Fifth Weekend of Banding 2018

Hello All,

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

On Saturday morning, Trudi and I met Rick at Hawk Harbor. Todd had come up on Friday and would be meeting his daughter Jessie and her boyfriend Matt to help him spot birds at his blind later in the day. As we were loading the banding gear into Rick's truck, we got a call from Chuck saying he had hit a deer just after leaving Aitkin, MN. He told us to go ahead without him, and he would join us as soon as possible. So the three of us, along with Todd, went to set up the main blind.

Todd helped us get things ready by 8:45 and then he headed back down to his blind. There was an overcast sky with no wind when we started. As soon as we entered the blind, Rick spotted a shin heading for our fake owl. He pulled the lure line, it turned and came right in. Woo Who! Our first bird of the weekend, less than a minute after we started!

We banded it, took photos, and Trudi let it go. We caught two more shins right away. Things were looking good for the day!

Around 9:30, a van from Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN, pulled up with Professor Chad Heins and seven members of the Bethany Hawk Watch. Chad has been bringing a group up every year since 2006. They had just piled out of the van and were assembling in the field when they noticed a young Red-tailed Hawk locked on to our lure. They saw it stoop across the field and hit our nets! Everyone rushed up the hill to see it. Great way to start a visit!

We gave them a quick tour of the blind and nets. Chad selected the students who would do the releases of a shin we had also just caught and the red-tail. We took photos, released the shin and red-tail, and then split the group up into the main blind and the over-flow blind. About a half an hour later, another red-tail dropped down from the trees above the blind and into the back of the front net. We banded that one and did the release.

Then we caught two more shins and had one bounce out. One of the shins we caught had two pure white tail feathers. We banded the shins, took photos and did the releases. The next bird to come in was a Merlin. It made one fast pass out in front of the blind, pulled up, turned around, and hit the front net. We banded that one and did a release.

A little later, we all spotted a young red-tail making a long straight stoop across the far end of the field into Todd's site. His daughter Jessie brought it up, we banded it, took more photos, and did another release. A very old, red-eyed shin was the next bird to come in. Alice, a  friend of one of the students who lives in Ely, MN, was in the area and had stopped by to say hi, so she got to release that shin. Every one of the students and even a visiting friend had gotten to release a bird, so the next one would be for Chad. Just then, we got a call from Todd saying he had caught another young red-tail, a bird that had most of its tail feathers gone. Chad finally got to release a hawk!

While the Bethany group was still there, Don Mattson came up to see how we were doing and to offer us some beets and carrots from his garden. Don and his father Roy own the hay field we have been catching hawks in for the last 49 years. We are deeply indebted to them for giving us permission to do this on their land for so many years! Later on, our friend Greg Mikkleson stopped by. Greg usually camps at Hawk Harbor when he is trapping at his site farther up the shore. He told us that he had a trailer full of oak wood for our campfires at Hawk Harbor. Thank You, Greg!!!

Just before the group left, we did a little migration talk and handed out identification sheets. I showed them some samples of my artwork and gave everyone a signed art print. They loaded into the van and headed back to Mankato.

Before we stopped banding for the day, our friends Dave and Luanne from Rochester, MN, stopped by. They were on their way to set up a campsite for the night since they were scheduled to visit the blind on Sunday. While Dave was there, we caught a Merlin and another shin. We closed down at 5:00 and went in to the Culvers in Two Harbors for supper to celebrate a successful day.

We got a total of 13 birds and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.

7 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Merlins and 4 Red-tailed Hawks

Sunday, a week ago, was a total disaster with howling winds and rain coming out of the East that forced us to pack up with no chance of banding on that day!  This Sunday, in contrast, turned out to be our best day of the season so far! We caught 31 raptors. That's too many to give you a blow-by-blow description, so I will just tell you who the lucky visitors were who got to release all those birds. The day started out cloudy with no wind. Later the sun came out and the winds started increasing from the West South West.

We caught three shins that we banded and released right away and then Todd caught a Merlin and sent it up for us to band. We had just caught another shin when Gail and Brad came up. Brad is a retired conservation officer who has been up many times in the past. This was Gail's first time to the blind. Gail has been the Curator of Education Birds at The Raptor Center for the past twelve years. They released several shins and then another couple of friends came up. This time it was Sue and her son, Theo. Sue is the daughter, and Theo is the grandson, of Del Hogan, an old falconry friend of ours who recently passed away. We caught another shin and a Merlin for them to release. Dave and Luanne came by a little later and they got to release some more birds. The next couple to join us was Chris and his wife MaryJo. Chris is a falconer from Wisconsin whose family has a cabin in northern Minnesota. They were on their way home and asked if they could stop by. They got to release some birds as well. Falconer friend Kevin came up early in the day and later another falconry friend, Bruce, stopped up.

What a day!! Birds just kept coming in. We had only four bounce outs, one of which was a red-tail, and we had a Peregrine Falcon make a close pass at the nets but it didn't quite get caught. We even had a double late in the day when two shins hit at the same time, one in the front net and one in the back net. Things finally slowed down, so we quit at 4:00.

We got a total of 31 birds and 4 bounce-outs on Sunday.

29 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 2 Merlins

Total for the weekend was 44 birds and 5 bounce-outs.

36 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 4 Merlins and 4 Red-tailed Hawks

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 Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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02. The Bethany Hawk Watch group joined us for the day.

Left to right: Jake, Skyler, Trudi, Jennifer, John, Claire, Chuck, Colleen, Samantha, Rick and Chad.

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03. Colleen about to release a shin.

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04. Colleen releasing the shin.

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05. A young Red-tailed Hawk.

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06. Claire about to release the red-tail.

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07. Claire releasing the red-tail.

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08. A dark, young Red-tailed Hawk.

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09. Jake about to release the red-tail.

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10. Jake releasing the red-tail.

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11. An adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk with two white tail feathers.

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12. Jennifer about to release the shin.

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13. Jennifer releasing the shin.

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14. Samantha about to release another shin.

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15. Samantha releasing her shin.

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16. A Merlin.

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17. Skyler about to release the Merlin.

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18. Skyler releasing the Merlin.

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19. Another young Red-tailed hawk.

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20. Chuck showing the red-tail to the group.

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21. John about to release the red-tail.

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22. John releasing the red-tail.

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23. A very old Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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24. Colleen and her friend Alice about to release the shin.

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25. Alice releasing the shin.

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26. Chuck showing us a red-tail with most of its tail feathers pulled out.

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27. Group leader, Professor Chad, about to release the red-tail.

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28. Chad releasing the red-tail.

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29. Frank handing out signed art prints and identification sheets and showing students samples of his artwork.

Photo by Trudi Taylor

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30. Nancy, Don (the land owner), Chuck and Rick with a shin.

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31. Another Merlin.

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32. Dave about to release the Merlin.

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33. Dave releasing the Merlin.

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34. A Sunday morning Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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35. Brad and Gail with the shin.

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36. Brad and Gail doing a double shin release.

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37. Sue and Theo with a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Merlin.

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38. Theo and Sue releasing the Merlin and Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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39. Dave, Luanne, and Trudi with a pair of shins.

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40. Dave and Luanne doing a double shin release.

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41. Chris and MaryJo holding a pair of shins.

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42. Chris and MaryJo releasing the shins.

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43. Bruce with a shin.

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44. Bruce releasing the shin.

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45. Migrating is hard work; even a shin needs to rest now and then!

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