Seventh Weekend of Banding 2018

Hello All,

Here is the report for the seventh weekend of our 49th year of hawk trapping at the Mattson Farm.

On Saturday morning, Trudi and I drove up to Hawk Harbor. Rick was already there and Chuck pulled in right behind us. Nancy was feeling a bit under the weather and stayed home. Todd, his daughter Jessie, and her boy friend Matt came up late on Friday. We loaded the gear into Rick's truck and went up to the banding station. Winds were light out of the Southwest with an overcast sky. We were ready to start at 8:45.

We sat looking at a bare field for about an hour and a half when finally a Merlin started buzzing our fake owl. Rick pulled the lure line and it came right in. We were taking it out of the net when Butch and his group of eight members of the Bee-Nay-She Bird Club pulled up. This group has been coming up for several years now, but for some of them, it was their first time. We gave them a quick tour of the station, showed them the Merlin, took a bunch of photos, and then Bob and his wife Jan released it. We started seeing a few more hawks getting up and a lot of Turkey Vultures heading South. At 10:30, a young male Sharp-shinned Hawk came in, but it just nicked the top of the net and bounced out. Arrgh!!! 45 minutes later, another Merlin came shooting across the field from the barn and went straight into the front net. Everyone got to see it come in. We banded it, took photos, and Karen got to release that one. A little while later, another shin, this time an adult male, made a steep stoop from above the over-flow blind and hit the back net. After banding it and taking some photos, Kimberly got to release that one. Butch and the group left for Hawk Ridge around noon, but before they did, I gave them my migration talk, handed out identification sheets, showed them some of my artwork and then gave each one signed art prints.

About an hour later, Chad, the Bethany Lutheran College biology professor who had come up with his students two weeks ago, joined us with his family. Chad's kids were very pleasant and super patient, even though we didn't see many hawks. They were starting to get a little bored sitting in the blind, not to mention that it was very cold, when a young Red-tailed Hawk was happily spotted in a tree next to the barn, down on the other end of the field. It moved to a tree over near Hawk Harbor and when Rick pulled the lure line, it came pumping across the field and shot low into the front net. Whoopee!!! We showed it to the kids, banded it, took photos and Chad's youngest son, Gideon, let it go. They took off for the cities and we closed down at 4:30. When we got back to Hawk Harbor, Todd, Jessie and Matt were preparing their supper on the grill. Trudi, Rick, Chuck and I drove into the Do North Pizzaria in Two Harbors, where Chuck treated us all to pizza and drinks. Todd and his family had a nice camp fire going when we got back.

We got a total of 4 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Red-tailed Hawk and 2 Merlins.

Sunday morning, we were expecting Northwest winds, but there was no wind and the sky was still overcast. We were ready to start at 8:00. Fifteen minutes later, we spotted a shin out hunting in the draw, Rick pulled the lure line, and it came right in. We banded it and Trudi released it.

Around 9:00, Nancy, who was a volunteer at The Raptor Center when I worked there and has been coming up every year, stopped by with her son Eric. At 11:00, we were luring for some shins that were chasing Blue Jays around the blind, when a young Red-tailed Hawk stooped in from high above. We banded it and were out getting some photos when we spotted a young Northern Goshawk passing just above treetop level on the North side of the field. We all jumped back into the blind with the red-tail in hand and watched as the gos "locked on". The gos powered in without slowing down and hit the net dead center! Wow!!! They are an amazing bird to watch in "attack mode". We banded the gos and resumed our interrupted photo session, only now with two birds. Nancy released the red-tail and Eric released the gos.

At 12:15, we had another young red-tail come in. This one was following the same path as the gos on the North side of the field when it saw our lure. It dropped into the field and came in low, cutting through a gap in the draw and slamming into the front net. We banded that one and Nancy released it. 45 minutes later, we caught two more shins. Chuck released one and Trudi let the other one go. A half an hour later, another red-tail, this time a rusty looking old adult bird, came in on a long sloping dive with its legs dropping down on the final approach. After banding it and taking a few photos, Trudi and I let it go. It started to snow a little and we were thinking about closing down at 2:00. Right at 2:00, however, we saw another Northern Goshawk down at the other end of the draw hugging the ground and pumping straight for our lure. It hit hard, fast, and low into the front net! We banded that one and Rick let it go. After that one, we closed down and headed for home.

We got a total of 8 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 3 Red-tailed Hawks and 2 Northern Goshawks.

Total for the weekend was 12 birds and 1 bounce-out.

4 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Merlins, 4 Red-Tailed Hawks and 2 Northern Goshawks.

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)

The Midwest Peregrine Society (http://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi & Frank Taylor

01. The first bird of the weekend was a Merlin.

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02. Chuck showing the Merlin to the Bee-Nay-She Bird Club.

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03. The Bee-Nay-She Bird Club with the Merlin.

Left to right: Trudi, Doug, Steve, Kimberly, Marilyn, Bob, Jan, Chuck, Carol, Butch, Karen and Frank.

Photo by Rick DuPont

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04. The Merlin.

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05. Jan and Bob about to release the Merlin.

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06. Jan and Bob releasing the Merlin.

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07. Kimberly, Karen, Steve, Marilyn, Doug, and Butch in the over-flow blind.

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08. The second Merlin.

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09. Chuck showing Steve the Merlin.

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10. A Merlin.

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11. Karen about to release the Merlin.

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12. Karen releasing the Merlin.

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13. A Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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14. Kimberly about to release the shin.

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15. Kimberly releasing the shin.

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16. Frank handing out identification sheets and signed art prints.

Photo by Trudi Taylor
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17. A young Red-tailed Hawk.

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18. Chad and his family watching Rick and Chuck take the red-tail out of the net.

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19. Chuck showing us the young Red-tailed Hawk.

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20. Chad's family and banding crew with the red-tail.

Left to right: Chad, Jenni, Isaiah, Chuck, Tilly, Lucy, Gideon, Rick and Trudi.

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21. Chad's family with the red-tail.

Left to right: Lucy, Jenni, Chad, Tilly, Isaiah, and Gideon.

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22. Gideon about to release the red-tail.

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23. Gideon levitating while releasing the red-tail.

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24. Frank showing Chad's family his artwork and then handing out identification sheets and signed art prints.

Photo by Trudi Taylor
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25. A Sunday morning shin.

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26. Rick, Chuck and Trudi never stop looking for hawks.

I guess I did tell them to "watch the birdy" before taking the photo.

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27. Trudi about to release a shin.

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28. Trudi releasing a "giant" shin.

It looks a lot bigger when it flies right at the camera!

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29. A young Red-tailed Hawk.

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30. A young Northern Goshawk.

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31. Chuck and Rick showing the gos and red-tail to Eric and Nancy.

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32. A young Northern Goshawk.

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33. Trudi, Chuck, Eric, Rick and Nancy showing us the gos and red-tail.

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34. Eric and Nancy with a gos and a red-tail.

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35. A young Red-tailed Hawk.

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36. Nancy about to release the red-tail.

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37. Eric and Nancy releasing the red-tail.

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38. A young Northern Goshawk.

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39. Eric about to release the gos.

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40. Nancy and Eric releasing the gos.

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41. Another young Red-tailed Hawk.

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42. A view of the red-tail's back.

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43. Chuck banding the red-tail while Trudi records the data.

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44. Nancy about to release another Red-tailed Hawk.

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45. Nancy releasing the red-tail.

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46. A young Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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47. Trudi about to release the shin.

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48. Trudi releasing the shin.

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49. An adult Red-tailed Hawk.

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50. Trudi and Frank about to release the red-tail.

Photo by Rick DuPont
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51. Trudi and Frank releasing the red-tail.

Photo by Rick DuPont
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52. Our second Northern Goshawk of the day!

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53. Chuck banding the gos while Trudi records the data.

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54. Rick about to release the gos.

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55. Rick releasing the gos.

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