Third Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone, 

This is my third report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of September 17th, 2022.

Nancy, Chuck, and Trudi all had other things they needed to do this weekend. Rick and I were still going to go north, but after looking at the weather reports, I called Rick to say "Don't bother driving up." I went up Friday morning anyway, just to see if it would get any better; it didn't! It did however give me some time to make improvements to the electrical hook-up at Hawk Harbor. Todd also showed up late Friday night with his camper, thinking that on Saturday there might be an improvement in the weather. When we checked the forecast on Saturday morning, it called for rain off and on all day, so we both packed up our vehicles and got an early start for home.

Due to a rained out weekend, we are still at only 12 total birds for the season.

Strong Easterly winds and rain make the North Shore not a fun place to be. Being older and wiser, we do not attempt any banding operations during these conditions.

While having nothing to report this week, I thought it might be interesting for you to see the evolution of banding blinds we have come up with over the years.

Evolution of My Trapping Blinds

1970 to 1978 This was the first blind that I designed and used in the Mattson hay-field. It was made from a card table frame with no top and had burlap bags hung on all sides. Set on top of that were triangular plywood panels hinged with leather straps, so they could be folded down. It also had hinged plywood cut-outs that acted as windows and could be raised or lowered by a string attached to each window cover. There was seating for only one person, but it could be easily folded up and carried out into the field.

1979 to 1985 My second blind was designed to be made from one sheet of 4' x 8' plywood that was cut into four pieces that could be folded down into a flat 4' x 4'. It had holes cut in front for windows and used a single broom-stick to hold up the roof. A camouflage cloth was draped around the back to complete the hide. There was seating for two people and it could be easily folded down and carried out into the field.

1986 to 1990 My third blind was designed to slide on its back, into the bed of my Ford F-150 pick-up truck. It was 3' x 6' and 4' tall. It had a solid floor, front, back, and roof. Two 2 x 4s stuck out from the floor on the door side as handles, and it had notches in the floor frame on the other end made to fit an axel with two wheels. There was seating for three very good friends. The idea was that one person (with great difficulty) could lift the end with the handles and pull it out into the field.

1991 to 2022 My brother Tony designed and built our current blind. It is 8' x 6' and 6.5' tall. All the windows are set at my eye height while standing or sitting. It is a two-level blind with standing room for four and sitting room for three. It is stationary and is left in place all year round.

    View of the inside of our latest blind.

    Sometimes when the blinds are all full, Trudi and I go out and sit in what we call our "living" 

    room.

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