2nd Weekend of Banding 2017

Hello Friends,

Trudi and I drove up to Hawk Harbor on Friday afternoon Sept. 8th to mow the lawn and tidy up a bit before the rest of the team arrived. When we got there around 5:00, Todd already had his camper in place and was enjoying a campfire. We also saw our friends Luanne and Dave Jorgenson parked out on Old North Shore Drive waiting for us to pull in. Dave, who is a retired photojournalist, had been up last year and wanted to share some of the fun with his wife Luanne. They had their Dodge Caravan all set up for camping.

We asked them to give us a few minutes while we mowed and moved our gear into the trailer. Thanks to my brother Greg, our old lawn tractor that he refurbished for us did the job in record time. Trudi and I set off with Luanne and Dave to give them a tour of Two Harbors and have supper at Do North Pizzaria for, in my opinion, the best pizza on the North Shore. When we came back to Hawk Harbor, the place was filled with friends. Rick had decided to come up early and he always stays in the old Dodge-My-Haul, Greg Mikkelson, who stays in our back trailer while he traps up at his site, was there with Chris and her grandson Conner. Later that night, Joe and Dani Hance drove in and we put them up in my brother Mike's trailer so they wouldn't have to pitch a tent in the dark. We all had a nice visit around the campfire and turned in for the evening.

Saturday, September 9th, we got up around 6:30. Trudi fixed some hot chocolate while Rick and I loaded the banding gear into his truck. The rest of the group were still sleeping so we left the fixings for more chocolate on the picnic table and then Trudi, Rick and I drove out to set up the banding blind.

The sky was clear with no wind at all when we had everything ready to go at 7:45 am. Chuck and Nancy had to take care of some business at home that morning, so they wouldn't be able to make it up until later that afternoon. Luanne and Dave came up just after we got started and we settled in to look for hawks. There was not much moving that morning. At 8:30 we saw a Sharp-shinned hawk pop out of the draw near the owl, Rick pulled the lure line and it came right in! Our first bird of the weekend was a young female Sharp-shinned hawk. Rick took it out of the net, I banded it, and then we all took some photos. As it was Luanne's first time up at the blind, she did the release. A little later a small young male shin came in from the North, but went up over the net and sat in the trees behind us. At 10:55 we saw another young female shin taking a shot at the owl, Rick pulled the lure line and it came straight in. Rick made a gallant charge out of the blind to secure the shin, but it hit high on the front net, gave a back flap as the net came down, flipped the net off, and continued its migration without the little bit of jewelry we would have loved to put on its leg. Aaarrrgh! A bounce out!!

Lots of Blue jays were moving through but not much else. Just when we thought we wouldn't get anything more that day, a young Red-tailed hawk passed low over the blind at 1:55. Rick pulled the lure line; it pitched up, turned around, tucked its wings, dropped its legs, and dove straight down and in. It landed behind the front net and Rick had to chase it into the back of the front net. WOW!!! THAT was a surprise! Rick secured it, I banded it and everyone took some more photos. Luanne did the release on that bird as well. Nancy and Chuck joined us later that day but we didn't see any more hawks so we closed down at 5:00.

When we got back to Hawk Harbor, my brother Mike was there visiting with Todd. We packed Mike, Luanne, Dave, Trudi, Todd, Rick, Nancy, Chuck and me into two vans and headed up to Emily's Eatery in Knife River. Mike had made reservations so we got in right away. Everyone ordered what they wanted and then, (drum roll), I placed an order for my 80th hot meat sandwich, with fried onions, mushrooms and an extra bowl of gravy. My brother Mike presented each member of our banding team with gift cards for McDonalds, so we could enjoy a breakfast on him as a way of thanking us for years of doing what we love to do for raptors. Thanks, Mike! When we got back to Hawk Harbor, Greg had returned with his group and they were fixing steaks on the grill which smelled delicious. A little later Wisconsin falconer and bell maker extraordinaire Dave Noble and Donna Morris pulled in with their super adapted camper van. We all had a great visit around the campfire and turned in.

We got a total of 2 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.

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

Sunday morning there was not a cloud in the sky with only a slight wind from the South. Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I packed into Rick's truck and headed up to the blind. On the way up we ran into Mark Vancleave, a photojournalist for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. He took some shots of Trudi and me enjoying our morning ride up to the blind on Rick's tailgate. A short time later, Jack Hennessy, a reporter for the Star & Tribune, joined Mark and walked up to the blind. We had everything set up and ready to start at 7:30. Soon after, Nancy, Dave J., Luanne, Dave N. and Donna came up. We had all just settled in when Larry Aho, a friend of mine from Eveleth, Minnesota, stopped in. Larry had been up last year on the same day Dave J. was up, so they were happy to be re-acquainted.

With all of us straining to see a hawk and finding nothing moving, I was beginning to think that this day was going to be a skunk day. I was explaining this to the reporters Jack and Mark as they were interviewing us, when out of the blue, at 10:12, a young male Merlin came flashing in from the owl and hit the front net square on. Oh, what a relief that was!!! Chuck and Rick took the Merlin out of the net, I banded it, and then we showed it to everyone and got lots of photos. At 10:25, we were all admiring the Merlin and taking photos when Rick yelled out "FREEZE". A young male American Kestrel was out attacking the owl, saw our lure and did a straight shot into the center of the front net. YAY!!! Our second bird of the day!  We banded that one and then took some more photos. Jack had never seen this before so we had him release the Merlin. Mark wanted to get shots of the releases so we had Donna, who had never released a kestrel before, release that one.

Around 11:30, things were pretty dead so Trudi fixed us all some "Blind Burgers" (Ritz crackers with sliced summer sausage) while we waited for something to show up. By noon nothing at all was moving and some of us had to start heading for home, so we closed down at 12:30.

We got a total of 2 birds and no bounce outs on Sunday.

1 Merlin and 1 American Kestrel.

Total for the weekend was 4 birds and 1 bounce-out.

1 Sharp-shinned hawk, 1 Red-tailed hawk, 1 Merlin and 1 American Kestrel.

In an effort to keep this email file small and save some time resizing photos, I am including my

"North Shore Banding - Frank Taylor" link so you can look at the photos from this last weekend.

Click on the link below and then scroll down to the bottom of the text to see all the photos. You can also review any of my weekly reports from the last three years by clicking on the 2012/13/14/15 and 16 links at the right side of that page.

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)

 

Frank & Trudi Taylor

01. First bird of the weekend, a young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

02. Rick taking the shin out of the net.

Second Weekend 2017

03. Frank banding the shin.

Second Weekend 2017

04. A young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

05. Frank, Trudi, Dave and Luanne with the shin.

Second Weekend 2017

06. Luanne about to release the shin.

Second Weekend 2017

07. Luanne releasing the shin.

Second Weekend 2017

08. A young male Sharp-shinned hawk in the trees behind the blind.

Second Weekend 2017

09. A young Red-tailed hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

10. Rick holding up the Red-tailed hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

11. A young Red-tailed hawk molting a piece of down.

Second Weekend 2017

12. Frank banding the Red-tailed hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

13. Luanne, Trudi, Dave, Frank and Rick with the Red-tailed hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

14. A young Red-tailed hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

15. Dave and Luanne with the Red-tailed hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

16. Luanne releasing the Red-tailed hawk.

Second Weekend 2017

17. Mike, Luanne, Dave, Trudi, Frank, Todd, Rick, Nancy and Chuck having supper at Emily's Eatery.

Second Weekend 2017

18. The campfire crew. Dave, Dave, Donna, Luanne, Rick, Trudi, Frank, Todd, Nancy, Chuck, Conner, Chris and Greg. Mike, Dani and Joe arrived later.

Second Weekend 2017

19. Sunday morning crew at the blind.

Frank, Rick, Dave, Donna, Nancy, Trudi, Chuck, Larry, Mark and Jack.

Second Weekend 2017

20. A young male Merlin.

Second Weekend 2017

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

Second Weekend 2017

22. A young male Merlin.

Second Weekend 2017

23. Photo shoot of Chuck and Rick taking the Merlin out of the net.

Second Weekend 2017

24. Photo shoot of Frank banding the Merlin.

Second Weekend 2017

25. A young male American Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

26. Photo shoot of Chuck and Rick taking the Kestrel out of the net.

Second Weekend 2017

27. A male American Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

28. A male American Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

29. Dave, Trudi, Donna, Rick, Nancy, Jack, Chuck, Mark and Larry holding the Merlin and Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

30. A young male Merlin.

Second Weekend 2017

31. Jack about to release the Merlin.

Second Weekend 2017

32. Jack releasing the Merlin.

Second Weekend 2017

33. An American Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

34. Mark holding the Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

35. Dave and Donna holding the Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

36. Donna releasing the Kestrel.

Second Weekend 2017

37. Trudi fixing "Blind Bugers" before we closed down for the weekend.

Second Weekend 2017