Eighth Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone,

This is my eighth report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of October 22nd, 2022.

Saturday, October 22nd

Trudi and I met Rick and Chuck at Hawk Harbor around 9:00 am Saturday morning. Nancy and Todd could not be there since they had things to take care of at home. The weather forecast for the North Shore called for clear skies, warm temps, and strong winds from the East-north-east (not the best for seeing hawks migrating). We set up the banding station anyway and started scanning the skies for hawks at 9:30 am.

Around 10:00 am, Sue, Theo, and Maddi stopped up to see us. Sue's dad (Theo's grandfather) is Del Hogen. Del was one of the founding members of the Minnesota Falconers Association. Theo and Sue have been coming up to the blind for many years, but this was Maddi's first time up and we hoped she would bring us some good luck, as most first timers do. We all settled into the blind and started searching for hawks.

Almost no little birds were moving and we hadn't seen any hawks at all. However, at 10:20, Maddi's good luck kicked in, and we saw a big bird chasing something down by the barn at the other end of the field. It was big and brown and had a long tail. At first, we thought it might be a harrier. It quit chasing whatever it was after and started to ring up in a soar. Rick started luring and it immediately "locked on"! It charged straight at us just above the draw and as it got closer, we could tell it was a very big Northern Goshawk! In typical goshawk fashion, it barreled straight into the front net with no hesitation! Maddi and the rest of us got a front row seat to a perfect raptor capture! We took the gos out of the net, banded it, and took a bunch of photos. Since it was Maddi's first time at the blind, she got to release the gos. This was our first Northern Goshawk of what has been a very slow season.

After the exciting event with the gos, we hardly saw any other hawks moving through. A few eagles, a couple red-tails and a few shins, but none of them came in. By early afternoon, boredom had set in and our guests decided to head into Duluth for some sightseeing. The rest of us stuck it out until 3:00, when we also had had enough and decided to close down the blind.

We did get one other visitor to the blind before closing down. It seems that if a Pileated woodpecker comes close to the blind, it mistakes the sound of the lure line movement for a bug in the bark of the tree that the line is attached to. This has happened a couple of times before over the years and has resulted in two of the woodpeckers getting caught in our nets. Trying to get a Pileated out of a mist net with no gloves is not a fun ordeal! However, this one examined the line very carefully, let us get some photos, and then moved on up the tree and flew off into the woods behind us.

After closing down the banding station for the night, Trudi, Rick, Chuck, and I went in to have supper at Culver's in Two Harbors.

We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Saturday.

1 Northern Goshawk

Sunday, October 23rd

Sunday morning, the four of us headed back up to open the blind just as the sun was coming up over the lake. What a beautiful way to start a day! The weather forecast said the skies would be clear and the wind would be not as strong, but still out of the East-north-east. We were all set up and ready to go by 8:00 am.

At 9:00, Eric, an annual visitor to the blind, came up. His mom Nancy usually comes with him, but she had moved to Arizona. We settled in and started looking for migrating raptors. To say it was "SUPER SLOW" would have been an understatement! We saw only about ten raptors that morning. They were all way off in the distance and not interested in us. It was so slow we decided to close down early at 11:00 am. Just before we were about to take down the nets at 10:55, a young Red-tailed hawk came into the field over the barn. It started circling up in a thermal that was coming off the field, but got closer to us as it went up. On one of its turns about half way up the field, it spotted our lure and leveled off. It made a beautiful long slanting stoop, with legs coming down at the last minute, right into the front net. This was one of the most aggressive birds we have had come in this season. It footed and bit Chuck and then took a nip out of my hand while I was trying to help Chuck band it. We took some photos and had Chuck chuck-it, as he had it under control and was now wearing a protective glove. We passed out bandages all around and closed down at 11:00 am.

We got a total of 1 bird and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

1 Red-tailed hawk

2 total birds for the weekend.

63 birds total for the season.

Please help hawks by supporting:

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory ( https://www.hawkridge.org/ )

Midwest Peregrine Society ( https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/ )

National Eagle Center ( https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/ )

Raptor Resource Project ( https://www.raptorresource.org/ )

The Raptor Center ( https://raptor.umn.edu/ )

Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch ( http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/ )

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi and Frank Taylor

01. First Northern Goshawk of the year coming in.

02. Chuck holding the Northern Goshawk.

03. Chuck banding the Northern Goshawk.

04. A large, young, female Northern Goshawk.

05. Sue, Maddi, Chuck, Theo, and Rick holding the goshawk.

06. A large, young, female Northern Goshawk.

07. Theo and Maddi with the goshawk.

08. Maddi releasing the goshawk.

09. A Pileated woodpecker came in to inspect the noise from our lure line.

10. The Pileated woodpecker looking for food.

11. Sunday morning sunrise over Lake Superior and the Mattson farm.

12. Chuck, Rick, and Trudi admiring the sunrise.

13. Eric came up to help us look for some hawks. Trudi, Chuck and Rick doing the same.

14. Frank, Eric, Chuck, and Rick, still looking for some hawks.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

15. A last minute, young, Red-tailed hawk saved us from having another "Skunked" day.

16. Frank, Chuck, and Rick getting the red-tail out of the net.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

17. Chuck and Frank banding a very grabby and snappy red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

18. Rick smiling and holding the camera while the red-tail grabs and bites Chuck and Frank.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

19. Eric, Chuck, Rick, Trudi, and Frank holding the red-tail.
Photo by Troy Podd

20. A young Red-tailed hawk.

21. Frank taking a photo of Chuck holding the red-tail.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

22. Chuck holding the Red-tailed hawk.

23. Chuck releasing the red-tail.

Seventh Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone,

This is my seventh report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of October 15th, 2022.

Saturday, October 15th

Trudi and I met Rick and Todd at Hawk Harbor around 9:00 am Saturday morning. Nancy and Chuck had some things to take care of at home and would not be able to come up for the weekend. Earlier that morning we had to drive through sleet and snow on the way up and everything was soaked when we got there. We decided it was too wet to set up the banding station since the weather forecast called for more rain and sleet until late that afternoon.

The weather forecast for the North Shore didn't look too bad earlier that week, so when falconer friend Eric, who teaches at the Pine City Community College, called on Thursday to see if he and his raptor class might be able to stop by the banding station on Saturday morning, we said "sure". However, when they arrived, it was still raining and we had already decided not to set up. So, due to the unpredictable weather of the North Shore, we all did the "Wish-bird" symbol and then we handed out some of my art prints as a consolation for the banding cancellation.

Just before noon, falconer friend Greg stopped by Hawk Harbor on his way up to his hawk trapping site. It continued to rain, so Greg, Trudi, Rick, and I headed into the Culver's in Two Harbors for lunch. It kept on raining, so around 3:00, Trudi and I decided to go for a drive around the area and do some sight-seeing. When we got back, the skies started clearing and some birds started moving. But, by then it was too late in the day to set up since everything was still soaking wet. We did take an evening walk down to the river at the end of our road. The sun came out while we were there, and on our way back we had some eagles pass over us, including a Golden eagle. When I scoped the field from the end of our driveway, I saw our first Rough-legged hawk of the season. It was a very light colored bird that was way over on the other side of the field. I hiked out across the field to see if I could get a photo of it and managed to get a couple shots even though it was still pretty far away.

To finish the day, Trudi, Rick, and I went back again into Two Harbors and had supper at Do North Pizza.

Rained out - no banding.

Sunday, October 16th

It was still drizzling when we got up Sunday morning and the wind was howling out of the northwest. We thought it would be a good day and a chance to catch up on the banding we missed the day before. Trudi, Rick, and I set up the blind and the nets, put on some hot chocolate, and started looking for some birds to band. A lot of birds started moving, but they were so busy fighting the strong winds that they did not pay any attention to us.

Around 9:00, our friend Lynn who had been at the banding station many years ago brought her husband Sean and their son Vireo up to see us. We all sat there watching the birds go by, until we spotted a young Red-tailed hawk hunting the far side of the field. It kept moving from perch to perch, all the while getting closer to our end of the field. Finally at 9:45, Rick got its attention and it made a low approach and hit the front net. We banded it, took photos, and Lynn got to release it.

A few more red-tails came in, but they all pulled up in the trees above us, sat there for a while, and then took off. Later, a lone Sand-hill crane flew over the blind. It seemed odd that it was traveling all alone. Our next bird came in at 11:15, an adult Sharp-shinned hawk that was hunting the north side of the field. It saw our lure and came straight in, hitting the front net. We banded it, took photos, and Sean helped Vireo release it.

Things really slowed down, so around noon Lynn and her family left for Two Harbors. We had one more bird come in just after they left, at 12:08. It was another adult shin. We banded it, took some photos, and Trudi released it. We closed down at 1:00.

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

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

3 total birds for the weekend.

61 birds total for the season.

Please help hawks by supporting:

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory ( https://www.hawkridge.org/ )

Midwest Peregrine Society ( https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/ )

National Eagle Center ( https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/ )

Raptor Resource Project ( https://www.raptorresource.org/ )

The Raptor Center ( https://raptor.umn.edu/ )

Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch ( http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/ )

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi and Frank Taylor

01. Eric's Raptor Class doing the "Wish-bird Symbol" after getting rained-out on Saturday.

02. Trudi and I walked down to the river at the end of our road where she took this photo.

03. A Golden eagle flew over as we were walking back from the river.

04. A young Bald eagle going over.

05. I walked up the field to get a photo of the first Rough-legged hawk we saw this year.
Trudi said I was "outstanding in my field," so she took this photo.

06. First rough-legged hawk of the season out hunting in the field.

07. A very light colored rough-leg.

08. First bird of the weekend was a young Red-tailed hawk on Sunday.

09. Rick and I taking the red-tail out of the net.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

10. Vireo, Sean, Lynn, Rick, Trudi, and Frank holding the Red-tailed hawk.
Photo by Troy Podd

11. Lynn, Sean, Vireo and his toy peregrine "Alaska" about to release the red-tail.

12. Lynn releasing the young red-tail.

13. A lone Sand-hill crane flew over the blind.

14. An adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

15. Frank banding the shin.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

16. Frank, Trudi, Rick, Sean, Vireo, and Lynn with the Sharp-shinned hawk.
Photo by Troy Podd

17. Sean and Vireo about to release the shin.

18. Sean helping Vireo release the shin.

19. One more shin came in on Sunday.

20. Trudi holding the shin.

21. Trudi releasing the shin.

Sixth Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone,

This is my sixth report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of October 8th, 2022.

Friday, October 7th

I drove up alone on Friday to open up Hawk Harbor for my falconer friends Kenny and his brother Danny. They came up to try to fill Danny's Goshawk permit at the falconers' trapping site. While we were getting them set up, I noticed there seemed to be a few hawks moving through. So I loaded up the banding gear and went up to the banding blind to see if I could improve our numbers after having had two "skunked" days last weekend. Well, that didn't work out as hoped! As soon as I was set up and ready to start at 1:00, all the hawks stopped migrating. I sat there for four hours and nothing came in, not even to take a look. The only thing I saw that day was a lone coyote that was hunting my side of the draw. I closed down at 5:00 and met up with the falconers to go into Culver's for supper.

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

Skunked Again!!!

Saturday, October 8th

Rick drove into Hawk Harbor to meet me at 8:00 Saturday morning. Trudi, Nancy, and Chuck had other commitments and couldn't be there this weekend. Todd also came up and went over to help the falconers. Rick and I headed to the banding blind and had things ready to go by 8:30. Skies were clear with a medium westerly breeze.

After three "skunked" days, we were extremely happy to see a little male Merlin come shooting in from the fake owl and hit the front net square on at 8:45. We banded it, took photos, and Rick let it go. Hawks started getting up all around us and were coming over the blind. We caught a young shin at 9:00, and had one bounce-out at 9:30. More Sharp-shinned hawks were moving and by noon we had caught 8 more! Wiley Coyote also came by again to give us a look that morning.

After a slight noon lull, we had a young Red-tailed hawk surprise us by dropping in out of the blue. Our first large bird of the season! About an hour later, another red-tail, this time an adult, made the same approach, straight down from above. We never saw that one coming either! Half an hour later, we spotted a young red-tail out over Hawk Harbor looking for a thermal. Rick pulled the lure and it locked on! It did a beautiful, long, shallow glide, passing right in front of us and hitting the net! A little over an hour later, another young red-tail pulled a sneak attack coming straight down from above the blind, hidden from our view. At 3:30, we saw a large accipiter passing to the north of us. Rick pulled the lure and an adult male Northern Goshawk came in, hit the top of the front net, knocking it down but not getting caught! Things really slowed down after that, and at 4:30 we got our last bird of the day, an adult male Sharp-shinned hawk. We closed down at 5:00 and went back to Culver's in Two Harbors for supper.

We got a total of 15 birds and 2 bounce-outs on Saturday.

10 Sharp-shinned hawks, 4 Red-tailed hawks, and 1 Merlin.

Sunday, October 9th

Rick and I got to the banding station a little earlier than usual and had everything set up by 7:45 on Sunday. The winds had shifted to the northeast and were predicted to get stronger and more easterly as the day progressed. Not a good wind for seeing a lot of migrating raptors.

At 8:30, our good friend Greg Salo, recently retired as head of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers, came up with a couple of DNR co-worker friends, Lisa and Joe. Lisa's dad Ken, who lives near Duluth, also came along. We gave them a tour of the banding station and showed them how the nets work. After explaining to them that it might be a very slow day for banding, we settled into the blind and as predicted, did not see very much moving. At 9:10, a lone shin made a pass at the owl. Rick pulled the lure and it came straight in. However, at the last second it pulled up over the nets and sat in the tree behind us. Arrrgh!!! Everyone froze dead still in the blind and Rick worked the lure just enough to get the shin to make a few more passes at it. On the third pass, the young male shin hit and stuck in the back net! We were so happy to be able to show them how our rig works and have a bird for them to release! We banded it, took photos, and had Lisa's dad Ken release it.

About an hour later, there was still very little moving when Rick spotted an adult Red-tailed hawk soaring up in a thermal far to the north of us. I got it in my binoculars and told Rick when it was facing us so he could activate the lure. It made a couple more turns in the thermal and then locked on!! We were all treated to a classic long distance shallow stoop of a Red-tailed hawk. As it neared the field, we could see the wings pull in and the legs come down before it hit the center of the front net. We couldn't have asked for a better show for people who had never seen that before! We banded it, took a bunch of photos, and Lisa did the release. They had to leave at noon and things were so slow that Rick and I decided to close down at the same time.

We got a total of 2 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.

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

17 total birds for the weekend.

58 birds total for the season.

Please help hawks by supporting:

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory ( https://www.hawkridge.org/ )

Midwest Peregrine Society ( https://midwestperegrine.umn.edu/ )

National Eagle Center ( https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/ )

Raptor Resource Project ( https://www.raptorresource.org/ )

The Raptor Center ( https://raptor.umn.edu/ )

Twin Cities Metro Osprey Watch ( http://ospreywatch.blogspot.com/ )

Keep your eyes on the skies!

Trudi and Frank Taylor

01. Having another "skunked" day on Friday.
Sitting alone all day looking for any sign of migrating hawks.
Photo by Try Podd

02. Wiley Coyote was the only one who showed up on Friday.

03. A Saturday morning Merlin.

04. Rick with our first bird of the weekend on Saturday morning.

05. Sharp-shinned hawks started moving.

06. Rick holding a couple of shins.

07. Rick releasing two shins.

08. More shins came in.

09. Frank with a couple of shins.
Photo by Rick DuPont

10. Frank releasing the shins.
Photo by Rick DuPont

11. Wiley Coyote showed up again on Saturday.

12. Some Red-tailed hawks started coming in.

13. Portrait of a young Red-tailed hawk.

14. Frank banding the red-tail.

15. Rick holding the red-tail.

16. Rick releasing the red-tail.

17. An older red-tail coming in.

18. An adult Red-tailed hawk.

19. Rick releasing the red-tail.

20. One of the red-tails had deformed pupils in its eyes.

21. Frank releasing another red-tail.

22. Last bird of the day was an adult Sharp-shinned hawk.

23. First bird on Sunday was a Sharp-shinned hawk.

24. A Sunday morning shin.

25. Past, present, and relatives of Minn. Dept. of Natural Resources employees
came up to visit on Sunday morning. 
Left to right: Frank, Lisa, Ken, Rick, Joe, and Greg. Photo by Try Podd

26. Ken holding a Sharp-shinned hawk.

27. Ken releasing the shin.

28. Everyone got to see an adult Red-tailed hawk make a classic "legs down" stoop into the net.

29. Frank, Ken, Lisa, Rick, Joe, and Greg holding the red-tail.
Photo by Try Podd

30. Lisa and her father Ken holding the Red-tailed hawk.

31. Lisa about to release the Red-tailed hawk.

32. Lisa releasing the red-tail.