Hello All,
This is my fifth report of the 2026 banding season, covering the weekend of October 2nd, 2026.
This is our 57th consecutive season of trapping raptors on the Mattson’s hay field!!!
I drove up to Hawk Harbor Thursday afternoon to do some work on the new trailer and went in to Two Harbors for supper.
Friday, October 2nd
Rick and Brynn arrived Friday morning and we loaded up the banding gear in Rick‘s truck and went out to the banding station. We got everything all set up and ready to start at 7:30 am. Winds were light out of the northwest, looking good for a migration day.
We had just set up when a Sharp-shinned Hawk came shooting in at 7:35 am from the south side of the field. It slowed down before hitting the net and then bounced out! Aarrgh! Ten minutes later, another shin started buzzing the fake owl and then made a pass at us. That one also slowed up before hitting the net and it also bounced out! Double Aarggh!
Less than a minute later, another shin, this one a little more serious, came in from the north and we had our first bird of the day in the books! A lot of birds started moving and we had shins coming in left and right! We caught three more shins before a Merlin came into the field and started stooping at the fake owl. Rick tried luring her in, but she was fixated on the owl and didn’t want to pull off! Finally, after many shots at the owl, she saw the lure and made a low and fast run into the front net!
We caught one more shin and while Rick was luring another shin out over the farm, a Northern Harrier that no one saw coming, shot in from the south side and got caught! Around 10:30 am, Aspen and her mom Crystal who live in Two Harbors came out to sit in with us. We caught 4 more shins, before we noticed a young Red-tailed Hawk circling up at the other end of the field. Rick worked the lure and it made a breath-taking, long, slanting stoop into the front net. After that, we caught another shin and then an adult Red-tailed Hawk made a power shot from the south into the front net, ripping it off the poles! We had one more shin come in, but it bounced out, so we closed down at 4:00 pm and went to Perkins in Duluth for supper.
We got a total of 14 birds and had 3 bounce-outs on Friday.
10 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Merlin, and 1 Northern Harrier.
Saturday, October 3rd
We went back up to the banding station and got started by 8:00 am. The weather didn’t look very promising, with a mist over the field and almost no wind at all. What little wind was predicted was supposed to come out of the southeast with rain showing up in the afternoon. About ten minutes after setting up, a shin came in and took a shot at the Blue Jays who were feeding on the seeds out in front of the blind. Rick pulled the lure right away and it popped into the front net. First bird of the day was a shin!
We were taking our second shin of the day out of the net when Nancy and Chuck came up to see us. Nancy and Chuck have been a part of our banding team since 1985! Health concerns have kept them away for the last few years. It was so great to have them come up to join us for the day! Things were pretty slow, but no matter, Nancy had made some of her famous chocolate-chip cookies nestled in the traditional tin. While we were munching away on the cookies, we did manage to catch another shin, and a Merlin! Later, after checking our radar apps, we saw that some rain clouds were getting close, so we closed down at 2:30 pm.
We got a total of 4 birds and had no bounce-outs on Saturday.
3 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 1 Merlin.
Sunday, October 4th
Sunday morning, a bright sun was shining on the trees over our blind, turning them a brilliant orange. It had rained for most of the night, as a cold front had moved though the area. Now everything was bright and sunny, with winds predicted to be out of the west-north-west. A perfect day for migrating hawks! We were set up and ready by 8:00 am.
Birds started getting up all around us! We caught our first bird of the day, a shin, within 5 minutes of starting! Then we caught 10 more by noon! After that, my brother Mike came up to the blind to say hi and a Cooper’s Hawk that was passing over high to the north locked on. After catching all those shins, the coops looked like a giant coming in! My brother Mike got to release it.
We caught 2 more shins before one bounced out and then the last shin of the day came in on a nice long stoop from the north at 3:15 pm. We closed down for the weekend at 4:00 pm.
We got a total of 15 birds and had 1 bounce-out on Sunday.
14 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 1 Cooper’s Hawk.
33 total birds for the weekend.
166 total birds for the season.
Rick and I stayed over at Hawk Harbor on Sunday night and then went in for breakfast at Judy’s Café Monday morning before heading home.
(All birds are humanely captured, banded, and immediately released unharmed under a federal license issued by The U.S. Geological Survey through The Federal Bird Banding Laboratory.)
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 Sharp-shinned Hawk coming in.
02. First bird of the day was a shin.
03. Frank, Brynn, and Rick with the shin.
04. Another shin came in right away.
05. Rick holding the two shins.
06. Rick releasing the two shins.
07. A Merlin coming in.
08. A Merlin.
09. Frank holding the Merlin.
10. Frank releasing the Merlin.
11. Another shin coming in.
12. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk.
13. A Northern Harrier coming in.
14. Rick and Brynn taking the harrier out of the net.
15. An adult female Northern Harrier.
16. Rick holding the harrier.
17. Brynn and Rick releasing a shin and the harrier.
18. A Red-tailed Hawk overhead.
19. A Red-tailed Hawk coming in.
20. Brynn banding the red-tail.
21. A young Red-tailed Hawk.
22. A young Red-tailed Hawk.
23. Frank, Rick, Brynn, Aspen, and Crystal holding the red-tail.
24. Aspen holding the red-tail.
25. Another red-tail coming in.
26. An adult Red-tailed Hawk.
27. An adult Red-tailed Hawk.
28. Crystal and Aspen holding the redtail.
29. Aspen releasing the redtail.
30. A misty Saturday morning sunrise.
31. An adult shin came in for a look.
32. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk.
33. Frank, Brynn, Nancy, Chuck, and Rick holding a shin.
34. Nancy made a batch of her famous chocolate-chip cookies in the traditional tin.
35. A Merlin coming in.
36. A female Merlin.
37. Frank, Brynn, Rick, Chuck, and Nancy holding the Merlin.
38. A female Merlin.
39. Nancy and Chuck releasing the Merlin.
40. The banding station in the Sunday morning sun.
41. A Sharp-shinned Hawk coming in.
42. Another young Sharp-shinned Hawk.
43. An adult shin.
44. An adult Cooper’s Hawk.
45. Brynn banding the Cooper’s Hawk.
46. Frank, Mike, Brynn, and Rick holding the Cooper’s Hawk.
47. An adult male Cooper’s Hawk.
48. Mike releasing the Cooper’s Hawk.
49. A young Red-tailed Hawk came in for a look but spooked off.
50. We finished the weekend with a few more shins!
