Sixth Weekend of Banding 2026

Hello All, 

 

This is my sixth report of the 2026 banding season, covering the weekend of October 10th, 2026.

This is our 57th consecutive season of trapping raptors on the Mattson’s hay field!!!

 

Rick went up early Friday to set up nets at the banding station. Trudi and I went up later that day and stopped by Brynn’s house in Duluth to pick up some gear.

 

Saturday, October 10th

We were not sure how good things would be this weekend for banding as the wind was predicted to be from the east-north-east. We met Brynn at Hawk Harbor and headed out to the blind. We set up the station and were ready to start by 8:00 am. Skies were clear with hardly a breeze blowing. 

 

Our first bird of the day didn’t come in until 9:22 am. It was an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk that made a long shallow stoop in from the east and hit the front net. We were all glad to have our first bird of the weekend in the books! Around 10:30 am, our good friends Paul and Barb brought their grand-daughter Maya up to the blind. Maya is a student at UMD. Then a little bit later our nephew Stephen also came up to spend the day with us. 

 

We didn’t see much moving at all until around 11:30 am, when a young shin came in from the south, giving everyone a good view as it passed right in front of the blind. However, it went over the front net, made a tight circle, and flew right into the back net. Maya got to release that one. 

 

While we were waiting around to spot a hawk, we heard a sound growing louder as it came closer from behind the blind and grew to a loud roar! Just then a huge four engine C-130 military cargo plane passed over the blind at tree-top level heading east!!!

 

After that, things got really slow. It wasn’t until almost an hour later that another adult shin that was passing high overhead decided at the last second to take a shot at the lure. It came almost straight down in a verticle stoop right into the front net.

Stephen got to release that one. 

 

By 1:00 pm, skies seemed to go completely empty, so Stephen and Paul’s family left around 1:30 pm and the rest of us decided to close down at 3:00 pm. 

 

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

3 Sharp-shinned Hawks.

 

Sunday, October 11th

Overnight the winds had shifted around to the west-south-west, but on Sunday morning they were very light.  We got started at 7:45 am thinking we might have a shot at any shins out hunting the brush. No Dice! We sat there looking at bare skies until 9:00 am when a little adult male shin came in and hit the front net after making a pass at the fake owl. Trudi and I did a release on that one. 

 

At 9:30 am, Lynn and her husband Sean came up to the blind. Lynn has been coming up to the blind for many years and this day was her and Sean’s tenth anniversary. They both teach at St. Olaf College, and have been involved in raptor banding all over the world. We had all just settled back in the blind, when a Merlin decided to take a shot at the owl. Rick worked the lure and it shot right into the front net. Lynn let that one go.

 

A lot of shins started getting up but most of them were adults and passed right over us without giving us a second glance. Around 10:30 am, a little male shin came slowly in from the north, bumped the front net and then bounced out! We caught three more adult shins before catching an adult shin that was already banded!

 

We caught four more shins that day before closing down at 3:00 pm.

 

We got a total of 10 birds and had one bounce-out on Sunday. 

9 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 1 Merlin.

 

13 total birds for the weekend.

179 total birds for the season. 

 

(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. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk was our first bird of the day.

02. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk.

03. Rick, Brynn, Trudi, and Frank with the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

04. Trudi releasing the shin.

05. A young Sharp-shinned Hawk.

06. A Sharp-shinned Hawk.

07. Stephen, Paul, Barb, Maya, Brynn, Rick, Trudi, and Frank with the shin.

08. Maya about to release the shin.

09. Maya releasing the shin.

10. A C-130 buzzed the blind at tree-top level.

11. Another shin coming in.

12. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk.

13. Frank banding the shin

14. Stephen holding the shin.

15. Stephen releasing the shin.

16. A Sunday morning sunrise.

17. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk.

18. An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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

20. Frank and Trudi holding the shin.

21. Frank and Trudi releasing the shin.

22. A Merlin coming in.

23. A Merlin.

24. Brynn banding the Merlin.

25. A Merlin.

26. A Merlin.

27. Lynn holding the Merlin.

28. Lynn releasing the Merlin.

29. A shin coming in.

30. An adult shin.

31. An adult shin.

32. Frank, Trudi, Lynn, Sean, Brynn, and Rick with a shin.

33. Sean releasing a shin.

34. We caught a banded shin!

35. An adult shin.

36. Lynn releasing a shin.

37. A disrespectful Blue Jay.

38. A legs-down shin coming in.

39. An adult shin.

40. An adult shin.

41. Brynn releasing a shin.

42. Another shin coming in.

43. An adult shin.

44. An adult shin.

45. Trudi releasing a shin.

46. A young Sharp-shinned Hawk.

47. A young Sharp-shinned Hawk.

48. Rick releasing the shin.

49. Trudi and Frank at the Burlington Station pumpkin patch.

Fifth Weekend of Banding 2026

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!