Ninth Weekend of Banding 2022

Hello Everyone,

This is my ninth and last report of the 2022 banding season, covering the weekend of October 29th, 2022.

Friday, October 28th

Trudi and I drove up to Two Harbors on Friday morning to do some sight seeing and celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, which was actually on August 21st. Trudi had booked a room at the Country Inn and check in wasn't until 3:00, so we went over and had a great lunch at the Black Woods restaurant in town. After lunch, we stopped by the Burlington Station Candy Store for some treats. After we checked in at the motel, we headed up to hike around at Gooseberry Falls. A great way to celebrate on the North Shore and I must say that even after all these years, it still feels like we are newlyweds.

Saturday, October 29th

Trudi and I had breakfast at the motel, which included pancakes made in a machine with a conveyor belt that started up with the wave of your hand! We met Chuck at Hawk Harbor around 9:00 am. Nancy, Todd, and Rick could not come up due to commitments at home. The weather forecast for the North Shore called for clear skies, warm temps, and almost no wind. This has been our slowest year ever! The weather patterns have conspired against us almost every weekend this season. We set up the banding station and started looking for hawks at 9:30 am.

A lot of small birds were starting to move and at 9:47 we got our first bird of the weekend, a young female shin that was out hunting the draw. It popped up near the fake owl, Chuck worked the lure, and it came right in. We banded it, took some photos, and Trudi released it. An hour later we had another young female shin "lock on" from the north and hit the front net. We banded it, took photos, and Chuck released it.

A half an hour later, a pair of Northern Harriers dropped in and started working the other end of the field. The female went straight on through, but the adult male saw our owl and took a few shots at it. Chuck worked the lure and it started a flappy, but steady approach. In typical Harrier fashion, it pulled up at the last second, just nicking the top of the net, knocking it down without getting caught. A bounce out!!!

My brother Mike came up around 2:00, just in time to see a shin make a long slanting stoop from out over the barn, zooming right into the center of the net! We banded it, took photos, and Mike got to release that one. Mike had not slept at all the night before, so a little while later he went down to take a nap at Hawk Harbor.

We caught an adult female shin at 2:45. No one saw it come in! I heard what sounded like a shin peep while Chuck was luring for another bird out front. I looked out the side window of the blind and saw the shin was already caught in the net!

We had two more shins come in that day, both making long slanting stoops from way out over the field. Those are the most exciting ones to watch! The first one was another young female shin and the second was an adult male. We banded them, took photos, and I got to release the male.

Around 4:15, we had a White-tail doe walk out of the woods right next to the blind. It nibbled some grass out front while we took photos and then moseyed off to the north. We closed down at 4:30.

After securing the banding station for the night, Trudi, Chuck, and I went in to the Culver's in Two Harbors for supper.

We got a total of 6 birds and one bounce-out on Saturday.

6 Sharp-shinned hawks

Sunday, October 29th

Sunday was our last day of the 2022 banding season. Trudi, Chuck, and I drove back up to the blind just as the sun was coming up over the lake. Always a beautiful way to start the day! The weather forecast said the skies would be partly cloudy and the wind would be out of the south-west. We were all set up and ready to go by 8:00 am. My brother Mike had taken orders all around for McDonalds breakfast before we left for the blind. He bought us all breakfast and brought it up to us. Then he went back down to Hawk Harbor.

Talk about a SLOW day, we didn't see anything moving until about an hour after we got started. A single shin flew past to the south of us, but too far off to even notice our lure. Just after the shin went by, I heard a strange little buzzing sound. I looked up and saw a drone that came zipping in and stopping about two feet in front of my face. It was my brother Mike's drone that he was operating from down at the road. He came back up to the blind and showed us the incredible flying abilities of his fancy little drone. While sitting in the blind, he was able to send it down to Hawk Harbor, descend to just above ground level, and do a 360° scan of the entire campsite. Shortly after the flight demo, he left to visit our older brother Tony who was 50 miles south of us.

At 11:30, we caught our 70th and last bird of the season. It was a small young male Sharp-shinned hawk that was out hunting in the draw. It took a shot at the owl and then came straight in to our nets. We banded it, took photos, and Chuck released it.

We didn't see any other raptors moving until just after noon when eagles and red-tails started swarming up in kettles! We saw more than one hundred red-tails, all adults, and many eagles mounting up in thermals passing to the north of us! Some came over the blind to take a look, but none of them came in. Just as quickly as they started, they shut down. We closed up at 1:00.

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

1 Sharp-shinned hawk

7 total birds for the weekend.

70 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. The candy counter at Burlington Station in Two Harbors, MN.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

02. One of the tunnels on the way up to Gooseberry Falls.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

03. Trudi and I at Gooseberry Falls.
Photo by Friendly Passer By

04. Trudi at the Upper Falls.

05. Celebrating 30 years married to this beautiful lady.

06. Saturday morning shin coming in.

07. First bird of the weekend was a young female Sharp-shinned hawk.

08. Chuck, Trudi, and Frank holding the shin.
Photo by Troy Podd

09. A large young female shin.

10. Trudi about to release the shin.

11. Trudi releasing the shin.

12. Another Sharp-shinned hawk.

13. Chuck getting the shin out of the net.

14. A young female shin.

15. Frank banding the shin.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

16. Another young female shin.

17. Frank, Trudi, Chuck, and Mike holding the shin.
Photo by Troy Podd

18. A bulging full crop on this shin and it still came in.

19. Mike holding the shin.

20. Mike releasing the shin.

21. An adult female Sharp-shinned hawk.

22. Frank and Chuck taking the shin out of the net.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

23. An adult male Sharp-shinned hawk.

24. Frank releasing the shin.
Excellent photo by Trudi Taylor

25. Trudi watching the deer in front of the blind.

26. A visiting deer came out in front of the blind.

27. The deer checking us out.

28. The deer slowly walking away.

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

30. Another visitor to the blind.

31. Drone's-eye view of our banding station.
Photo by Mike Taylor

32. Mike landing his drone.

33. Only a few shins came over on Sunday.

34. The only shin we caught on Sunday.

35. Chuck and Frank taking the shin out of the net.
Photo by Trudi Taylor

36. Chuck, Trudi, and Frank with the shin.
Photo by Troy Podd

37. Chuck releasing the shin.

38. One of the many eagles that flew over on Sunday.