Seventh Weekend of Banding 2013

Hi All,

Here is my seventh report of the banding season for the weekend of October 12, 2013.

On Saturday morning, October 12th, I met Rick at the Burger King on London Road. We had some breakfast and then drove to the campsite. Trudi, Chuck and Nancy didn't come up this weekend as they had other things to do. Todd drove up on Friday and was all ready to go that morning. Dave Florea from Ohio had been up trapping all week, trying to fill his non-resident goshawk permit and stopped by on his way up to Greg Mikkelson's hill. Rick and I loaded up the old Dodge and drove out to the main blind. We set up the nets, fake owls, and bobble crows, and then put the mechanical dove (Lovey Dovey) on a stump behind the net. It was a cloudy day with strong winds out of the Southwest. Everything was set up and ready to go at 9:00. A few shins started moving along with some eagles and vultures. We had just settled in when our neighbor Don drove up on his four-wheeler with a bucket of lake trout parts, heads, spines and fins. He put them out in the field to see what they might attract and took off for home. The migrating eagles, ravens and crows picked up on the fish parts right away and started dropping in for a snack.

About 10:30, Pam Basset and her sister-in-law Judey came up to see us. Pam had been my go-to-person for years, helping me submit my banding data to the bird-banding lab on a P.C., as I could never send it out properly on my Mac. Adult shins were going over but nothing was looking at our rig. Things were going pretty slow, when someone called out "Hey, look over there in the field!" Cutting across the field and stopping only to scent the air was what looked like a young female Gray wolf. She didn't tip toe out like the coyotes do with little clippy steps. She loped out in big strides, took one sniff to locate the source, and ran right up to the fish pile. She grabbed a big piece and took off across the field, back towards the woods where she had come from. I took some shots with my point-and-shoot camera but they are a bit blurry.

A little while later, around 11:30, Mavis Magnuson brought her nephew Larry and his wife Connie out to see us. Mavis retired from Northwest Airlines where she worked in the airfreight department. Back when I was Curator of Education Birds for The Raptor Center, Mavis took care of all the shipping arrangements for the birds when we would send out as many as ten teams to do programs for Target and Petsmart. We all climbed back in the blind and watched as the eagles started coming in hot and heavy to get a piece of fish. Some of them flew up and sat in the trees right over the blind to dine on their morsel.

Around 1:30, Joseph Fahey and his son Cole from Illinois came up to the main blind to say hi. Joseph had obtained a non-resident permit for a Merlin and was going to sit in with Todd for the weekend to see if they might get one.

Lots of adult shins went over but none of them made an effort to come in. We saw only one Red-tailed hawk, but it was far off to the North. So, we just sat there all day watching ravens, crows and eagles finish off the fish pile. Just before our guests had to leave, I handed out bookmarks and art prints and then went back up to help Rick close down the blind at 5:00.

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

A Skunked Day.

After we closed down the blind, we headed over to Emily's Light House Restaurant and met up with a bunch of falconers for supper. Jack Vooge and Gary Swanson came in from Jack's hill, Dean Young and his son Jesse were trapping for Merlins in a field near Knife River, Greg Mikkelson and Dave Florea were up on Greg's hill, and Joseph Fahey with his son Cole were trapping at Todd's site. I ordered my 58th hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy. The owners at Emily's Light House Restaurant gave me this one for free as I had brought in so many customers. Greg came back to the campsite with Rick and me and we were sitting there enjoying a nice campfire with Todd, when Steve Zimba drove in to stay at our place.

Sunday morning the skies were clear with no wind. Rick and I opened up the main blind, had some waxy donuts, and got everything ready to go by 7:45. The wind was supposed to start blowing from out of the West so we thought it would be a very productive day. At 8:00 we saw one lone shin fly over Todd's set up and then not much after that. I took some shots of flowers and other things around the blind to kill some time, hoping some more birds would get up. Around 9:00, my friend Kurt Hollanitsch brought his daughter Shannon and his son Ben up to the blind. Kurt is a fantastic wildlife photographer. He is retired now, but I have known him for many years when he served as a patrol officer and as a detective for the White Bear Lake Police Department. Many of Kurt's photos are framed and hanging in the White Bear Lake City Hall. Later we had some eagles go over and a couple shins came by, but nothing hit the nets.

Todd, Joseph and Cole weren't seeing anything down at their site, so they closed down at 10:30. Around noon Kurt and his family had to get back to the cities, so I walked down with them to hand out raptor i. d. sheets, bookmarks and art prints. Due to the lack of birds, Rick and I closed down the main blind at noon as well.

Rick headed home and I went down to the campsite to visit with Steve, who wasn't feeling well and had slept in, in his homemade tent. He had just sewn up a new tent and wanted to try it out this weekend. Steve is now retired and was going to stay for another night, so I sat down to visit with him and have a soda before I headed home. As we were sitting there at the campsite, I started scanning the sky overhead with my new Swarovskis and was surprised to see hundreds of hawks, way up there, passing right over us!

It's on weekends like this one that I thank God for Hawk Ridge! I know that after subjecting my friends to the boredom of sitting for hours in a box on the side of a hawk-less hayfield, they can still have a great experience by going up to Hawk Ridge, where enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides will point out all the great raptors they didn't see down at our place. Please, please, please donate to Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory!

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

Another Skunked Day.

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

A Total Skunked Weekend.

Grand Total for the year is still 94.

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. Adult Bald eagle coming in.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

02. Three immature Bald eagles joined by an adult.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

03. Two adult Bald eagles with an immy.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

04. Adult Bald eagle taking off with a nice piece of fish.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

05. Adult Bald eagle coming in to land in the tree above the blind.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

06. Adult Bald eagle looking over at the fish gut pile.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

07. Adult Bald eagle with a nice piece of fish right over our blind.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

08. Adult Bald eagle eating his fish.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

09. Another adult Bald eagle with some fish parts.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

10. Larry, Connie, Mavis, me, Pam and Judey.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

11. Larry, Connie, Mavis, me, Pam and Judey.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

12. A young female Gray wolf came out looking to grab a piece of fish.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

13. The wolf picked up a piece of fish and headed off to the woods.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

14. The wolf running for the woods with a piece of fish.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

15. A crow passing the wolf to get some fish.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

16. The wolf cutting across the field to get back to the woods.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

17. Me, Joseph and his son Cole.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

18. Me, Joseph and his son Cole.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

19. Jack, Gary, Dean, Jesse, Dave, Rick, Greg, Cole and Joseph having supper at Emily's Light House Restaurant.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

20. Sunday morning daisy.    

Seventh Weekend 2013.

21. Clover head.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

22. Some bright fall colors.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

23. Kurt, me, Ben and Shannon.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

24. Kurt, me, Ben and Shannon.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

25. Kurt, me, Ben and Shannon doing the "Wish Bird" sign.

Seventh Weekend 2013.

26. Me and Steve checking out his new tent down on our campsite.

Seventh Weekend 2013.