Hi All,
This is my third report of the banding season
for the weekend of September 14, 2013.
Chuck and Nancy
went up and did some banding on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 10th and 11th of
September. On Tuesday they caught 6 shins and had 1 bounce out. The next day
they got 1 Merlin and 12 shins. Not bad for a couple days' work! Now that Chuck
has retired, he and Nancy are able to set up on days that have more favorable
winds. That should increase our numbers this season. Way to go, Chuck and
Nancy!
Midweek total
was 19 birds and only 1 bounce-out.
1 Merlin and 18
Sharp-shinned hawks.
On Saturday morning, September 14th, I met Chuck
at the McDonalds on top of the hill near Spirit Mountain, just above Duluth. We
had a bit of breakfast and drove on to the campsite. Rick had to work on
Saturday and Trudi was taking care of some things at home so they did not come
up this weekend. Nancy stayed home on Saturday and was going to come out to
meet Chuck on Sunday and stay on with him until Monday. Todd had come up on
Friday night and on Saturday morning, his daughter Jesse and her boyfriend Matt
came up to help him out for the weekend. We had just arrived at the campsite
when Allen Best drove in. He had been banding with Frank Nicoletti on Hawk
Ridge last weekend and wanted to spend a day out at our place. Allen is a tour
guide and deck hand for the Duluth Vista Fleet tour boats. He is very
interested in raptors and wants to eventually become a falconer. With Allen's
help, it took us a very short time to set up the blind and we got started at
9:00. A little while later Nancy Wilson (one of my TRC Bird Boot Camp
graduates) and her son Eric arrived. They have been regulars at the blind for
several years now. Mike Klimas and Mike's nephew and godson Sam Klimas stopped by
for the day. Sam has been working with Gyrfalcons in Alaska as a contractor
with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Randy Burington, who works for the
Canadian National railroad, was on call for the weekend in the Two Harbors area
and also stopped up to see us.
The winds were light out of the South-southwest and the sky
was overcast. A few Bald eagles and a lot of Turkey vultures started moving. We got our first bird, a young female
Sharp-shinned hawk at 10:50. It looked so big with a slow wing beat and a full
crop, coming in from the Northeast, that at first glance, I thought it might be
a Cooper's hawk.
We banded it, took a
bunch of photos, and Eric was chosen to let it go.
A little while later, an Osprey came flying up from the lake
carrying a fish. We saw the same thing last weekend. It was probably trying to
find a good place to eat the fish away from all the Bald eagles down by the
lakeshore. At 11:15, Todd called up to say he had just caught a nice-sized,
immature female Merlin. I went down to get it, but I forgot to take my camera
along to get a shot of Todd, Jesse and Matt with the Merlin. Dang! (Fortunately, Allen got a photo with his phone.) We took it
back up to the main blind, banded it, took a load of photos and Nancy got to
let this one go.
We kept looking for more catchable hawks, but only saw some
Ravens, Crows, an occasional goose and some Bald eagles going by. A pair of
Sandhill cranes came in from the North to liven things up a bit. I just love
watching them fly!
Our last bird of the day was a gutsy young Broad-winged hawk
at 1:38. It came in on a long low glide from out over the barn. It stooped in
looking just like a Red-tailed hawk except that it was ridiculously small. He
plowed right into the net without flinching a bit. What a tough little guy! We
had no more birds for the rest of the day and closed down at 4:15.
We got a total of 3 birds and no bounce-outs on
Saturday.
1 Sharp-shinned hawk, 1 Merlin and 1 Broad-winged
hawk.
After we closed down the blind for the night, every one
else went home. Todd, Jesse and Matt fixed their supper at the campsite while Chuck
and I headed over to Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant. I ordered my 54th hot
meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy. Greg
Wallgren also stopped in for supper at the Lighthouse with a group of friends
and relatives and sat at a table right next to us. Greg is just recovering from
knee surgery and is having a tough time getting around. I told him if he wanted
to come to the blind while he is recovering, we could drive him right up to it
and he wouldn't have to do any walking. We had a nice dinner and went back to
join Todd, Jesse and Matt at the campfire. My nephew Colin who is working for
the Boy Scouts, a little North of Ely, MN, was on his way down to stay with
friends in Duluth, so he stopped by the campfire for a while to say hi.
We had a little rain come down in the middle of the night
and on Sunday morning we were getting waves of drizzle and mist. Chuck and I
had everything set up and ready to go at 7:40. There was a strong wind blowing
from the Northeast and we saw lots of lines of geese coming over. One big flock
decided to land in front of the blind, to rest up and eat some grass. They
seemed a bit perplexed by our owl and crow decoys.
Around 10:00, Stan Tekiela, the world-famous wildlife
photographer, author and naturalist, pulled up in his bus with a group of 10
birders. Stan has been bringing a group up every year since 2007. You can check
out his fantastic photos and website at;
I went down to meet the group and we all trudged up through
the drizzle and packed ourselves into the blind and over-flow area. We didn't
get any birds in the net while they were there, but we did get to see a Merlin
make a few spirited passes at the lure. We were also treated to an Osprey that
seemed to have a huge issue with our decoy owl. It made many stoops at the fake
owl, all the while calling very loudly. Before they left the blind, we took a
photo of the group doing the "Wish-Bird" sign. (The “Wish-Bird”
sign is given by crossing your thumbs and flaring your fingers to look like the
bird you wish you had in your hands to release!) Then I followed them down to
the bus to do my little migration talk and hand out a raptor identification
sheet, a bookmark and one of my signed art prints for each person. They were
all very happy to be back in the warm, dry bus and heading to lunch, after
which they would stop off at Hawk Ridge. Before I left the cozy bus, Stan gave
us signed copies of his latest guidebooks. Thank you, Stan!
Nancy and Chuck were
going to stay up for a couple days as the weather was supposed to break by that
afternoon, so, I packed up and went home around 1:00.
We got a total of 0 birds on Sunday
(by the time I left at 1:00).
Our first Skunk Day this
season.
Total for the weekend was 3 birds and no bounce-outs.
1 Sharp-shinned hawk, 1 Merlin and 1 Broad-winged
hawk.
Grand Total for the year is 47.
In an effort to keep this file small and save me some time
resizing photos, I am including my
"North Shore Banding - Frank Taylor" link so you
can look at the photos from this last weekend.
Click on the link below and then scroll down below the
report to see all the photos.
You can also review any of my weekly reports from last year
by clicking on the 2012 link on the right side of that page.
To see my photos covering this report click on;
Please
help hawks by supporting;
Hawk
Ridge Bird Observatory (www.hawkridge.org)
The
Raptor Center (www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu)
The National Eagle
Center (www.nationaleaglecenter.org)
If you would like, you can friend me on Facebook.
Look up . . . https://www.facebook.com/Frank.Taylor.Raptor.Specialist
Keep
your eyes on the skies.
Frank & Trudi Taylor
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01. First bird on Saturday morning was a young female
Sharp-shinned hawk.
Third Weekend 2013.
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02. Allen and Chuck holding the shin while Nancy Wilson takes
a photo.
Third Weekend 2013.
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03. Banding the Sharp-shin.
Photo by Nancy Wilson
Third Weekend 2013.
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04. My new Swarovskis have a built-in hawk focus.
Photo by Nancy Wilson.
Third Weekend 2013.
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05. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk doing an "Are
you lookin' at me?" pose.
Third Weekend 2013.
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06. Mike, Sam, Allen, Randy, Chuck, Nancy and Eric with
the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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07. Sam holding the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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08. Sam holding the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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09. Allen holding the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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10. Allen holding the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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11. Eric holding the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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12. Eric holding the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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13. Randy, Mike, Sam and Allen helping Eric release the shin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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14. Young female Merlin doing a "Coming in"
pose.
Third Weekend 2013.
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15. Jesse, Matt, me and Todd with the Merlin he caught.
Photo by Allen Best.
Third Weekend 2013.
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16. Me, banding the Merlin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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17. Young female Merlin doing a "Hollywood"
pose.
Third Weekend 2013.
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18. Allen, Sam, me, Randy, Eric and Nancy with the
Merlin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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19. Young female Merlin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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20. Young female Merlin.
Third Weekend 2013.
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21. Eric and Nancy releasing the Merlin, (you have to
look hard for the bird).
Third Weekend 2013.
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22. Sandhill cranes coming in.
Third Weekend 2013.
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23. Sandhill cranes landing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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24. Young Broad-winged hawk doing a "Coming
in" pose.
Third Weekend 2013.
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25. Young Broad-winged hawk.
Third Weekend 2013.
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26. Chuck taking the Broad-wing out of the net.
Third Weekend 2013.
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27. Young Broad-winged hawk.
Third Weekend 2013.
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28. Banding the Broad-wing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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29. Showing the Broad-wing's back.
Third Weekend 2013.
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30. Showing the Broad-wing's under wing pattern.
Third Weekend 2013.
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31. Young Broad-winged hawk.
Third Weekend 2013.
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32. Young Broad-winged hawk doing an "Are you
lookin' at me?" pose.
Third Weekend 2013.
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33. Showing Nancy how to hold the Broad-wing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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34. Nancy holding the Broad-wing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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35. Nancy holding the Broad-wing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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36. Young Broad-winged hawk.
Third Weekend 2013.
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37. Sam holding the Broad-wing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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38. Sam holding the Broad-wing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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39. Mike and Sam holding the Broad-wing.
Third Weekend 2013.
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40. Mike and Sam releasing the Broad-winged hawk.
Third Weekend 2013.
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41. Some Canada geese coming in to rest on a rainy
Sunday morning.
Third Weekend 2013.
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42. Canada geese foraging out in front of the blind.
Third Weekend 2013.
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43. Canada geese checking out our decoy crows and owl.
Third Weekend 2013.
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44. Stan's group doing the "Wish-Bird" sign on
a rainy no-bird Sunday morning.
Third Weekend 2013.
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45. Randy let me pretend to be working for the Canadian
National railroad in his work vehicle.
Third Weekend 2013.
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