6th Weekend of Banding 2016

Hi All,

On Saturday morning, October 8th, Rick, Trudi and I met Todd at Hawk Harbor around 8:00 am. Nancy and Chuck were busy this weekend and stayed home. Just after we pulled in, two falconers who have been banding hawks for the last 40 years out in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state pulled in. Joe Snyder had called me months ago to say he and Mike Perry would like to fly in to Duluth, Minnesota, to see the hawk migration at Hawk Ridge and also spend some time at our place. They arrived Thursday night and went up to Hawk Ridge on Friday morning. They spent some of the day with Frank Nicoletti at his banding station on Hawk Ridge and the rest of the day watching hawks go over at the Hawk Ridge lookout.

We set up our rig and all settled in to start banding at 8:30. Winds were light and variable and the sky was partly cloudy. After about fifteen minutes a shin came in from out front, hit the back net and bounced out. A little while later, we saw a buteo lock on from high to the South. At first it looked like a red-tail but, as it got closer we could see it was really small. It turned out to be a young Broad-winged hawk. This was a bird Joe and Mike had never seen at their far western banding station. Right after that we had three shins hit in quick succession, two adults and one immature.

We had just banded the Broad-wing and shins when Butch Ukura arrived with three members of the Bee Nay She Bird Club from the North central area of Minnesota, so Joe and Mike took off to go see Greg Mikkelson and Curt Ruthenbeck who were trapping up at Greg's spot North of us. We gave the Bee Nay She group a quick tour of the banding station and, right after we took some photos, gave everyone in the group a bird to release. We caught three more shins while they were there and then at 11:25 a nice young Red-tailed hawk made a long sloping stoop from the barn that every one saw from the blind. We banded the birds, took photos and did the releases. At noon, after I did my little migration talk and gave away handouts (I.D. charts, bookmarks and art prints), the Bee Nay She group left for Hawk Ridge.

At 12:42, an adult female Cooper's hawk flew out from near the flat top pine and cut across the field heading straight South behind the fake owl. Rick worked his magic on the lure and the Cooper's hawk turned and charged the net, pumping its wings all the way. We banded it, took some photos and then I shot a slow motion film of Trudi releasing it. Almost an hour later, another young Red-tailed hawk spotted the lure from way out over Homestead Road and started its long stoop in. That gave me enough time to set the camera for slow-motion video and get a clip of it coming down. You can watch it at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DcFYCffxvg on You Tube. We banded it, took some photos, and I did another slow motion shot of Trudi releasing it while Rick took some still shots.

Around 2:30, Joe and Mike came back to sit in with us for the rest of the day. They had a great time up at Greg's place and had watched Greg trap several birds from the ridge top. We had a shin come in and bounce out at 2:40 and then trapped three more shins before we closed down at 5:00. Joe and Mike got to release two of the shins and watched me do hypnotism on the third shin for a gentle release.

During the day my sister Marge had come up to Hawk Harbor to camp out and brought along her friend Bobbie Jo. Bobbie Jo had made a big pot of a Czechoslovakian hot dish to share with all the hawkers and Marge had a bunch of salami, cheeses and crackers. Trudi put out some brownies and cookies that she had made and Todd got a nice campfire going. We set up some tables to serve the food and we all dug in. Thank you Bobbie Jo, Marge and Trudi for a great meal. We had a few beers and told some tall trapping tales with the Washington guys before they headed back to Duluth. The rest of us all camped out at Hawk Harbor.

We got a total of 13 birds and 2 bounce outs on Saturday.

9 Sharp-shinned hawks, 2 Red-tailed hawks, 1 Cooper's hawk and 1 Broad-winged hawk.

Sunday morning Trudi fixed some hot chocolate for any of the campers. We packed our gear into Rick's truck and drove up to the blind. It was cloudy with a little drizzle as we set up but it stopped before we were ready to start.

Our first bird of the day was an adult Sharp-shinned hawk that was out hunting the draw. A little while later we saw a bunch of crows flying high over Hawk Harbor. Just as they reached a spot up in front of the sun, a large bird just below them broke off and dropped in from the South. A white eyebrow flashing by in front of the blind told us that a Northern goshawk had come down to visit.

As we were banding the goshawk, Clark and Eve Webster stopped by to see us. They were in the area to ride the "Fall Colors Train" on Saturday and had heard about us from Ken Wagner. We gave them a short tour and showed them the birds we had just banded. While they were there more birds started getting up. We caught four more shins and started banding them when we saw Stan Tekiela drive up with a busload of birders from the Staring Lake Nature Center. Clark and Eve left for home and Stan's group came up just in time to do the releases. Stan has been bringing a group up with many repeat visitors since 2007! We played the "Number Game" right away to see who would get to release the birds, took photos, and sent the birds on their way. We got everyone settled in the main blind or in the overflow blind just in time to have things really slow down. Before we closed down for the day at noon, I gave Stan's group my migration talk and gave them some handouts. Stan gave Trudi and me signed copies of his two newly released books and they headed off for Hawk Ridge. 

After we closed down Hawk Harbor for the weekend, Trudi and I decided to take a drive up Seven Bridges Road to see the fall colors and stop off at Hawk Ridge. Stan and his group were already there and as we met up with them, an adult Peregrine falcon flew overhead. Hawk Ridge is such a wonderful place to visit! The naturalists are friendly and eager to point out any passing birds. We tell everyone who visits our banding station and gets to release a bird that we don't take any donations for what we do, but, if they enjoyed their experience with us, we suggest that they please make a tax deductable donation to Hawk Ridge.

We got a total of 6 birds and 0 bounce outs on Sunday.

5 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Northern goshawk.

Total for the weekend was 19 birds and 2 bounce-outs.

2 Red-tailed hawks, 1 Broad-winged hawk, 1 Northern goshawk, 1 Cooper's hawk and 14 Sharp-shinned hawks.

Grand Total for the year is 157.

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.

Trudi and Frank Taylor

01. First bird of the weekend, an adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

02. A young Broad-winged hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

03. Rick, Trudi, Joe and Mike with the broad-wing and the shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

04. Young Broad-winged hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

05. Joe and Mike holding the young Broad-winged hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

06. A young Broad-winged hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

07. Members of the Bee Nay She Bird Club,

Julie, Karen, Ellie and Butch with Frank, holding shins and a Broad-wing.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

08. Julie getting ready to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

09. Julie releasing a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

10. Karen getting ready to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

11. Karen releasing the shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

12. Ellie getting ready to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

13. Ellie releasing the shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

14. Young Broad-winged hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

15. Butch getting ready to release the Broad-winged hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

16. Butch releasing the Broad-winged hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

17. Karen getting ready to release another shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

18. Karen releasing her second shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

19. Julie getting ready to release her second shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

20. Julie releasing another shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

21. Ellie about to release her second shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

22. Ellie releasing her second shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

23. Young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

24. Young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

25. Rick and Frank taking the young Red-tailed hawk out of the net.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

26. Frank banding the Red-tailed hawk.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

27. Julie, Butch, Karen, Trudi, Rick and Ellie holding the Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

28. Young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

29. Butch holding the young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

30. Young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

31. Butch about to release the red-tail.

Sixth Weekend 2016

32. Butch releasing the red-tail.

Sixth Weekend 2016

33. An adult female Cooper's hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

34. Rick and Trudi holding the Cooper's hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

35. Adult female Cooper's hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

36. Frank banding the Cooper's hawk.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

37. Back view of the Cooper's hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

38. Adult female Cooper's hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

39. Trudi releasing the Cooper's hawk.

Photo by Rick Dupont

Sixth Weekend 2016

40. Young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

41. Trudi and Rick holding the young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

42. A young Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

43. Rick showing us the back of the Red-tailed hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

44. Young Red-tailed hawk with red tinge in tail feathers.

Sixth Weekend 2016

45. Trudi releasing the Red-tailed hawk.

Photo by Rick Dupont

Sixth Weekend 2016

46. Young Sharp-shinned hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

47. Joe, Rick, Mike and Frank taking the shin out of the net.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

48. Mike, Frank and Joe holding the shin.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

49. Mike and Joe releasing a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

50. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

51. Joe and Mike releasing the shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

52. Rick, Todd, Curt, Mike and Greg at Hawk Harbor.

Sixth Weekend 2016

53. Rick, Marge and Trudi at Hawk Harbor.

Sixth Weekend 2016

54. Bobbie Jo and Marge enjoying the fire at Hawk Harbor.

Sixth Weekend 2016

55. Rick holding a Sunday morning shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

56. Comparing a young and an adult shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

57. Young male Northern goshawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

58. Frank banding the goshawk.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

59. Young male Northern goshawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

60. Rick, Trudi, Clark and Eve holding the gos and some shins.

Sixth Weekend 2016

61. Staring Lake Nature Center group arriving at the blind.

Frank pointing out some approaching hawks.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

62. Frank showing the group a Northern goshawk.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

63. Frank and Rick showing the group some shins.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

64. A young Sharp-shinned hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

65. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

66. A young male Northern goshawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

67. Jane about to release the Northern goshawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

68. Jane releasing the goshawk.

Sixth Weekend 2016

69. Lee about to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

70. Lee releasing the shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

71. Jan about to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

72. Jan releasing a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

73. David about to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

74. David releasing a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

75. Tanya about to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

76. Tanya releasing the shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

77. Joyce about to release a shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

78. Joyce releasing the shin.

Sixth Weekend 2016

79. Stan and part of the group in the overflow blind.

Sixth Weekend 2016

80. Frank doing a migration talk and giving out handouts.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

Sixth Weekend 2016

81. Stan giving Trudi and me signed copies of his two new books.

Sixth Weekend 2016

82. Frank, Stan and Trudi at Hawk Ridge.

Sixth Weekend 2016