This is my ninth report of the 2019 banding
season, covering the weekend of October
26th, 2019.
THIS SEASON MARKS OUR 50th CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF
TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM ! ! !
Saturday, October 26th
Saturday
morning around 8:00, Trudi and I met Rick, Chuck, and Nancy at Hawk Harbor. Todd
had two falconers, Kenny and Bob, with him at the falconry-trapping site at Hawk
Harbor. Kenny had been up since Wednesday trying to get a large young female
Northern Goshawk for falconry. He had caught a couple of male goshawks and some
red-tails that week, but had released them. Rick got a new truck on Friday and
brought it up to haul our gear up to the blind. We set the nets, opened the
blind, and were ready to go by 8:30. Skies were clear and the winds were light
out of the South-southwest.
At
9:00, seven members of the University of Minnesota's Fish and Wildlife Club
came up to see us. I gave them a quick migration talk, showed them how the nets
work, and we all settled in to look for hawks. This group has been coming up
every year since 2013. A
few eagles and a lot of ravens started moving but not much else. We sat there
scanning the skies until 10:15, when a young male Northern Goshawk locked on to
the lure from quite a ways out in front. We were all able to see it coming, as
its rhythmic wing beat propelled it straight as an arrow into the front net! We
banded it, took a bunch of photos, did the "guess the number" game,
and Brandon won the release.
We
started seeing red-tails and shins, but most of them were adults and paid no
attention to us. Finally, at 12:03, a young Red-tailed hawk that was soaring
off to the North saw our lure and started a long curving dive toward us. About
half way in, a group of ravens started mobbing the red-tail and distracted it
for only a moment. It shook off the ravens and resumed its attack, making a
long sloping glide down into the net. The students all rushed out of both
blinds to watch Rick and Chuck take it out of the net. We banded it, took a
bunch more photos, did the "guess the number" game, and this time,
Cydnee won the release.
The
students left around 1:00, and we kept on trying for more birds. Most of them
were adults and passing over at such a great height that we could barely see
them. At 4:00, we decided to pack it in early and closed down.
We
got a total of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Northern Goshawk and 1 Red-tailed Hawk
Sunday,
October 27th
Sunday
morning was beautifully clear and more promising for banding since the winds
had switched around during the night and were blowing strong out of the
Northwest. We all drank a round of hot chocolate and ate waxy donuts as the
temperature had dropped into the 30s overnight and none of the trailers at Hawk
Harbor had their heaters turned on! We headed up to the blind and had
everything set up and ready by 8:30.
A
short while later Melinda came up. Melinda wins the award for most distance
traveled to get to Hawk Harbor, as she now lives in Sydney, Australia.
Melinda's first trip to Hawk Harbor was in 1993 when she was a student at Eden
Prairie High school. Every year or so she comes back to Minnesota to visit her
parents and tries to sneak in a trip up to Hawk Harbor. We are always delighted
to see her.
Around
9:30, a lot of hawks started getting up and moving. Again, most of them were adult
shins and adult red-tails that were not interested in us. At 10:02, our first
bird of the day, a young Red-tailed hawk that seemed to take forever getting to
us because of strong headwinds, put on a burst of speed and came in high from
the Southeast hitting the front net. We banded it, took a lot of photos, and
Melinda released it. Chuck took a photo of me photographing Melinda doing the
release, as I was sporting my bright yellow "Big Bird Designer
Boots". The hay field has been super soggy lately and I had left my good
boots at home and had to use these "pull over" boots that everyone makes
fun of. I looked like someone had been feeding me too many day old chicks
(falconry joke: feeding day old chicks makes a hawk's feet turn bright yellow).
Just
before 11:00, we saw the flashing ghost of a goshawk go shooting across the far
end of the field toward the falconry-trapping site at Hawk Harbor. Sure enough,
a little while later we got a call from Kenny saying they had trapped another
young male goshawk. Kenny was still holding out for a big female and didn't
want this one. So, Trudi, Melinda, and I walked down to get it for banding. As
we approached the trapping site, we met our neighbors from just the other side
of Homestead Road. John, Heather, and their son Jedidiah were out for a walk
and saw the goshawk fly across the road and into Kenny's nets. We picked up the
goshawk and took a group photo. Then we took it back up to the main blind,
banded it, and Melinda got to release it. Shortly after that Melinda headed
back to the cities and we settled in to look for more hawks.
About
an hour later, we saw a goshawk pumping along in a straight line from the
North, but high up. It saw our lure, dropped down into the field, and made a
low and fast approach just above the grass. The young male goshawk hit the
center of the front net and Rick rushed out to secure it. After that, all the
birds seemed to be passing over us at a tremendous height, totally ignoring our
lure, so we closed down for the season at 2:00. We cleaned out the main blind
and packed everything into Rick's truck for the last run down the hill.
At
the Hawk Harbor campsite, we said our good-bys to the team and after they left,
Trudi and I started winterizing and closing down Hawk Harbor. Around 4:00, we
heard Kenny holler out something like "Godfrey Daniels!!!" from over
at the falconry-trapping site. He was still there trying to catch a goshawk
when an adult red-tail had shot in unseen and hit his nets. Kenny had been
trying to scare off any red-tails before they hit his nets, so that he would be
ready if a goshawk came by. I went over to see if he was OK and helped him get
the red-tail out of his nets so he could reset them right away. I took the
red-tail over to Trudi at the Hawk Harbor campsite where we measured and banded
it. Trudi released it and we headed home.
We
got a total of 4 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.
2 Northern Goshawks and 2 Red-tailed Hawks
We
got a total of 6 birds and 0 bounce-outs for the weekend.
3 Red-tailed Hawks and 3 Northern Goshawks.
My next report will have a breakdown of the species
we banded and the totals for the season.
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)
Midwest Peregrine Society (https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)
Raptor Resource Project (https://www.raptorresource.org/)
Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch (http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/)
Trudi &
Frank Taylor
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01. One of the Northern Goshawks we caught this weekend.
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02. Rick's new truck.
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03. The old blind is showing its age.
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04. Frank showing student members of the University of
Minnesota's Fish and Wildlife Club how the nets work.
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05. Frank sharing photos and stories in the overflow
blind during a slow time.
Left to right: Brandon, Mason, Frank and Logan.
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06. A young male Northern Goshawk coming in.
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07. Chuck showing the goshawk to the students.
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08. Chuck holding the young male Northern Goshawk.
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09. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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10. The University of Minnesota's Fish and Wildlife Club
members and our banding team with the goshawk.
Left to right: Frank, Nancy, Logan, Claire, Claire,
Cydnee, Chuck, Olivia, Brandon, Mason and Rick.
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11. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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12. Brandon about to release the goshawk.
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13. Brandon releasing the goshawk.
It looks like Brandon is reaching out to shake hands,
just as he gets attacked from behind by a giant goshawk.
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14. Students looking for more hawks from the overflow
blind.
Left to right: Cydnee, Claire, Claire and Olivia
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15. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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16. Students running to see Rick and Chuck pull the
red-tail out of the net.
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17. Chuck showing the red-tail to the students.
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18. A young Red-tailed hawk.
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19. Cydnee about to release the red-tail.
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20. Cydnee releasing the red-tail.
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21. Frank handing out art prints and information sheets
to the students.
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22. Chuck and Rick looking for more hawks Sunday morning.
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23. First bird of the day on Sunday, a young Red-tailed
hawk.
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24. Melinda watching Rick and Chuck take the red-tail
out of the net.
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25. Chuck measuring and banding the young red-tail.
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26. Trudi, Nancy, Chuck, Melinda and Rick holding the
red-tail.
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27. A closer look at the red-tail with Trudi, Frank and
Melinda.
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28. A young Red-tailed hawk on Sunday morning.
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29. Melinda about to release the red-tail.
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30. Frank wearing his designer "Big Bird
Boots" taking a photo of the release.
Photo by Chuck Schotzko
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31. Melinda releasing the red-tail.
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32. The falconer's trapping site on our land at Hawk
Harbor.
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33. Kenny's lookout blind on the mound behind the Hawk
Harbor falconer's trapping site.
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34. Kenny's view of the falconer's trapping site at Hawk
Harbor.
Kenny and Bob setting up their nets.
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35. View from the blind at the falconer's trapping site
at Hawk Harbor.
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36. A young male Northern Goshawk at Hawk Harbor.
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37. Bob and Kenny taking the goshawk out of the net at
Hawk Harbor.
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38. Kenny, Trudi, Bob, Melinda, Heather, Jedidiah and
John with the goshawk.
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39. Chuck measuring while Nancy records data on the
young goshawk.
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40. Melinda, Chuck, Nancy and Rick with the goshawk.
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41. Melinda releasing the goshawk.
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42. Another young male Northern Goshawk up behind the
blind.
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43. Rick taking the goshawk out of the net.
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44. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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45. Nancy about to release the goshawk.
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46. A young male Northern Goshawk.
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47. Nancy releasing the goshawk.
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48. The banded goshawk sitting in the trees behind the
blind after being released.
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49. The blind all closed down for the season and the
team loaded up and ready to leave.
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50. A late-in-the-day adult Red-tailed hawk caught by
Kenny at Hawk Harbor.
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51. Frank with the adult Red-tailed hawk.
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52. Mis-shaped pupil in the eye of the red-tail.
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53. Trudi about to release the Red-tailed hawk.
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54. Trudi releasing the red-tail.
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