8th Weekend of Banding 2016

Hi All,

On Saturday morning, October 22nd, Rick, Chuck, Nancy and I met Todd at Hawk Harbor around 8:00 am. Trudi was busy this weekend and did not come up. Chris Podraza, a falconer from Nebraska, who has a non-resident permit for a Northern goshawk and was here last weekend, came up on Friday to try his luck again. Greg Mikkelson arrived a little later and he and Chris went up the road to his spot. Randy Burington and Kenny Wagner, both Minnesota falconers, also stopped by at Todd's site to try for a goshawk.

Rick, Chuck, Nancy and I drove up to the main blind and started looking for hawks at 8:30. Nancy passed around the cookie tin that has been a tradition at the blind for over 30 years and we started the day munching on her delicious cookies. Thanks, Nancy! It was a bright clear day with a slight breeze coming off the lake. We saw a lot of crows and ravens flying for the first two hours but not much else. Later a few Bald eagles started getting up and a Red-tailed hawk or two went by, but none of them were interested in us.

As we were staring at a mostly empty sky, Josh Stokes, a Minnesota falconer and a professional photographer, arrived with his friend Joel Sheagren, also a professional photographer. Josh and Joel brought their kids, Angela and Caleb Stokes along with Mathea and Sam Sheagren. We gave them a tour of the set up and got them settled in. A little while later Pam Bassett, who used to translate all of my banding data for the bird banding lab from Mac to P.C., came up with her two sons, Geno and Shawn, and her grandchildren Mika and Pieter. Sitting around looking at empty skies is not fun for young people so both groups stayed for a while and then went to find more lively attractions elsewhere in the area.

While we were trying to keep the first two groups entertained, Chad Heins arrived with four people from Bethany College in Mankato, Minnesota. They had booked in for the day months before. We did our migration talk and spent the next hour or so watching birds go by high overhead with no intention of coming down. Around noon, Chad and his group left to have lunch in Two Harbors, Minnesota.

At 1:35 we got our first bird of the weekend, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk. Chad's group returned just as we were banding it and taking photos. We showed them the bird and selected John to let it go. After they settled back in and were feeling bad about missing the capture of the shin, we noticed a young Red-tailed hawk that was locked on and coming straight in from out over the barn. As everyone in the blind watched it make its attack, the young red-tail grew larger and larger and shot right into the front net. That was the only other hawk we got on Saturday. We gave Chad's group some handouts and they left for Mankato. We closed down the blind at 5:30.

Later, Nancy and Chuck took Rick, Kenny and I out for supper at Culvers. I had the chopped steak dinner smothered in fried onions, mushrooms and extra gravy with a side of coleslaw and a side of mashed potatoes and gravy that reminded me of the many meatloaf dinners I so enjoyed at Emily's Lighthouse Restaurant. We all sat around the campfire at Hawk Harbor for a while when we got back, before turning in for the night.

We got a total of 2 birds and 0 bounce outs on Saturday.

1 Sharp-shinned hawk and 1 Red-tailed hawk.

We woke up to rain and strong East Northeast winds on Sunday morning. Not the most conducive to an early start, but we managed to drag ourselves out of our warm, dry sleeping bags and head up to the blind. We had everything ready to go at 8:00. A cold wind mixed with rain and sleet pelted us in the face for a while and then it stopped after about and hour or so. A few birds started moving in the cold wet weather, but nothing near us.

Around 10:17 a hungry young Red-tailed hawk spotted the lure and dropped from a thermal high to the North of us. It made an exceptionally fast stoop down wind along the tree line and over the front net. It landed on the ground next to the lure and then shot into the back net as Rick charged out of the blind. While we were banding it, Greg Wallgren joined us. Greg has been dropping off firewood randomly at Hawk Harbor for the past few years and never wants to bother us while we are banding. The last time I emailed him to thank him for the wood, I told him to please stop up when he makes a delivery, as he is certainly welcome ANYTIME! It was so nice that he came up just as we got a bird for him to release. We took a bunch of photos and Greg released the red-tail. Is it just a coincidence that all of our firewood at Hawk Harbor comes from guys named Greg? Greg Mikkelson has also contributed loads of firewood over the years. He brings up trailer loads of oak pallets and even cuts them up for us with his chain saw. Thanks, Greg and Greg, for contributing to the friendly campfires at Hawk Harbor.

At 11:00 Jen Harner and Marty Kachelmeyer came by to say "Hi". Jen started coming up to see us over 30 years ago when she was a wait-person at the Lakeview Castle Restaurant. When she heard us talking at the dinner table about all the birds we were getting, she was horrified, thinking that we were killing them. We explained to her how we band them and release them unharmed and also invited her up to see what we actually do. She has been coming by to see us every year since.

Nothing else came in that day, so we closed down at noon, just as my brother Dan came by. On my way home, I stopped by Crex Meadows and was taking photos of the Sandhill cranes coming in, when Dan called to say his pick-up truck had broken down just North of Hinkley, Minnesota. It was very fortunate that I was only about 20 miles away and could swing over and pick him up after he left the truck with a local mechanic.

We got a total of only 1 bird and 0 bounce outs on Sunday.

1 Red-tailed hawk.

Total for the weekend was 3 birds and 0 bounce-outs.

1 Sharp-shinned hawk and 2 Red-tailed hawks.

Grand Total for the year is 167.

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.

Frank & Trudi Taylor

01. 01. Nancy's famous "Hawk Blind Cookies".
For over 30 years we have started each day with a cookie from that tin.
Eighth weekend 2016

02. Josh, Frank, Angela Caleb, Sam, Mathea and Joel at the blind.
Photo by Rick Dupont
Eighth weekend 2016

03. Frank, Pam, Mika, Sean, Pieter and Geno at the blind.
Photo by Rick Dupont
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04. First bird of the weekend, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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05. Rick and Chuck taking the shin out of the net.

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06. Nancy, Abe, Chuck, Rick, Benji, Chad and John.

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07. Young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

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08. John about to release the shin.

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09. John releasing the shin.

Photo by Rick Dupont

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10. Adult Red-tailed hawk coming in to take a look at us.

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11. A young Red-tailed hawk.

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12. Chuck showing the Red-tailed hawk to the group.

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13. A young Red-tailed hawk.

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14. Chuck banding the Red-tailed hawk.

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15. A young Red-tailed hawk.

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16. Benji, John, Chad, Chuck, Jacob and Abe.

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17. Benji about to release the red-tail.

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18. Benji releasing the red-tail.

Photo by Rick Dupont

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19. Benji releasing the red-tail.

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20. A young Red-tailed hawk on Sunday morning.

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21. Chuck and Rick taking the red-tail out of the net.

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22. A young Red-tailed hawk.

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23. Chuck measuring the wing cord of the Red-tailed hawk.

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24. There was a dark spot on the red-tail's left iris.

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25. Greg, Chuck, Nancy and Rick holding the Red-tailed hawk.

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26. A young Red-tailed hawk.

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27. Greg about to release the Red-tailed hawk.

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28. Greg releasing the Red-tailed hawk.

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29. Greg releasing the Red-tailed hawk.

Photo by Rick Dupont

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30. Frank, Greg, Jen and Marty at the blind.

Photo by Rick Dupont

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31. Frank and his brother Dan at the blind.

Photo by Jen Harner

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32. A spider at Hawk Harbor with a U. S. quarter for size comparison.
Spider expert Chad Heins says this might be a type of fishing spider.
Eighth weekend 2016