Hello Everyone,
Here is my third report of the 2020 banding season, covering the weekend of September 12th, 2020.
Saturday, September 12th
Rick was planning to bring his daughter Katie and his granddaughter Spenser up to Hawk Harbor for the day on Saturday. But after checking the weather forecast that called for rain all day on the North Shore, we all decided to cancel the banding for that day.
Sunday, September 13th
Sunday's forecast was looking very good with clear skies and medium Northwest winds, so Nancy, Chuck and I decided to go up just for the day. Trudi, Rick and Todd stayed home to work on other projects, so I met Nancy and Chuck at Hawk Harbor around 9:00 am. While we were loading the banding gear into Chuck's SUV, Greg Mikkelson stopped by. He had just been up checking his hawk trapping spot, a bit Northeast of us, and asked if he could sit in for a while before heading home.
We set up the banding station and were ready to go by 9:20. The skies were overcast but cleared up later and the promised Northwest winds had not started yet. About ten minutes later, a shin took a shot at the fake owl. Chuck pulled the lure and it came straight in. When it hit the front net, another shin with the same idea came out of the woods from behind us and hit the back net at the same time. A "Double" !!! Nice way to start the day! We banded them, and then Nancy and Chuck released them. A few minutes later, Greg was trying out my "home-made" chair blind when another shin made a long slanting stoop from way out over the field, right into the front net. We banded it and Greg released that one.
Around 9:45, a car pulled into the field down by the road. Two guys got out and were looking at us through their binoculars. I went out in front of the blind and waved them up. They were almost at the blind, wearing their masks, before I recognized that one of them was Bill Tefft from Ely, Minnesota. Bill has been bringing up people to the blind from the Ely Community College for many years now. He and his friend Reid were on their way to Hawk Ridge and thought they would drive by to see if we were in the field banding that day. We had just made our introductions to Reid and were explaining how the set-up works, when a young Cooper's hawk came charging into the front net from the North. We banded it, took some photos, and Reid got to release it.
The next bird we caught was an adult Sharp-shinned hawk that Bill got to release. At 11:05, a female Merlin that was chasing a shin out over the draw spotted the lure and blasted into the front net. Our first Merlin of the day! We banded it and Reid got to let it go. We caught a couple more shins before Bill and Reid left for Hawk Ridge and Greg headed home.
Around noon we started seeing huge kettles of Broad-winged hawks going over with eagles, shins and vultures mixed in. We were catching shins just about every 15 minutes. Kestrels were all over the hay field, catching dragonflys and eating them on the wing. At 2:50, we had our first bounce-out. A shin stooped straight down from high above, nicked the top of the net, and shot off into the woods. At 3:05, we were all watching high flying shins that looked interested when a Merlin zipped in low across the field from out in front. Our second Merlin of the day!
After we banded and released the Merlin, we caught one shin, had another one bounce out, caught another shin, and had another one bounce out. Then at 3:55, we had a shin "locked on" way out in front of us when an adult male Cooper's hawk shot in below it and hit the front net! Our second Cooper's hawk of the day!
We caught three more shins in rapid succession around 4:30, and decided to close down and head home after that.
We got a total of 21 birds and 3 bounce-outs on Sunday.
17 Sharp-shinned hawks, 2 Merlins and 2 Cooper's hawks.
62 total birds for the season.
Please help hawks by supporting:
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (www.hawkridge.org)
Midwest Peregrine Society (https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/)
National Eagle Center (www.nationaleaglecenter.org)
Raptor Resource Project (https://www.raptorresource.org/)
The Raptor Center (www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu)
Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch (http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/)
Keep your eyes on the skies!
Trudi & Frank Taylor
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01. First catch of the day was a "Double" of shins. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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02. Second shin of the "Double." Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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03. Greg, Nancy, and Chuck holding the "Double" of shins. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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04. Nancy releasing the first shin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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05. Chuck releasing the second shin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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06. Greg trying out my home-made chair blind. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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07. Another young Sharp-shinned hawk. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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08. Greg releasing the shin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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09. A young female Cooper's hawk. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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10. Reid and Bill holding the Cooper's hawk. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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11. This was our first Cooper's hawk of the season. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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12. Reid about to release the Cooper's hawk. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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13. Reid releasing the Cooper's hawk. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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14. Our first adult Sharp-shinned hawk of the season. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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15. Bill about to release the shin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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16. Bill releasing the shin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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17. First Merlin of the day. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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18. Reid and Bill holding the Merlin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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19. Reid about to release the Merlin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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20. Reid releasing the Merlin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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21. Another young shin. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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22. Evidence of its last meal still stuck to the shin's foot. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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23. I gave myself permission to release a shin. Photo by Chuck Schotzko Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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24. Second Merlin of the day. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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25. Second Merlin of the day. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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26. Chuck releasing the Merlin while doing a "Michael Jackson" impersonation. (It's a glove thing; we're tired of getting bit by these small falcons!) Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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27. Here's a kestrel coming in! Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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28. No, it's just grabbing one of the dragonflies over us. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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29. Off it goes, eating its prize. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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30. Second Cooper's hawk of the day. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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31. An adult male Cooper's hawk. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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32. Chuck releasing the Cooper's hawk. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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33. Last of the 17 shins we caught that day. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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34. Nancy and Chuck about to release the last three shins of the day. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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35. Chuck and Nancy releasing the three shins. Third Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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