Ninth Weekend of Banding 2013

Hi All,

Here is my ninth report of the banding season for the weekend of October 26, 2013.

Chuck and Nancy stayed up last weekend and banded on Monday and Tuesday, October 21st and 22nd, and then Chuck came back on Friday, October 25th. On Monday, they caught 11 Red-tailed hawks and no bounce outs. On Tuesday they caught 2 Red-tailed hawks and no bounce outs. On Friday Chuck didn't catch anything at the main blind, but Todd was up on that day and caught a Rough-legged hawk, so, Chuck banded that one. A very nice total for three days of "extra effort"!

Midweek total was 14 birds and 0 bounce-outs.

1 Rough-legged hawk and 13 Red-tailed hawks.

On Saturday morning, October 26th, Trudi and I met Rick at the Burger King on London Road. We had some breakfast and then drove to the campsite. Chuck had been trapping on Friday and Nancy was going to stay home this weekend. Todd also had been trapping on Friday and was already there. Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I loaded our gear into Rick's truck and drove to the main blind. Chuck had everything set up, so we got started early at 8:45. It was a partly cloudy day with light Northwest winds.

We had just started when a red pick-up truck pulled up. In it was lucky Morris Jorgenson, a falconer from Iowa. I say "lucky", because Morris had obtained a non-resident permit to take a goshawk. He came up on Friday thinking he might have to spend as much as a week of trapping with Todd to see if he could catch one. On Friday, Randy Burington, a falconer from Cotton, MN, got a call from his neighbor saying a big old hawk was in his chicken coop and had eaten one of his chickens. Instead of killing it, he called Randy to see if he could use his falconry skills to get it out. Randy called the MN DNR right away to get permission to remove it from the chicken coop. He also asked if it was OK to give it to a licensed falconer if it turned out to be a bird that someone might want. Through a series of phone calls, he found out that Morris was up there and looking for a young female goshawk. The "chicken hawk" turned out to be "a young female goshawk" and the story came to a very happy ending. Morris stopped by to show us the bird before heading back down to Iowa. 

At 10:40 we saw a large bird pumping its wings hard and coming straight at us from out over the owl. We got our first bird of the day, a young male Northern goshawk. After we banded it and had a brief photo session, Chuck let it go. Todd got the second bird of the day at 1:55, an adult Red-tailed hawk. Kenny Wagner had come to sit in with Todd, so he and my younger brother Mike, who was up for the weekend, hiked up with that bird, to have us band it. At 2:40 we saw an adult Red-tailed hawk start a long shallow stoop from way out to the North and carry on over the farm and straight on with legs hanging down, into Todd's station. WOW!!! What a show!!!

Later, we watched some shrikes out hunting in the draw while lots of Blue birds were passing by. Mike Klimas stopped in to see how we were doing. He stayed only a short while and left for home. Around 3:50 we saw a young male goshawk shooting in from high out over the owl. It pumped its wings all the way in, straight as an arrow, until it hit the center of the net. We banded it, took some photos and I got to let that one go. Todd got the last bird of the day, another young male goshawk. We watched from our blind as it made a long fast pumping stoop across the farm pines and down into Todd's place. Joe Fahey had also stopped up earlier to see Todd and brought that bird up for us to band. Joe got to let that one go. We closed down for the day at 5:00.

We got a total of 5 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Saturday.

3 Northern goshawks and 2 Red-tailed hawks.

After we closed down, Trudi, Rick, Chuck, Todd, Joe, Mike and I headed over to meet Greg, Curt and Bobbi at Emily's Light House Restaurant for supper. Curt and Bobbi were up trapping with Greg on his hill for the weekend. After showing off to the others that the owners had placed the tall ship photo I had given them in a place of prominence in the main dining room, I humbly ordered my 60th hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy. After dinner, we all went back over to our campsite for our traditional campfire and to tell tall tales of the day's activities with a brew or two.

On Sunday morning we were treated to a bonus goshawk. One of the falconers had caught a young male gos and decided to have us band it and release it. The light was still too low for photos so we banded it and let it go right in the campsite. My brother Mike was fixing hot chocolates and coffee for all the campers. After a nice "cuppa" to warm us up, we loaded the gear back into Rick's truck and headed up to the main blind. We were all set and ready to start at 8:30 with one goshawk already in the book. The sky was clearing with a light wind out of the Southwest.

At 9:00 Roberta Ryan, President of the University of Minnesota's Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Club, drove up with eight members. We gave them a tour of the banding station and packed as many as possible into the main blind with the rest of the group sitting in the overflow area. Around twenty years ago, Heather Gast, who is now a "world-renowned" falconer living in Montana, came up to the blind with her high school class and was so inspired by her visit that she dedicated her life to falconry and all that goes with it. Heather sent me a message on Friday saying her cousin Sophie was going to Hawk Ridge that weekend and was going to contact me to see if she could stop by our place. I hadn't heard from Sophie, so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that Sophie was indeed a member of this group. What a nice thing it is to have such a wonderful connection that has come around again in a new generation.

The migration seemed to be moving a little slow that morning, with a bird or two soaring up here and there. When, at 10:30, a member of the group called out, "Look! Over there at the owl!" An adult male Merlin was taking a shot at our fake owl and pulled off as soon as it saw the lure. Jaws dropped as it flew hard and straight into the net. Everyone leaped off their seats and ran out to see Rick and Chuck take it out of the net. They all watched as Chuck banded it in front of the blind and then held it up for photos. We conducted a "Lucky Number" game and Anna was the winner for the Merlin release. Some of the group got into the photo op area while the others lined up to "help" Anna release the bird.

I was explaining to the group that banding was a lot like fishing and not knowing what to expect or when it might happen, when at 11:20, a young Red-tailed hawk that must have been way up to the South of us, leveled off from a terrific stoop and blasted into the net. Another excited rush followed to see Rick and Chuck take that one out of the net.

Chuck banded the red-tail and held it up for a photo shoot. We did the "Lucky Number" game again and this time Roberta won the red-tail release.

At noon we all walked down to the Dodge van so I could do my little migration talk and hand out bookmarks, I.D. sheets and art prints. The group thanked us for the fun time at the blind and headed off for Hawk Ridge.

After the group left, Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I were sitting in the blind when, at 12:24, we noticed a "big gray bird" with a steady wing beat heading along the tree line to the North of us. As it closed the gap to the net, we could see it was a big adult female Northern goshawk. Wham!!! Right into the net! Chuck banded it and I couldn't stop taking pictures of it. At 12:25 we saw an adult Red-tailed hawk make a long shallow dive into Todd's rig. Kenny Wagner brought that one up so we could band it. The red-tail had what looked like a molt interruption in its center tail feather. I have never seen anything like that before. At 12:29 we were all standing outside the blind with the two hawks in hand when a young female Northern goshawk stooped in from high to the North with a terrific whoosh of its wings and hit the net. We didn't even have time to get in the blind! We banded all three birds, took loads more photos and released them. Chuck released the young goshawk, Trudi released the red-tail and I got to release the adult goshawk (after taking just a few more photos). We closed down the blind at 1:30 and after packing everything up at the campsite, Trudi and I drove up to see Greg's hill were he, Bobbi and Curt were still trapping.

We got a total of 6 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 Merlin, 2 Red-tailed hawks and 3 Northern goshawks.

Total for the weekend was 11 birds and 0 bounce-outs.

Grand Total for the year is 125.

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)

 Keep your eyes on the skies.

Frank & Trudi Taylor

01. Chuck, Morris and me with his "Chicken Coop" Goshawk.

Ninth Weekend 2013.

02. Trudi holding Lady, Morris's four-month-old Dachshund.

Ninth Weekend 2013.

03. Young male Goshawk.

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04. Rick, Chuck and me taking the gos out of net.

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05. Young male Northern goshawk.

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06. Chuck banding the gos.

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07. Young male Northern goshawk.

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08. Rick, Chuck and Trudi with the gos.

Ninth Weekend 2013.

09. Chuck releasing the young male Northern goshawk.

Ninth Weekend 2013.

10. Adult Red-tailed hawk in the "Coming In" pose.

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11. Chuck banding the red-tail.

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12. Adult Red-tailed hawk in hand.

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13. Adult Red-tailed hawk.

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14. Red-tail's tail with no barring.

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15. Chuck, Kenny, Mike, Trudi and Rick with red-tail.

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16. Chuck releasing the adult Red-tailed hawk.

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17. Second adult Red-tailed hawk.

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18. Holding up adult Red-tail.

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19. Heavily barred tail.    

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20. Adult Red-tailed hawk.

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21. Joe and me holding up the red-tail.

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22. Joe releasing red-tail.

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23. Young male Northern goshawk in the "Coming In" pose.

Ninth Weekend 2013.

24. Chuck and Rick taking the gos out of the net.

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25. Young male Northern goshawk in the "Yearbook" pose.

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26. Young male Northern goshawk in the "Are You Lookin at Me?" pose.

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27. I got to release this gos.

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28. Rick, Joe and Chuck with gos that Todd caught.

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29. Young male Northern goshawk in the "Are You Lookin at Me" pose.

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30. Joe about to release the gos.

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31. Joe releasing the gos.

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32. Joe, Mike, Rick, Trudi, Todd, Greg, Curt, Bobbi and Chuck at Emily's Light House Restaurant.

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33. Nice campfire.

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34. Sunday morning Merlin.

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35. U. of M. Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Club members watching Chuck and Rick take the Merlin out of the net.

Ninth Weekend 2013. 

36. Chuck and Rick taking an adult male Merlin out of the net.

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37. Chuck showing the Merlin to the club members.

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38. Adult male Merlin in hand.

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39. Adult male Merlin.

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40. Chuck showing the group how we band the Merlin.

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41. Adult male Merlin.

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42. Me and Roberta, the club President, with the Merlin.

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43. Jake, Anna, Gwen, Molly, Michael, Roberta, me, Sophie, Shana, Alex and Chuck with the Merlin.

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44. Adult male Merlin.

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45. Me and Sophie (Heather Gast's cousin) and the Merlin.

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46. Anna was chosen to release the Merlin.

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47. Michael, Jake, Sophie, Shana, and Molly helping Anna who is about to release the Merlin.

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48. Anna getting help releasing the Merlin.

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49. Young Red-tailed hawk doing the "Coming In" pose.

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50. U. of M. F. W. and C. B. Club watching Rick and Chuck take the red-tail out of the net.

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51. Young Red-tailed hawk.

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52. Chuck banding the red-tail in front of the group.

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53. Rick, Molly, Michael, Roberta, Sophie, Alex, Chuck, Shana, Anna, Jake and Gwen with the Red-tailed hawk.

Ninth Weekend 2013.

54. Young red-tail doing the " I Am Smiling" pose.

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55. Roberta was the "Lucky Number" winner to release the red-tail.

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56. Sophie, Molly, Shana and Michael lining up to help Roberta release the red-tail.

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57. Sophie, Molly, Shana and Michael helping Roberta release the Red-tailed hawk.

Ninth Weekend 2013. 

58. Doing my little migration talk and globe demo for the group.

Ninth Weekend 2013. 

59. Handing out bookmarks, I.D. sheets and art prints to the group.

Ninth Weekend 2013. 

60. Adult Northern goshawk doing the "Coming In" pose.

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61. The Three Amigos, Rick, Chuck and Frank, with the goshawk.

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62. Northern goshawk in the hand. Still has lots of immy feathers.

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63. Goshawk!

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64. Chuck banding the goshawk.

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65. Northern goshawk.

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66. Northern goshawk.

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67. Adult Red-tailed hawk that Todd caught and Kenny brought up to the main blind.

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68. Chuck holding the goshawk and Kenny holding the red-tail.

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69. Showing feather pattern of the red-tail.

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70. Tail pattern with badly molted deck feather.

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71. Odd groove in red-tail beak.

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72. Red-tail doing "Are You Lookin at Me?" pose.

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73. Young female Northern goshawk doing the "Coming In" pose.

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74. Goshawk about to hit the net.

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75. Young female Northern goshawk.

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76. Young female Northern goshawk.

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77. Comparing young and adult goshawks.

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78. Chuck, Frank and Rick with goshawks and red-tail.

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79. Chuck getting ready to release the goshawk.

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80. Chuck releasing the goshawk.

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81. Trudi getting ready to release the red-tail.

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82. Trudi releasing the red-tail.

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83. Frank releasing the adult goshawk.

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84. Trudi, Greg, Curt and Bobbi up on Greg's hill.

Ninth Weekend 2013.