Tenth Weekend of Banding 2014

November 1, 2014

Hi All,

Here is my tenth report of the 2014 banding season, covering the weekend of November 1, 2014.

Trudi and I drove up to the Spirit Mountain McDonalds on Saturday morning where we met Rick at 8:00. Nancy and Chuck pulled in right behind us. We had a little breakfast and headed up to Hawk Harbor. Todd had gone up on Friday night and was already sitting in his blind when we drove by. We packed up the old van and drove it up to the main blind. We set up the banding station and were ready to start at 9:45. Skies were clear and the wind was light out of the southwest. Hardly any birds were moving. We saw a couple of Bald eagles, some ravens and some crows.

Around 10:15 we saw a female Northern Harrier working the other end of the field. It spotted Todd's rig and made a beeline straight for his lure. We got our first bird of the day at 10:17, an adult female Northern Harrier. Chuck walked down to Hawk Harbor to get it from Todd. When he got back, he banded it and we took a bunch of photos. Nancy and Chuck released that one. We have seen more Northern Harriers this year than any other year so far. I don't know if it is just that more harriers are attracted to the field because it was not hayed this year or that there are a lot more harriers moving through this year.

At 11:23, an adult female Northern Harrier (possibly the same one that we had just banded) started working our end of the field. It spotted our lure from the draw and made a direct run to the net. However, it hit high and bounced out. Aaargh!

We sat looking for more birds for what seemed like an eternity. Some Bald eagles and Rough-legged hawks came by but none of them seemed interested at all. We saw one adult Red-tailed hawk pass us far to the North and at 1:14 we saw another adult Red-tailed hawk soaring out over Homestead road. Rick pulled the lure, it stopped circling and then set its wings for a long shallow stoop. It came right in! We banded it, took some photos and Trudi let this one go. Twice that day we saw strange cloud formations. They looked like something was punching a hole in the cloud cover. Later on, we saw a falcon fly overhead. It passed so fast I was just able to get a distant photo. It was an F-16 "Fighting Falcon" jet that was part of the Bulldog Team of the Air National Guard, stationed in Duluth. I saw these guys perform at the 2008 air show in Duluth and took some closer shot of them then. Nothing else came in that day so we closed down at 4:00.

Todd joined Nancy, Trudi, Rick, Chuck and me to go have supper. However, the sad news is that Emily's Lighthouse restaurant has closed down for good! Thus ends my long and glorious tradition of Saturday night hot meatloaf sandwiches with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy, at the mere count of 71. Not being ones to steer too far from tradition, we drove to the old Lakeview Castle, where we used to go for supper years ago. It is now called the Clearwater Grill & Event Center, but still has a great view of Lake Superior from its huge front windows. I ordered the French dip sandwich because we were so near the French River, and to keep things traditional, I also asked for an extra load of fried onions on it. When we got back to Hawk Harbor, my brothers Tony and Mike were there. We built a nice big campfire and all warmed up before hitting the sack.

We got a total of 2 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.

1 Northern Harrier and 1 Red-tailed hawk.

On Sunday morning the skies were partly cloudy and the wind was very light out of the South. After some hot chocolate and some waxy donuts, we went back up to the main blind. Todd went over to his site but he only stayed for a short while since his knee was giving him trouble. We were all set up and ready to go at 8:45. At 11:30 my friend Jen Harner from Duluth and her boyfriend Steve Lawrence who was visiting from California, came up to see us. We saw a lot of Bald eagles and some Rough-legged hawks that day, but nothing came in. Another "skunked day", so we did the "Wish Bird" sign (wish we had a hawk to let go) as Jen and Steve left. We closed down the banding station for this season at noon. Then, we packed all the gear into the old van where it will be stored until next year. Chuck, Nancy and Rick did a farewell salute as I lowered the fake owl for the last time this year.

When we got back down to Hawk Harbor, my brothers Tony and Mike had brought a birthday cake and card for Trudi whose birthday is on Wednesday this week. We held a little birthday party for Trudi and then all said our farewells for the year. Tony and Mike stayed a little longer to help tarp some of the trailers and secure Hawk Harbor for winter camping.

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

We got skunked on our last day!

Grand Total for the year is 203.

Age and sex of all birds that bounce-out are obviously a "best guesstimate" by the closest witness and should not be considered hard data.

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 female Northern Harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

02. Chuck banding the harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

03. Female Northern Harrier doing the "Are You Looking at Me?" pose.

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04. Trudi, Nancy, Chuck and Rick with the harrier.

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05. Adult female Northern Harrier.

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06. Harrier showing the white rump patch and un-molted tail feathers.

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07. Nancy, Rick, Chuck and Trudi holding the harrier.

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08. Harrier doing a "Yearbook" pose.

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09. Chuck and Nancy getting ready to release the Northern Harrier.

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10. Chuck and Nancy releasing the Northern Harrier.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

11. Adult Red-tailed hawk.

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12. Red-tailed hawk diving into the net.

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13. Rick and Chuck pulling the Red-tailed hawk out of the net.

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14. Chuck banding the Red-tailed hawk.

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15. Chuck showing us the front of the Red-tailed hawk.

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16. Adult Red-tailed hawk doing the "Are You Looking at Me?" pose.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

17. Chuck showing us the back of the Red-tailed hawk.

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18. Rick, Nancy, Chuck and Trudi with the Red-tailed hawk.

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19. Red-tailed hawk doing the "Profile" pose.

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20. Me holding the red-tail.

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21. Trudi took a picture of me taking a picture of the red-tail.

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22. Trudi's photo of the red-tail.

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23. Adult Red-tailed hawk doing the "Hello Down There" pose.

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24. Trudi and me with the last bird of our banding season.

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25. Trudi about to release the Red-tailed hawk.

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26. Trudi releasing our last bird of the season.

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27. We saw some very interesting cloud formations that day.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

28. A falcon flew over our blind, an F-16 Falcon that is.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

29. A closer look at an F-16 Falcon

belonging to the Air National Guard Bulldogs Team.

I took this photo at an air show in 2008.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

30. Another closer look at an F-16 Falcon

belonging to the Air National Guard Bulldogs Team, coming in for a landing.

I took this photo at an air show in 2008.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

31. An F-16 Fighting Falcon landing at the Duluth Airport.

I took this photo at an air show in 2008.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

32. Me, Steve and Jen doing the "Wish Bird Sign".

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33. Taking the banding gear out of the blind and packing it into the old van,

where it will be stored until next season.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

34. Chuck, Nancy and Rick doing a ceremonial salute as

the fake owl is taken down on the last day of the season.

Tenth Weekend 2014.

35. The fake owl being lowered for the last time this season.

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36. Some of the Taylor brothers, Tony, me and Mike.

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37. Trudi and Nancy serving up the birthday cake that Tony brought for Trudi.

Trudi's birthday is on Wednesday this week.

Tenth Weekend 2014. 

38. Mike, Trudi, Nancy, Rick, Chuck and Tony celebrating Trudi's birthday at Hawk Harbor.

Tenth Weekend 2014.