First Weekend of Banding 2015

Hi All,

Here it is my first report of the 2015 banding season, covering the weekend of September 5th, 2015.

Since my last report in November of 2014, we have had yet another interesting year. In December, I started the hunting season with Mim. Again this season, rabbits were scarce, but she managed to catch a few. In January, Trudi had her article describing our 45 years of hawk banding published in the North American Falconers Club Journal. In May, Trudi and I took the Amtrak train from Kansas City, Kansas, to Flagstaff, Arizona, where our good friends Judy and Jim met us. We stayed with them in Arizona for a week and then all drove back home together in their car.

After ten years and over 27,000 shots taken with my old Canon Powershot S2 IS the flash finally quit working. It still works OK for daylight photos, but I think it was about time for an upgrade. So, I bought a new Canon Powershot SX50 HS. I'm still learning all the many shooting options available on this camera, but my favorite thing is the 50 power zoom.

Mid-August, members of the Minnesota Falconers Association and I did our 34^th annual Game Fair in Ramsey, Minnesota. This year because of the avian flu epidemic we could bring out birds from only one address. Fortunately, Tina Cisewski was able to bring out all of her birds, including her Harris hawks, her old Red-tailed hawk Bonnie, and her Goshawk. Tina has also contributed all of our lure birds for this banding season.

THIS SEASON IS OUR 46th CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM

Trudi and I have been going up regularly to Hawk Harbor all spring and summer to keep the grass from over-running the place and to make improvements to the trailers. Getting away to the cool air of the north shore of Lake Superior during the hot summer months has been a real treat.

On Friday, September 4th, Trudi and I went up to do a final tidying up of Hawk Harbor before the banding crew arrived on Saturday. We met Jason Corneglio and his son Cody who are from Utica, Illinois, at Hawk Harbor. Jason is a falconer who obtained a non-resident permit for a Merlin and they stayed in our spare trailer at Hawk Harbor while they tried various places along the north shore to get their bird.

Saturday morning, Trudi and I drove back into Duluth to meet Rick and Chuck at 8:00 am for breakfast at the McDonalds on London Road. We had a little scoff and then were on our way to set up the banding station. Todd met us when we got back to Hawk Harbor and took a break from his fishing weekend to mow and prep the trapping site down on our land. We packed up all the banding gear and drove up to the blind. Trudi and I worked on the blind while Rick and Chuck weed-whipped the net area. This year we arrived to find a crop of soybeans had been planted in the field out in front of us. We were very careful not to damage any of the crops while hauling our gear up to the site. Right away we saw birds moving through while we were setting up.

The sky was clear with a light wind coming out of the Southeast. We were set up and ready to start banding at 11:30 am. At 11:33 a young female Sharp-shinned hawk hit the front net, but bounced out! Rats! Hawks 1 - Banders 0. Just then, Jason and Cody came up to see our set up, followed by our friends Karin and Jeff Stedman, who have recently moved up to Cloquet, Minnesota. At 11:44 we got our first bird of the year, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk. As it was his first time at the blind, Cody had the honor of releasing that bird. Things got slow and hot after that. The heat and high humidity made the blind feel like a pressure cooker. Everyone was dripping sweat. Around noon I set up a small grill and put on some Johnsonville Polish sausages, an old favorite we used to fix regularly at the blind years ago. At 1:05 an adult male kestrel swooped in low and just barely got caught in the front net. We took some photos and Jason was chosen to release that one. Then he and Cody left to try trapping some spots farther up the shore. We caught another young female shin at 2:00 and had Karin let it go. Right after that, we had a shin from the woods bounce out of the back net and then we caught a young male shin at 3:05. Jeff got to release that one. At 3:16 we caught an adult female Merlin that was deep in molt. She came in high, went over the front net, and got caught in the back net. We banded her and Chuck let her go. At 3:50 we saw a young female Merlin out diving at our fake owl in the draw. Rick pulled the lure line and the Merlin broke off and shot straight into the front net. Karin released that one. The last bird of the day was a young female shin that made a long slanting stoop from way out in the middle of the field, popped over the front net and hit the back one. I got to release that one. We closed down for the day at 6:00 pm.

Everyone was hot, sweaty, and wrung out after a day in the sizzling blind. I don't deal with heat very well, so before we went in to eat, I took a quick dip in the nearby Sucker River to cool down. That water was cold and refreshing! Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I didn't feel like a big meal after such a hot day, so we went in to a fast food place in Two Harbors for a soda and a sandwich. No hot meatloaf sandwich with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy this weekend! It was also too hot for a fire that night. Later on, thundershowers came in and raged all night.

We got a total of 7 birds and 2 bounce-outs on Saturday.

1 American kestrel, 2 Merlins and 4 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Sunday morning the sky was overcast and the wind was light out of the Southwest, Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I headed into Judy's Cafe in Two Harbors for breakfast while we waited for the ground to dry out a bit. When we got back to Hawk Harbor, Jason and Cody, who were now trapping down on our land, caught a young male shin and gave it to us to band. We banded it and Trudi released it. We got back up to the blind and started trapping at 10:15 am. Sunday was already getting very hot and sticky with the humidity at 100%. We were in for one of the most uncomfortable days we had ever experienced up at the blind.

At 10:35 we got our first bird of the day, a young male Merlin that was out diving at the fake owl. Jason came up to see what a young Merlin looks like in hand. He then had the honor of letting it go. We don't allow birds trapped at the banding station to go for falconry. I knew it was hard on him, but those are the rules! We had a young male shin come in very slow from the owl at 11:19, hit the front net and bounce out. A little later we noticed a small, brown moth-like bug sitting on the front of the blind. It seemed very drab looking until it flexed its wings and flashed a beautiful orange pattern. Chuck identified it as a Gray Comma butterfly. At 11:39 we had a young female Peregrine falcon come in and circle the field, but it would not come even come close to look at our rig. At 12:25 we saw another Peregrine flying past South of our land. A third Peregrine falcon was spotted flying by on the North side of our field, this time a small male at 1:00. At 1:10 a young female shin came in from the North and hit the back net. Rick let that one go. At 1:32 a young female kestrel came in to bomb the owl, pulled off and shot straight in to the front net. I took a movie of Chuck releasing that one. A young female shin was the next bird to come in at 3:38 from the North. Trudi let that one go. The last bird of the day came in from the owl at 4:50, a young female shin, and Trudi helped me let that one go. We closed down for the day at 6:00 pm.

Again, we were all hot and sticky at the end of a brutally hot and humid day and also more rain was threatening. No campfire tonight. Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I drove in to Two Harbors to get a nice cold sandwich from Subway.

We got a total of 6 birds and only 1 bounce out on Sunday.

1 American kestrel, 1 Merlin, and 4 Sharp-shinned hawks.

It rained again Sunday night and the cold front that followed it in brought Northwest winds and very welcome cooler temperatures. No breakfast this morning. We went straight up to the blind and got started at 7:15 am. We got our first bird, a young male shin at 8:22. A lot of birds started getting up all around us and we got a young female shin at 8:26. We banded both shins, took some photos, and then Trudi and Chuck did a double release. At 8:45 we had a young male shin come in, hit the front net, get caught for a moment, but then get out of that net and fly right into the back net. It immediately bounced out of that net as well. Agile little fella! At 8:58 we caught another young Sharp-shinned hawk and this one stayed in the net. At 10:15 another young shin buzzed the owl and came right in to hit the front net. He had a full crop. Greedy little guy! Then the winds died off and things slowed down. We had one more shin come in at 11:02, hit the back net and bounce out. After that the only birds we saw were soaring way up high and out of our range, so we closed down for the weekend at noon.

We got a total of 4 birds and 2 bounce-outs on Monday.

4 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Total for the weekend was 17 birds and 5 bounce-outs.

2 American kestrels, 3 Merlins and 12 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Grand Total for the year is 17.

After Rick and Chuck packed up their camping gear and left Hawk Harbor, Trudi and I stayed around to tidy up the place and lock up. While we were still there, we got a call from Jason to tell us that he and Cody had just caught a Merlin and they were on their way back to Hawk Harbor to pack out their camping gear and head home with their new bird. A few minutes after Jason and Cody arrived, three cars pulled in to Hawk Harbor, all with friends stopping by to say hi. The first car contained Wisconsin Falconers Association president Dan Orth and his wife Diane and daughter. Following Dan was another Wisconsin falconer Chris Karraker and his wife MaryJo. They had all been at Dan's trapping site a few miles up the shore, getting it ready for the season. Jen Harner and Walter Sipila, friends from Duluth, were in the third car. We all admired Jason's new bird and then everyone headed for home.

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. Rick, Chuck and Trudi getting ready to weed-whack and clean out the blind.

First Weekend 2015.

02. Chuck and Rick taking our first bird of the season out of the net.

First Weekend 2015.

03. Female Sharp-shinned hawk doing the "Hollywood" pose.

First Weekend 2015.

04. Jeff, Karin, Jason, Frank and Cody holding our first bird of the year.

First Weekend 2015.

05. Jason and Cody holding a Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015.

06. Cody releasing the shin with Dad Jason looking on.

First Weekend 2015.

07. Male American kestrel.

First Weekend 2015.

08. Male American kestrel in hand.

First Weekend 2015.

09. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015.

10. Chuck, Jason, Jeff, Cody, Karin, Trudi and Rick holding a kestrel and a shin.

First Weekend 2015.

11. Male American kestrel.

First Weekend 2015. 

12. Cody and Jason holding the kestrel.

First Weekend 2015.

13. Jason releasing the kestrel with Cody looking on.

First Weekend 2015.

14. Jeff and Karin with a shin.

First Weekend 2015.

15. Karin releasing a shin with Jeff looking on.

First Weekend 2015.

16. Jeff releasing a shin.

First Weekend 2015.

17. Heavily molting female Merlin.

First Weekend 2015.

18. Adult female Merlin doing the "Profile" pose.

First Weekend 2015.

19. Chuck holding a merlin.

First Weekend 2015.

20. Chuck releasing a merlin.

First Weekend 2015.

21. A Merlin stooping the fake owl.

First Weekend 2015. 

22. Young female Merlin doing the "Yearbook" pose.

First Weekend 2015. 

23. Chuck holding the Merlin.

First Weekend 2015. 

24. Chuck banding the Merlin.

First Weekend 2015. 

25. Young female Merlin doing the "Coming In" pose.

First Weekend 2015. 

26. Jeff and Karin holding the Merlin.

First Weekend 2015. 

27. Karin releasing the Merlin.

First Weekend 2015. 

28. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015. 

29. Frank holding a shin.

First Weekend 2015. 

30. Frank releasing a shin.

First Weekend 2015. 

31. Trudi holding a Sunday morning shin.

First Weekend 2015. 

32. Trudi releasing a shin.

First Weekend 2015.

33. Young male Merlin.

First Weekend 2015.

34. Chuck and Rick taking the Merlin out of the net.

First Weekend 2015.

35. A young male Merlin doing the "Yearbook" pose.

First Weekend 2015. 

36. Jason getting ready to release the Merlin.

First Weekend 2015. 

37. Jason releasing the Merlin.

First Weekend 2015. 

38. A little drab-looking bug landed on the blind.

First Weekend 2015.

39. It's a Gray Comma Butterfly flexing its wings.

First Weekend 2015. 

40. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015. 

41. Rick releasing a Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015. 

42. A young female American kestrel.

First Weekend 2015. 

43. The back side of the kestrel.

First Weekend 2015. 

44. Young female American kestrel.

First Weekend 2015. 

45. Young female American kestrel.

First Weekend 2015.

46. Trudi holding a Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015.

47. Trudi releasing the shin.

First Weekend 2015.

48. Frank and Trudi holding a shin on a very hot day.

First Weekend 2015. 

49. Frank and Trudi releasing the shin.

First Weekend 2015. 

50. Chuck and Rick taking a Monday morning shin out of the net.

First Weekend 2015. 

51. Chuck banding a shin while Trudi records the data.

First Weekend 2015.

52. Chuck, Trudi and Rick holding a pair of shins.

First Weekend 2015. 

53. Chuck and Trudi doing a double release.

First Weekend 2015. 

54. Trudi holding a young male Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015. 

55. Trudi releasing a young male Sharp-shinned hawk.

First Weekend 2015. 

56. Cody and Jason with their "Last Minute" Merlin.

First Weekend 2015. 

57. The Orths and Karrakers with Frank at Hawk Harbor.

First Weekend 2015.