one day!!! We were over the moon excited!!! We noticed it still had some juvenile feathers that it had not molted yet. We banded it, took some photos, and Rick released it.

Again, we didn't see anything moving, but sat there thinking we might see a Merlin if we stayed until 5:00. We have caught a few merlins late in the day, so much so that we call any time after 4:00 pm "Merlin Time" instead of "Miller Time" from the beer commercials. Sure enough, at 4:30 pm, an adult male Merlin came hunting down the North side of the field, flying fast and low! It spotted our lure and shot straight into the front net from a gap in the draw. We banded it, took photos, and I got to release it. We closed down at 5:00 pm and all went in to the Culver's in Two Harbors for supper.

We got a total of 8 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

3 Sharp-shinned hawks, 3 Merlins, and 2 Peregrines.

Monday, October 6th, 2025

Monday morning, Rick, Brynn, and I headed back up to the banding station thinking that early morning would be our best chance of catching a hunting shin. A cold front had roared through in the middle of the night that also gave us hope of having a good day. Dave and Larry arrived while we were setting up and we were all in the blind and ready to go by 7:15 am.

We all sat there scanning the field to see if we could spot a hunting shin. We didn't see anything until 9:25 am, when an adult female shin turned a fast loop out around the fake owl and started for us. It came in rather slowly and, not surprisingly, hit the top of the front net and bounced out! Arrrgh!!!

A little while later, an adult shin came in from the draw, saw the nets, popped up over the front one and landed right next to the lure! It sat there for quite a while contemplating the situation, when it decided "naw", and flew up and sat in the tree above the lure for a little while longer, before continuing its migration South. That was the last we saw of anything moving so we packed it in at noon. Our first "Skunked Day" of the season!

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

A Skunked Day.

8 total birds and 1 bounce-out for the weekend.

56 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. A two Peregrine day!

02. Sunday morning sunrise.

03. Our first bird of the day, a young Sharp-shinned hawk.

04. Brynn banding the young Sharp-shinned hawk.

05. Our second bird of the day, an adult male shin.

06. We caught two shins, five minutes apart!

07. Comparing young and adult male Sharp-shinned hawks.

08. Rick and Brynn doing a double shin release.

09. A female Merlin.

10. Frank, Rick, and Brynn with the Merlin.

11. The female Merlin.

12. Frank holding the Merlin.

13. Frank releasing the Merlin.

14. Another adult male shin.

15. Dave, Larry, Rick, Brynn, and Frank with the shin.

16. Larry holding the shin.

17. Larry releasing the shin.

18. A young male Merlin.

19. Larry, Rick, Brynn, and Dave with the Merlin.

20. Dave holding the second Merlin of the day.

21. Dave releasing the Merlin.

22. A young male Peregrine.

23. Frank holding the Peregrine.

24. A young male Peregrine falcon.

25. Larry, Dave, Rick, Brynn, and Frank with the Peregrine.

26. A young male Peregrine.

27. Brynn holding the Peregrine.

28. Brynn releasing the Peregrine.

29. An adult male Peregrine falcon coming in.

30. Rick and Brynn taking the adult Peregrine out of the net.

31. An adult male Peregrine falcon.

32. Frank banding the Peregrine.

33. Frank holding our second Peregrine of the day!

34. The Peregrine still had some juvenile feathers.

35. Still molting some of its juvenile feathers.

36. A partially molted male Peregrine falcon.

37. Rick holding the Peregrine.

38. Rick releasing the banded Peregrine.

39. An adult male Merlin.

40. Our third Merlin of the day!

41. An adult male Merlin.

42. Frank holding the third Merlin of the day!

43. Frank releasing the Merlin.

44. Monday morning sunrise over Lake Superior.

45. A shin landed next to the lure inside the nets.

46. The shin back up into the tree and ready to head South.