Hi All,
After the weekend of my last report, Nancy and Chuck
stayed up at the blind to try to improve our numbers and to have a few of their
friends join them for some banding. On Monday, they caught 10 Sharp-shinned
hawks, saw 2 Peregrines, and had 8 bounce outs. On Tuesday, they caught 24
Sharp-shinned hawks, 2 Northern harriers, and had 4 bounce outs. On Wednesday,
they caught 2 Sharp-shinned hawks, 1 Northern goshawk, 1 Red-tailed hawk, and 1
Blue Jay with no bounce outs. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!
They got a total of 40 birds (not counting the Blue Jay!)
and 12 bounce outs for the three days.
36
Sharp-shinned hawks, 2 Northern Harriers, 1 Northern Goshawk and 1 Red-tailed
hawk.
On Saturday
morning, the 1st of October, Rick, Chuck and I met Todd at Hawk Harbor around
8:00 am. Nancy would be staying home this weekend and Trudi would be coming up
to join us on Sunday. We drove up to the main blind and had everything set and
ready to start at 8:30. Just as we were set up, Todd called to say he got the
first bird of the weekend, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk. We banded it,
took a couple photos and Chuck chucked it into the woods behind the blind.
At 10:00 Nancy
Wilson and her son Eric came up to join us. They have booked a day with us for
several years now. Around noon Katie Burns and her aunt Jane Barnes came up.
Katie has been up to the blind many times in the past, but this was Jane's
first time visiting. Birds were moving, but everything was thermalling up and
not paying any attention to our lure. Nancy and Eric had to leave around 1:00,
so we did the "Wish-bird" symbol and they headed for home. At 3:12 a female Merlin came blasting over the draw out near the fake owl and came
straight in. A great reward after such a long wait! We banded the Merlin, took
a bunch of photos and Jane got to release it. That was the only other bird we
caught that day. We closed down at 5:00 and headed to the Culvers restaurant in
Two Harbors for supper. Todd had a nice campfire going when we got back and
Jane shared some really good beer she brought in all the way from Wisconsin.
We got a total
of 2 birds and 0 bounce outs on Saturday.
1
Sharp-shinned hawk and 1 Merlin.
Katie and Jane
had camped out at Hawk Harbor Saturday night, so on Sunday morning we all
headed up to the blind early and got set up by 7:20. After a beautiful sunrise
over Lake Superior, we got a visit from three deer that came across the field
right in front of us. Around 8:30 my friend Justin DancingHawk, a talented
artist from Northern Minnesota, came up for his first visit to the blind. Just
as we settled in, we noticed a shin out crabbing with a crow near the owl. Rick
pulled the lure and we had our first bird of the day, an adult female
Sharp-shinned hawk. We banded it, took our photos, and since it was Justin's
60th birthday, he got to release it. We had two more shins buzz us in the next
two hours but both of them bounced out. At 11:25 a young male shin came in
slow, pulled up and sat in the trees over us for a few minutes and then dove
down into the back net. Katie got to release that one. Just before noon we had
an adult male shin come straight down the tree line from the North and hit the
back net. Jane got to release that one, but I was a little slow on the camera
and missed the release photo.
We didn't
catch anything else that day so Katie and Jane headed for Hawk Ridge around
2:00. Rick and Chuck headed home around 2:30 and Trudi came up to join us
around 3:00. Just before we packed it in for the day, Tim Veile, our friend
from Duluth, stopped up. We closed down for the day at 5:00. Afterward, Trudi
and I took Justin and Tim out for supper at Do North Pizzaria in Two Harbors to
celebrate Justin's birthday.
We got a total of 3 birds and 2
bounce outs on Sunday.
3 Sharp-shinned hawks.
On Monday, our
good friend Larry Miller from Illinois came up for a few days of banding. Larry
has been coming up for many years, but this time was special because he brought
along his fiancé Jude Dunn. This was Jude's first time at the blind, so we were
hoping to show her some birds. Things were pretty slow as the winds were light
out of the South. We saw a lot of Bald eagles and Turkey vultures with some
adult shins passing really high. We waited for our first bird of the day until
12:33 when a young Red-tailed hawk made a long gliding approach and hit the
front net. Jude had a great view of her first trapped hawk coming in. We banded
it, took photos, and Jude got to release it. At 2:12 we got our only other bird
of the day, an adult Red-tailed hawk. This bird made a similar approach to the
first one and we were all treated to the long sloping attack of a Red-tailed
hawk coming in!
Things REALLY
slowed down after that, so we closed down at 3:30 and headed in to Betty's Pies
in Two Harbors for supper.
We got a total of 2 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Monday.
2 Red-tailed hawks.
Tuesday morning, Jude and Larry met Trudi and me at the
blind around 8:00. Again the winds were out of the South and getting stronger
all day. At 10:25 we had a young Red-tailed hawk start circling up on the far
end of the field. It spotted our lure and came straight in. We banded it, took
photos, and Jude released it. At 11:21 another young Red-tailed hawk was
spotted at the far end of the field and turned in our direction. Again we saw
the long sloping stoop of a determined red-tail. Just as it dropped its legs
for the grab, it saw the front net, popped over that one and into the back net.
However, it hit the back net near the end pole and got out. Even though we
didn't catch it for banding, it was an exciting approach to watch! I had just
reset the nets after the red-tail bounced out, given a test pull, and was
arranging myself inside the blind when Larry called out, "Merlin in the
net!!!!" A female Merlin must have been cutting across the field when
I did my test pull and it shot in from the South with none of us seeing its
approach! We banded it, took a lot of photos, and Larry got to release that
one.
Just after noon we were all contemplating the weather
forecast that called for rain that night and thinking it would be a good idea
to close down and pack up before we and all the gear got soaked, when I saw a
bunch of crows getting up at the far end of the field. It soon became apparent
what was spooking them, as a big bird with a long tail and short wings came
powering up out of the woods from under them. I had no sooner said, "I
think it's a goshawk", when it saw the lure and "locked on". At
12:38 a beautiful young male Northern goshawk ploughed into the front net and
we had our second gos of the year. After we banded it and took our photos,
Larry got to release the gos. Three birds of three different species was a
pretty good count for such a slow day. We packed up for the weekend at 2:00.
Trudi and I headed for home while Jude and Larry stayed up to spend the rainy
day sight seeing around Duluth.
We got
a total of 3 birds and 1 bounce out on Tuesday.
1 Red-tailed hawk, 1 Merlin and 1 Northern goshawk.
Total for the weekend and five
weekdays was 50 birds and 15 bounce-outs.
2 Northern goshawks, 2 Northern Harriers,
4 Red-tailed hawks, 2 Merlins and 40 Sharp-shinned hawks.
Grand Total for the year is 138.
Remember also, to go
to You Tube and search Frank
Taylor Films or click on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4sdI11-TvxPaQ5nO3PsKKA
and then scroll to View All.
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. Chuck with young male Northern goshawk.
Photo by Nancy Schotzko
Fifth Weekend 2016
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02. A young Sharp-shinned hawk, the first bird of the
weekend.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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03. Chuck and Rick with the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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04. Frank, Eric and Nancy doing the
"Wish-bird" symbol.
Photo by Rick Dupont
Fifth Weekend 2016
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05. A female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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06. Jane and Katie watching Rick and Chuck take the merlin
out of the net.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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07. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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08. Chuck holding the merlin while Katie and Jane take
photos.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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09. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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10. Katie and Jane with the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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11. Katie and Jane releasing the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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12. Campfire at Hawk Harbor.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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13. Sunday morning sunrise at the blind.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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14. Three early morning visitors at the blind.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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15. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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16. Chuck holding the shin while Justin takes some
photos.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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17. Adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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18. Katie, Jane and Justin taking photos of Chuck and
Rick taking the shin out of the net.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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19. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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20. Justin about to release the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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21. Justin releasing the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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22. A young male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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23. Jane, Katie, Chuck, Justin and Rick holding the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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24. Young male shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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25. Jane and Katie about to release the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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26. Katie releasing the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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27. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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28. Adult male shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016 |
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29. Jane about to release the shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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30. I missed Jane's release of this adult male shin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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31. Justin, Tim and Frank in front of the Yellowstone steam
engine in Two Harbors.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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32. Trudi, Jude and Larry looking for hawks on Monday
morning.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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33. A young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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34. Frank banding the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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35. Larry, Frank and Jude holding the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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36. Larry holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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37. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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38. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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39. Jude and Larry holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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40. Larry and Jude about to release the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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41. Larry and Jude releasing the young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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42. An adult Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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43. An adult Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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44. Frank banding the adult red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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45. First year, adult Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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46. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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47. Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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48. Larry and Jude about to release the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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49. Larry and Jude releasing the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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50. The lighthouse at Two Harbors.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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51. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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52. Larry and Frank with the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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53. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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54. Frank showing the red-tail to Larry and Jude.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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55. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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56. Young Red-tailed hawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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57. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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58. Larry and Jude releasing the red-tail.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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59. A female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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60. Trudi, Larry and Jude holding the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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61. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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62. Female Merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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63. Larry releasing the merlin.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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64. A young male Northern goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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65. Frank holding the goshawk.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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66. A young male Northern goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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67. Frank banding the young goshawk.
Photo by Trudi Taylor
Fifth Weekend 2016
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68. A young male Northern goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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69. Jude, Larry and Trudi holding the goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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70. Larry releasing the goshawk.
Fifth Weekend 2016
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