First Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone,

Here we go!!!

This is my first report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of September 3rd, 2022.

(Scroll down to bottom of report text to see photos.)

Saturday, September 3rd

Trudi and I met Rick and Chuck at Hawk Harbor at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Todd came in a little later and set up at the Hawk Harbor trapping site. Nancy would join us on Sunday. As usual, we loaded the banding gear into Rick's truck and headed up to the banding blind on the West end of the Mattson hayfield. Trudi and I had been up the weekend before and got the banding station blind cleaned out and the weeds mowed, so we were able to set up right away. Rick and Chuck put up the nets while Trudi and I got the blind ready. We got started at 9:55 a.m. And so began our 53rd consecutive season of trapping hawks at the Mattson farm.

Winds were medium out of the East-North-East with a clear blue sky. Not the best winds for banding, but we decided to try anyway since it was such a nice day. Trudi did the spotting, Rick did the luring, I did the recording, and Chuck did the banding. The first bird we saw was a shin that came in from out over the draw at 10:33 a.m. A second shin followed it in at the same time. The first one shot in around the front net and hit the back net twice, but then it bounced out and flew back into the woods! The other shin had pulled up and landed in a tree to watch the show, and then followed the first shin off into the woods.

Very few raptors were migrating that day. Most of the day we just sat out in front of the blind warming ourselves in the sun. Around 3:15 p.m., when we were back in the blind, Rick looked out and saw a lone Sharp-shinned Hawk sitting next to the lure, bobbing its head. No one saw it come in! Rick gave a warning "SHUSSS" and snuck out of the blind, using a tree to hide his approach and spooked the shin into the back net! That was how we got our first hawk of the 2022 season! We banded it, took some photos, and Rick released it.

We didn't see any more hawks migrating that day, so we closed down at 4:00 p.m. When we got back down to Hawk Harbor, Kris and Bruce Gilbertson stopped in to see us. It was their 50th Wedding Anniversary, so we celebrated by all going out to the Earthwood Inn & Restaurant in Two Harbors for supper.

We got a total of 1 bird and 1 bounce-out on Saturday.

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Sunday, September 4th

Sunday morning, we loaded into Rick's truck again and were back up at the blind, set up and ready to go by 7:30 a.m. Skies were clear and the winds again were strong from the East-North-East. At 7:54 a.m., everyone was searching the sky for hawks when a reddish brown flash shot in under our noses and hit the front net. It was a female American Kestrel that no one saw coming in! We banded it, took photos, and Chuck released it.

It was another slow day for birds! We saw a few going over, but they were so high they just passed above us without even dipping a wing. Just before noon, a lone hawk cut across the field from the North, saw our lure, turned and came straight in, hitting the front net. It was another young female Sharp-shinned Hawk! We banded it, took photos, and Nancy released it. At 2:30 p.m., a second young female Sharp-shinned Hawk came shooting in from the woods to the South of us. We banded that one, took some photos, and Trudi released it. That was our last bird of the weekend. More strong Easterly winds were predicted for Monday, so we decided to close down at 4:00 p.m. for the rest of the weekend. Then we all headed in to Culver's at Two Harbors for supper. Nancy and Chuck left for home after supper and Rick drove home early Monday morning. Trudi and I stayed at Hawk Harbor and spent the day tidying up before heading home.

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

2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, and 1 American Kestrel.

4 total birds for the weekend.

4 total birds for the season.

Side Note: In February, Trudi and I decided to have electricity put in at Hawk Harbor as a Valentines gift to each other. When we met Kristin at the co-op to set up the installation, she kept looking at me quizzically as I was explaining where to place the poles. When I mentioned that we had an ongoing hawk banding operation there for many years, she excitedly exclaimed, "So that's who you are! You're the hot meatloaf sandwich, with fried onions, mushrooms, and extra gravy!" She had been our waitress at the Light House Restaurant where I had placed that same order 70 times over the years!

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