Hi Everyone,
Here is my ninth report of the 2020 banding season, covering the weekend of October 24th, 2020. Sorry for this coming out so late. My computer broke down on Oct. 16th and I just got my new one going.
Friday, October 23rd
I drove up to Hawk Harbor on Friday morning to meet Brian and Niall from Illinois. They are a father and son team of falconers who had obtained out-of-state permits to try to catch a young goshawk. Kenny and Curt, two Minnesota falconers, also came up to help out. Brian and Niall set their trapping rig up on the Hawk Harbor area for falconers and started looking for any large accipiters that might be passing by. Kenny and Curt went up to Curt's spot to try their luck there, while I stayed at Hawk Harbor with the Illinois falconers.
Winds were out of the Northwest with cloudy skies. Lots of red-tails and eagles started circling up and there were more Rough-legged hawks than I have ever seen up there! Although we were not trying to catch them, two rough-legs managed to hit the nets and get caught. I figured as long as I was there, I might as well band them. We finished the day with two hawks for me to band, but no hawks for the falconers.
We got a total of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Friday.
2 Rough-legged hawks
Saturday, October 24th
Saturday morning, Rick came up to join me and open the banding station. We wished the falconers luck at Hawk Harbor, and then we drove up to the banding blind in Rick's truck. I rode on the tailgate for good social distancing. We got set up and started at 9:00, with clear skies and light Northwest winds.
Our first bird of the day was a smart looking little Merlin that hit the net at 9:10. He was out taking a shot at the fake owl, saw the lure, and came straight in. We banded him, took some photos, and Rick released him. Red-tails and rough-legs started pouring through. In the next hour, we caught a red-tail and a rough-leg. Then at 11:00, we had a Red-tailed hawk, that we hadn't seen, come in high from the right, but it bounced out. We had a few more come in, but they pulled up and landed in the trees above us. The next two birds, a red-tail and a rough-leg, were caught by the falconers and sent up from Hawk Harbor for us to band.
Around 11:15, I spotted a magpie out in the draw, feeding with a few crows. That was my first sighting ever of a magpie at the banding station. We caught two more red-tails and another rough-leg in the next 45 minutes. One of the red-tails was a very light colored bird that came in from the fake owl. At 12:20, we got a call from Hawk Harbor, saying they had caught another rough-leg. To save everyone a long walk up to the banding station, Rick drove his truck down to get it. He brought it up and we banded it. Ten minutes later, we got another call saying they had caught a second rough-leg. Rick took his truck down again to get that one.
While he was gone, I sat in his spot and did a little lure pulling, just to see if everything was working correctly. Suddenly at 12:50, a gray streak passed low in front of me and hit the front net, very hard! I thought it was an adult Goshawk because of the speed and the gray coloring. We usually keep a glove on one hand when big birds are coming in. But, this one was such a surprise, that I ran out and pinned it down without the glove. I was shocked when it turned to look at me with a large falcon's face!
IT WAS A GYRFALCON!!! The first one we have ever caught in over 50 years of trapping in this hay field!! Needless to say, I was in shock! Just then Rick pulled up and put on the gloves so we could get it out of the net without getting bit. Rick's first words were, "48 years of luring and I step out for just a few minutes and this happens!!! Arrrgh!!!" We banded it, took a load of photos, and I felt so bad for Rick missing this Gyr, that we decided he should release it.
Shortly after we released the gyr, we had a Merlin come in, but it bounced out. We caught only one more rough-leg before closing down for the day at 3:00. We loaded all the extra gear from the blind into Rick's truck and took it down to Hawk Harbor to be stored away for the season. Rick headed home and I stayed on for one more day, since Kenny said he would help me on Sunday at the banding station.
We got a total of 11 birds and 2 bounce-outs on Saturday.
1 Gyrfalcon, 1 Merlin, 4 Red-tailed hawks and 5 Rough-legged hawks
Sunday, October 25th
Sunday morning, Kenny and I went back up to the banding station while Brian and Niall set up at Hawk Harbor. Curt went back to trap at his spot. We set up and were ready by 9:15. Skies were overcast with light Northwest winds.
At 10:15, we spotted a Northern Goshawk coming along above the woods on the North side of the field. We started luring, but before the gos arrived, an unseen rough-leg zipped in from the South and hit the net! We banded it, took some photos, and Kenny released it. A little over a half an hour later, another rough-leg spotted the lure from way out over the barn, set its wings, and made a very long, slanting glide into the front net. We banded that one and released it. Fifteen minutes later, we spotted another Northern Goshawk, again over the North side of the field. This one was an adult that wasted no time and came in hard and fast. We banded that one, took some photos, and Kenny released it.
We caught two more rough-legs and had just released the last one when Mr. and Mrs. Lundgren, who live just up the road, came hiking up to the blind. They were cutting across the field to take the back way to their place and thought they would stop in to say "Hi." I felt bad that we had released our last bird just before they got there. I told them about the wolves we had seen in the field and showed them some of my most recent photos. They had heard about the wolves from the neighbors, but hadn't seen any yet. I suggested that they might need bigger hiking sticks!!! Just then, we got a call from Hawk Harbor saying they had caught a rough-leg and an adult goshawk that they were sending up for us to band. We showed the hawks to the Lundgrens and Kenny helped them do the releases. The Lundgrens headed off North into the woods, and we closed down for the season at 2:45.
We got a total of 7 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.
2 Northern Goshawks and 5 Rough-legged hawks
We got a total of 20 birds for the weekend.
1 Gyrfalcon, 1 Merlin, 2 Northern Goshawks, 4 Red-tailed Hawks and 12 Rough-legged hawks
We ended up with a total of 147 birds for the season.
My next report will have a recap of the data for the birds we banded during the 2020 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. A selfie with my "Surprise Gyrfalcon." Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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02. Lots of Rough-legged hawks around this weekend. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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03. One of the Rough-legged hawks coming in low and slow. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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04. Frank holding a rough-leg down at the falconer's trapping site at Hawk Harbor. Photo by Niall Canny Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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05. Frank banding a rough-leg in the spare blind at Hawk Harbor. Photo by Niall Canny Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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06. A Sunday morning Merlin. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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07. Rick holding the Merlin. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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08. A male Merlin. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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09. Rick releasing the Merlin. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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10. A young red-tail coming in. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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11. Frank holding the red-tail. Photo by Rick DuPont Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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12. A young Red-tailed hawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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13. Frank releasing the red-tail. Photo by Rick DuPont Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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14. A Rough-legged hawk above the blind. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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15. Frank holding the rough-leg. Photo by Rick DuPont Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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16. A Rough-legged hawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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17. Frank releasing the rough-leg. Photo by Rick DuPont Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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18. A rare magpie sighting. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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19. One of the many Rough-legged hawks going over. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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20. A rough-legged hawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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21. Rick releasing a rough-leg. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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22. A young red-tail checking us out. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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23. Rick holding a pair of Red-tailed hawks. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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24. A young Red-tailed hawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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25. An adult Red-tailed hawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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26. Rick doing a double red-tail release. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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27. Rick with a very light colored red-tail. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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28. A young light colored Red-tailed hawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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29. Rick releasing the light colored red-tail. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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30. A gray Gyrfalcon going by. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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31. The Gyrfalcon spots the lure. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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32. Frank with that "deer-in-the-headlights" look! He just caught the only Gyrfalcon in over 50 years of trapping at the Mattson farm. Photo by Rick DuPont Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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33. Frank and Rick with the Gyrfalcon. Photo by Ken Wagner Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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34. Rick holding the Gyrfalcon. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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35. Our first and only Gyrfalcon. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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36. The Gyrfalcon. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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37. The Gyrfalcon. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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38. The Gyrfalcon. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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39. Rick releasing the Gyrfalcon. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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40. Rick releasing the Gyrfalcon. You can see the new band shining in the sunlight! Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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41. Away it goes! Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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42. The Gyrfalcon climbing up and away from us. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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43. A Sunday morning rough-leg. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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44. A Sunday morning rough-leg. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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45. Kenny holding the rough-leg. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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46. Kenny releasing the rough-leg. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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47. The North end of a South bound rough-leg, just after release. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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48. A blurry photo of an adult Northern Goshawk coming in. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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49. Kenny holding the adult goshawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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50. An adult Northern Goshawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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51. Kenny releasing the goshawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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52. Mr. and Mrs. Lundgren with Frank, holding a Rough-legged hawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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53. Kenny helping the Lundgrens release the rough-leg. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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54. Mr. and Mrs. Lundgren with Kenny, holding a Northern Goshawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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55. Kenny helping the Lundgrens release the goshawk. Ninth Weekend of Banding 2020 |
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