Hello Everyone,
This is my sixth report of the 2019 banding
season, covering the weekend of October
5th, 2019.
THIS SEASON MARKS OUR 50th CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF
TRAPPING HAWKS AT THE MATTSON FARM ! ! !
Saturday, October 5th
Saturday
morning when I left home at 4:45 am, it was pouring rain. I thought by the time
I got up to Two Harbors it would stop as better weather was predicted for
Sunday. It kept raining for the whole two and a half hours and one hundred and
sixty miles of driving. I met Nancy, Chuck, and Rick at Two Harbors around 8:00
am in the rain. Trudi didn't come up this time since she was helping her
brother at a conference in Las Vegas and Todd was home this weekend winterizing
his boat. My long time friend Larry Miller and his wife Jude, from Chicago,
were supposed to meet us there at 8:00 as well. They were staying at a motel in
Two Harbors so I called them and said we would wait a couple hours to see if
the rain would stop so we could set up. About two hours later it quit raining,
we set up, and Jude and Larry came out to meet us. We were no sooner set up at
11:30 when it started raining again. We sat there getting soaked with nothing
moving and decided to pack it in at 3:30. Then we all headed over to the motel
where the Millers were staying to dry off and meet our other friends, Kris and
Bruce Gilbertson, who live in Duluth.
While
we were all sitting and visiting in the lobby of the motel, Larry and Jude
surprised me with a gift to commemorate our 50 consecutive years of trapping
hawks in the same hay field on the North Shore. It was a beautiful hand carved
leather belt buckle made by Rich Borquist of Sundowner Studios, showing me
banding a Red-tailed hawk. WOW, what a GREAT gift!!! Later we all went over to
McQuade's Restaurant for supper.
We
got "WET" with a total of 0 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.
This was worse than a "Skunked Day"; this was
a "WET Skunk Day"!
Sunday,
October 6th
Sunday
morning the weather was bright and sunny with strong winds blowing from the Southwest.
When we drove up to the blind, we noticed a bunch of Turkey Vultures roosting
in the trees above it. I know our team is all getting older, but I didn't think
we were ready just yet to have these guys waiting for us! We jumped around as
we got out of Rick's truck just to prove to the vultures that we were still very
much alive and not ready to be their lunch. We shooed them off and were ready
for action by 8:00.
Around
9:00, Jude and Larry came out to join us and we got our first bird of the
weekend, an adult Sharp-shinned hawk, at 9:45. We banded it, took photos, and
Jude released it. We had caught a couple more shins when my daughter Becky
arrived with her family. They brought along one of my grandson Jack's friends
whose name is also Jack. My youngest grandson (Max) didn't get to release a
bird the last time they were here, so with the help of Mom and Dad, he got to
release one this time. We caught a couple more shins and both grandson Jack and
his friend Jack each got to release a bird. The boys had a fun time at the
blind and then Becky and Mike took them home.
Around
noon, a female Merlin started diving on the fake owl; Rick pulled the lure line
and it came right in. We banded it, took photos, and Nancy released it. We
caught three more shins and then a beautiful adult male Merlin came in high
over the other end of the field and started a dive towards the owl. It saw our
lure and pulled off from the owl, swung around the South side of the field,
leveled off, and plowed into the front net. What a beauty! We banded it, took
loads of photos, and I got to release it.
We
caught one more shin that day and closed down at 3:00. Everyone walked back
across the soaked field to Hawk Harbor where Larry popped open a bottle of
champagne to toast our 50th year of trapping at the Mattson farm. Later, Jude,
Larry, and I met for supper at the Earthwood Bar & Grill with falconers
Mattie, Curt and Keven who were staying up to trap at their locations on
Monday.
We
got a total of 12 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.
10 Sharp-shinned hawks and 2 Merlins.
We
got a total of 12 birds and 0 bounce-outs for the weekend.
10 Sharp-shinned hawks and 2 Merlins.
As this weekend reminded us, we can't control the weather,
so if you are booked in for a future visit, please call ahead to make sure we
will be setting up if the weather is bad.
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/)
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01. A male Merlin was one of the birds we caught this
weekend.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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02. One of the adult shins we caught on Sunday with Fall
colors.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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03. Meeting at the AmericInn in Two Harbors at the end of a
"rained out" day.
Nancy, Chuck, Jude, Larry, Bruce, Kris and Frank.
Photo by Rick Dupont
Sixth Weekend 2019
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04. Jude and Larry presenting me with a Sundowner (Rich
Borquist) custom tooled leather belt buckle
to commemorate our 50th year of
trapping on the North Shore.
Photo by Rick Dupont
Sixth Weekend 2019
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05. The photo Rich Borquist used and a close up of the
beautiful tooling job he did.
THANK YOU, Jude and Larry, what a SUPER SURPRISE!!!
Sixth Weekend 2019
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06. Sunday morning we were greeted at the blind by a roost
of Turkey Vultures.
Sorry guys, we're old but we're not dead . . . yet.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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07. An adult T.V. right over the blind.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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08. A young T.V. stayed and kept an eye on me.
I had to move around below him to prove I wasn't dead.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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09. First bird of the weekend was an adult male
Sharp-shinned hawk.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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10. Larry, Frank, and Jude posing with the shin.
Photo by Rick Dupont
Sixth Weekend 2019
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11. Larry and Jude releasing the shin.
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12. Another adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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13. My daughter Becky and her family stopped by to see us.
Left to right: Max, Grandpa Frank, Jack, Jack's friend Jack,
Mike and Becky.
Photo by Rick Dupont
Sixth Weekend 2019
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14. My grandson Max about to release a shin.
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15. Mike and Becky helping Max release the shin.
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16. Jack and grandson Jack about to release a shin.
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17. Jack and Jack releasing the shin.
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18. Grandson Jack and his friend Jack about to release a
shin.
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19. Jack and Jack releasing another shin.
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20. The Dudes hanging out at the blind.
Max with a pair of Jacks.
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21. Chuck showing the boys a shin.
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22. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.
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23. Jude and Larry releasing the shin.
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24. A young shin.
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25. A female Merlin.
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26. Rick, Nancy, Chuck, Jude and Larry holding the Merlin.
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27. Nice female Merlin.
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28. Chuck and Nancy releasing the Merlin.
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29. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.
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30. Rick holding a shin.
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31. Rick releasing the shin.
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32. Young shin with Fall colors.
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33. A hypnotized shin relaxing in a tree.
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34. An adult male Merlin.
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35. An adult male Merlin with Fall colors.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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36. Frank releasing the Merlin.
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37. Adult shin in the evergreens.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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38. Larry and Jude releasing another shin.
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39. Nancy, Rick, Jude, Larry, and Chuck sharing a
champagne toast to 50 years of hawk trapping.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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40. Jude, Larry, Keven, Mattie, and Curt having
supper at the Earthwood Bar & Grill.
Sixth Weekend 2019
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