Seventh Weekend of Banding 2021

Hello Everyone,

This is my seventh report of the 2021 banding season, covering the weekend of October 16th, 2021.

Friday, October 15th

Trudi and I decided that we would head up to Hawk Harbor a day early since we needed to be back in the cities to attend a memorial for a very good friend on Saturday. When we got there, Kenny was already trapping on the falconer's site. So, I fired up the old mower, packed the banding gear into a utility trailer, and chugged out to set up at the banding blind. Kenny came up to help us and we were ready to start at 10:15. Winds were out of the Southwest and the skies were cloudy.

Our first bird was a young Sharp-shinned hawk that was out hunting in the draw at 11:10. There were not many birds moving and the next one to come in was a young Red-tailed hawk at 11:31. It gave us a great show as we saw it set its wings way out across the field in front of us. It continued its long shallow stoop and when it was about two hundred feet out, it dropped its legs down for the grab. I love it when they do that!!!

At 2:21, we were looking at some birds passing to the North of us when a very dark adult red-tail surprised us by shooting in from the South! I remembered that an intern at Hawk Ridge was doing a telemetry (radio tracking) study on dark red-tails, so I called Frank Nicoletti, the bander at Hawk Ridge, to see if this was the type of bird they were looking for. He was very excited to see the text and photo of the bird and came out right away to pick it up. They put a tracking device on it, banded it, and released it (see the Hawk Ridge website for details). Later, Frank informed us that they had named the bird Trudy in honor of our Trudi and had tracked it all the way to Madison, Wisconsin, by Sunday afternoon.

Rick came up early to help us, but we didn't catch anything else all afternoon. We closed down at 5:00 pm. and went in to Culvers in Two Harbors for supper.

We got a total of 3 birds and no bounce-outs on Friday.

1 Sharp-shinned hawk and 2 Red-tailed hawks.

Saturday, October 16th

Nancy and Chuck met Trudi, Rick, and me at Hawk Harbor Saturday morning and the five of us jumped into Rick's truck to go set up the banding station. We had everything ready to go at 8:24. Winds were out of the West Northwest and the skies were clear. At 8:45, the Grape family, who have been regular visitors since 2011, came up to sit in with us for a while. We had just settled in when an adult Red-tailed hawk bombed in from the North. We banded it, took photos, and Marcella released it. Another red-tail came in from the same direction at 9:52. We banded that one, took photos, and Giada let that one go.

Around 10:00, Trudi and I left for the cities to attend a memorial service for our good friend of 40 years, Loral I Delaney, who passed away on September 19th. Loral I and her husband Chuck own Armstrong Ranch and Kennels and have conducted the Anoka Game Fair at their place for the past 40 years. Since the Game Fair's inception, they have generously provided a tent for falconers to meet the sporting public and allow us to educate people about falconry. Loral I was a great friend and inspiration to Trudi and me. She was an accomplished sculptor, artist, nationally recognized dog-trainer, international shooting champion, and a Trap Shooting Hall of Fame inductee. We will miss her great smile and nod of approval as she zipped around Game Fair in her golf cart, making sure everything was perfect for exhibitors and attendees.

While we were in the cities, the banding team caught 4 more Red-tailed hawks, a Sharp-shinned hawk, and our first for the season, a young male Northern Goshawk. They closed down at 4:00 pm.

We got a total of 8 birds and no bounce-outs on Saturday.

1 Sharp-shinned hawk, 1 Northern Goshawk, and 6 Red-tailed hawks.

Sunday, October 17th

Trudi and I drove back up to Hawk Harbor Sunday morning and joined Nancy, Chuck, and Rick. We all loaded up into Rick's truck and went out to the banding station. We set up and were ready to go at 8:15. Jackie Fallon, who is the V. P. of Minnesota Field Operations for the Midwest Peregrine Society, had a full schedule of programs to do at various places along the North Shore that weekend, so she had camped at Hawk Harbor for the night. Jackie had a little time that morning before she had to go, so she joined us at the banding blind. At 8:27, we spotted a shin out hunting in the draw, Rick pulled the lure, and we had our first bird of the day, an adult female Sharp-shinned hawk! We banded it, took photos, and Jackie released that one. At 10:04, another shin was cruising by to the North of us, saw the lure, and that one came straight in.

Around 11:45, Don Mattson, who owns the hayfield we band in, came up to see us. He said he had some pumpkins that he had grown and wondered if we wanted any. Trudi and I rode with him over to his house to pick some out. While we were there, we got a call from the blind saying they had just caught a dark young Red-tailed hawk. Again we called Frank Nicoletti to see if this bird was suitable for the radio-tracking study. He came out right away to get it and said they would look it over to determine if it could be used for the radio-tracking program. It was a small male, so they would have to take it back to Hawk Ridge for measuring to see if it would be eligible.

After Frank left with the dark young red-tail, the migration seemed to dry up. We had a young Bald eagle come in and take a close look at us, but nothing else came by. We didn't see any more raptors soaring in the area, so we decided to close up and head home at 1:00.

We got a total of 3 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

2 Sharp-shinned hawks and 1 Red-tailed hawk.

14 total birds for the weekend.

170 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

01. A Sharp-shinned hawk was the first bird of this weekend.

02. Trudi holding the shin.

03. A young Red-tailed hawk.

04. Frank holding the young red-tail.

05. Trudi about to release the red-tail.

06. Trudi releasing the red-tail.

07. A very dark Red-tailed hawk.

08. One of the darkest birds we've seen.

09. Front of the dark red-tail.

10. Back of the dark red-tail.

11. Frank Taylor with Frank Nicoletti from Hawk Ridge.
Frank Nicoletti came to pick up this bird for a telemetry research program.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

12. The dark red-tail was named "Trudy", fitted with a transmitter and released.
It had flown to Madison, Wisconsin, by Sunday afternoon.
Photo by Frank Nicoletti