Hi All,
Here is my seventh report
of the 2015 banding season, covering the weekend of October 17th, 2015.
Saturday morning I met
Nancy, Chuck and Rick at the McDonalds in Duluth for our usual breakfast and
then we all drove up to Hawk Harbor. Trudi stayed home this weekend and Todd
was busy winterizing his boat, so just the four of us headed out to the blind.
We had everything set up and ready to start at 9:15 am. Skies were partly
cloudy and a slight breeze was blowing from the Northwest.
Five minutes after we
began, a young female Merlin started stooping the fake owl. Rick worked the
lure and the Merlin turned and made a straight shot right into the front net.
Whoopee!!! The first bird of the weekend was a beautiful female Merlin. At
10:09 we saw an adult Red-tailed hawk circling high out over the barn. It set
its wings and made a long gliding stoop into the net. I love to watch those
long approaches when a red-tail is focused on our rig. While we were taking the
red-tail out of the net, my good friend Nancy Wilson and her son Eric came up
to spend the day with us. Nancy was a volunteer at The Raptor Center way back
when I worked there fifteen years ago and comes up every year to see us. We
took a bunch of photos and then Nancy released the Merlin and Eric released the
Red-tailed hawk.
Around 10:30 Pam Basset
who is one of our banding team members came up with her son Geno and her
grandson Pieter. For many years Pam translated our field notes and prepared the
data for computer submission to the Bird Banding Lab. Right after they got
settled in, a young Red-tailed hawk that was sitting in the trees behind the
blind stooped in over the back net and hit the back of the front net. Red-tail
number two for the day! This bird had deformed pupils in both of its eyes. We
took some photos and Pieter got to release it. The Northwest winds of the
previous days had pushed a lot of birds into our area and we started seeing
them get up all around us. An adult red-tail that was passing to the North of
us made a low ground-hugging approach and came right in. Red-tail number three
in the bag! This one had some badly molted feathers on its wing and a tail
feather missing. We banded it, took more photos, and then Pam got to release it
before they took off for Hawk Ridge.
Our good friend from
Duluth, Jen Harner, and her friend John Swardstrom from Two Harbors, stopped up
to see us at 11:30. Right after they got into the blind, another Red-tailed
hawk, this time an adult bird, was passing to the South of us when it locked on
and barreled into the front net. Red-tail number four for the day! We banded
that one and John got to let it go since this was his first time visiting our
blind. At 12:24 a young Red-tailed hawk came straight in from out front and got
caught. Red-tail number five for the day! This bird had a full crop and still
had feathers from its last kill stuck to its feet. Jen got to let that one go
before they left.
At 12:55 we caught
another young Red-tailed hawk. Red-tail number six for the day! This one
dropped straight down from high above the blind and no one saw it coming. Nancy
Wilson got to release that one. After a little dry spell, at 2:22 we caught a
crusty old Red-tailed hawk that came in from out front in a long shallow glide.
Red-tail number seven for the day! This one had a bad cere and pox scarred
feet. It also had a partially molted tail with a very broad terminal band. Eric
got to release that one. Then at 2:47 we were all watching an adult red-tail
that was locked on and gliding in from out over the barn when a young Red-tailed
hawk shot by in front of our blind from the South and toppled the net. Red-tail
number eight for the day! Rick released that one.
We saw our first
catchable Northern goshawk of the year at 3:10. It was a huge gray adult female
that was heading low over the pines to the North of us. Just before it
disappeared Rick got its attention. However, instead of coming straight in as
most Northern goshawks do, this one came down the tree line from the North and
ducked into the brush just before making the hit. That move caused it to hit
the back edge of the mist net where the pocket is not very deep, and it bounced
out. Aaarrrgh!!!! Our only bounce out of the day and it had to be a goshawk.
Oh, well, next time.
Right after the gos
incident, Tim Viele, our good friend from Duluth, came up to the blind to see
if he could join us for supper at Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant. While we were
visiting at 4:27, another young Red-tailed hawk came bombing into the net.
Red-tail number nine for the day! We banded it, took some photos and Tim got to
release that one. We closed down for the day at 5:00.
When we got back to Hawk
Harbor we met Cris Manzano, Michael Cogar and Tim Hochsprung, all falconers
who had been trapping farther up along the shore and were camping at Hawk Harbor.
They thanked us for letting them camp there and then they all packed up and
headed for home.
Nancy and Eric Wilson
left for home while Rick, Nancy, Chuck, Tim and I drove over to Emily's
Lighthouse Restaurant for supper. On the way there we ran into Greg Mikkelson
who also joined us for supper. I had my 77th hot meatloaf sandwich with fried
onions, mushrooms and an extra cup of gravy!
We got a total of 10
birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.
1 Merlin, 9 Red-tailed
hawks.
Sunday morning the skies
were clear and the wind was calm but was supposed to switch around to the
Southeast. We had everything set and ready to go at 8:00 am. Some Bluebirds and
a Hermit thrush were hanging around the blind but we didn't see any hawks
moving. At 9:45 Chuck caught a glimpse of something moving out by the draw and
pulled the lure line. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk shot across the field
and right into the front net. Hooray, no "skunk day" today!!!
Two years ago my brother
Tony had talked to a guy named Butch Ukura who lives near Palisade, Minnesota.
Tony told Butch about our banding operation and Butch, being an avid birder,
said he would like to visit. We were too booked up last year for Butch to come
up, but this year he called early and reserved a place for himself and members
of his birding club. He belongs to the BEE-NAY-SHE Bird Club from the Brainerd,
Crosby and Ironton area that has been together since the early sixties. Sunday
morning they arrived at ten o'clock in three cars. I met them down by the road
and did my usual introduction and migration talk. I gave them my handouts and
we started hiking up to the blind. We were about half way to the blind when we
spotted a Sharp-shinned hawk "locked on" and diving for the net. The
shin was three quarters of the way there when a Merlin attacked it and they
spiraled up over the blind. Thanks a lot, Merlin! The Merlin buzzed the blind a
couple times and went to sit in a tree while the shin soared up and over the
group, heading South. Those were the last catchable birds we saw that day. We
scanned the skies until noon, saw nothing, did the "Wish Bird" sign,
and then the group headed off to Hawk Ridge. We packed up our gear and closed
down at 12:30.
We got a total of 1 bird
and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.
1 Sharp-shinned hawk.
A big THANK YOU goes out
to Greg Mikkelson who brought up a trailer load of oak pallets that we can cut
up for firewood.
Grand Total for the year
is 142.
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.
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01. Our first bird of the weekend, a young female Merlin.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015
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02. Rick and Chuck taking the Merlin out of the net.
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03. Young female Merlin.
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04. Young female Merlin.
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05. Young female Merlin.
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06. Frank holding the Merlin.
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07. Adult Red-tailed hawk. (First red-tail of the day.)
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08. Rick holding the Red-tailed hawk.
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09. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
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10. Frank, Nancy and Eric holding the Merlin and
Red-tailed hawk.
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11. Nancy about to release the Merlin.
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12. Nancy releasing the Merlin.
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13. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
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14. Eric about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
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15. Nancy and Eric releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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16. Young Red-tailed hawk with odd pupils. (Second red-tail
of the day.)
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17. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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18. Frank showing Pieter how we band the hawk.
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19. Young Red-tailed hawk showing deformed pupil of
right eye.
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20. Young Red-tailed hawk showing deformed pupil of left
eye.
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21. Pam, Pieter, Frank and Geno holding the Red-tailed
hawk.
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22. Geno, Pam and Pieter about to release the Red-tailed
hawk.
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23. Geno, Pam and Pieter releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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24. Adult Red-tailed hawk. (Third red-tail of the day.)
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25. Badly molted feathers.
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26. One tail feather missing.
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27. Adult Red-tailed hawk.
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28. Pieter and Pam about to release a Red-tailed hawk.
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29. Pieter and Pam releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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30. Adult Red-tailed hawk. (Fourth red-tail of the day.)
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31. Red-tail showing some banding in tail feathers.
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32. Jen, John, Pam, Geno, Pieter, Rick, Nancy and Eric
holding the Red-tailed hawk.
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33. John holding the Red-tailed hawk.
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34. Jen and John about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
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35. Jen and John releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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36. Young Red-tailed hawk. (Fifth red-tail of the day.)
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37. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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38. This bird still had feathers from its last kill
stuck to its feet. (Any guesses as to what it was?)
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39. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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40. Rick, John, Chuck, Jen, Eric and Nancy holding the
Red-tailed hawk.
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41. John and Jen releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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42. Rick and Chuck taking another Red-tailed hawk out of
the net.
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43. Young Red-tailed hawk. (Sixth red-tail of the day.)
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44. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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45. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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46. Nancy about to release the young Red-tailed hawk.
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47. Nancy releasing the young Red-tailed hawk.
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48. Crusty old Red-tailed hawk. (Seventh red-tail of the
day.)
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49. Old Red-tailed hawk with very broad terminal band on
its tail.
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50. Some very bad looking feet.
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51. Nancy, Chuck, Nancy, Eric and Rick holding the old
Red-tailed hawk.
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52. Eric releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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53. Young Red-tailed hawk. (Eighth red-tail of the day.)
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54. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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55. Rick about to release the young Red-tailed hawk.
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56. Rick releasing the young Red-tailed hawk.
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57. Another young Red-tailed hawk. (Ninth red-tail of
the day.)
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58. Frank and Tim holding the young Red-tailed hawk.
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59. Young Red-tailed hawk.
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60. Tim about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
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61. Tim releasing the Red-tailed hawk.
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62. Cris, Frank, Michael and Tim back at Hawk Harbor.
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63. Rick, Frank, Nancy, Chuck, Greg and Tim at Emily's
Lighthouse Restaurant.
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64. Sunday morning Bluebird sitting on the net pole.
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65. Rick and Chuck taking a young female Sharp-shinned
hawk out of the net.
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66. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.
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67. A little Hermit thrush came out of the woods to say
"Hi".
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68. Members of the BEE-NAY-SHE Bird Club doing the "Wish Bird" symbol.
Left to right: Karen, Cindy, Kim, Butch, Doug, Frank, Nancy,
Lesley, Carol, Karen and Deb.
Seventh Week of Banding 2015
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