Banding Totals for 2014

December 31, 2014

Hi All,

Well, this is it, my final tally for the 2014 banding season. This year we banded a total of 202 birds. Last year we only got 127, so we are continuing on an upswing! We still didn't get a lot of birds compared to some years, but then again, we had a super time. On September 14th we banded 38 hawks and set an all time record for number of hawks banded in one day. Our old record was 34 hawks in one day. This was also my first season using my new implanted eye lenses from cataract surgery that I had last summer. That, along with my new 10 x 50 Swarovski binoculars made this an incredible year for hawk watching!

We get lots of birds visiting each year, but we also get a good number of relatives, friends, falconers, birders and students coming up to share in the fun. I did a tally again this year of individuals who were up enjoying our banding activities. I counted each person only once, even if they came up multiple times. We had 68 individuals and 6 organized groups containing 48 people. A total of 116 guests were able to have an exceptional hawk viewing experience up at our site this year!

I hope their visit inspires each of them to a greater appreciation for our feathered friends, the raptors, and to make donations to:

The Raptor Center (www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu),

The National Eagle Center (www.nationaleaglecenter.org) and

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (www.hawkridge.org).

Please support the people who work to help the raptors in our state.

Also, just in!!! I heard that Emily’s Lighthouse Restaurant in Knife River has reopened. If you are traveling up that way, stop in and have a really delicious smothered meatloaf sandwich. Tell them Frank “The Hawk-banding Meatloaf Guy” sent you!

A very special THANK YOU goes to Mr. Mattson for letting us yet again use his hay field for the forty-fifth year in a row.

Also a big THANK YOU goes to Bob Crosbie and Jeff Stedman for supplying our lure birds this year.

Last but not least, I really must say a BIG THANK YOU to every one of our banding crew who came up to do the banding again this year. What a great and dedicated team of regulars we have. Trudi Taylor, Rick DuPont, Chuck & Nancy Schotzko and Todd Rosengren: without your dedication and co-operation, we would not be able to do this thing we love so much, year after year.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!

Here it is, the final breakdown.