Fifth Weekend of Banding 2024

Hi All,

Saturday, September 28th

Trudi was still in Florida, so I got up earlier than usual and started driving up to Hawk Harbor. When I got there, Rick and Todd were already there. Falconers Curt, Joe, and Eric came up the day before and had camped at Hawk Harbor. They were up for the weekend trapping at Curt's site. Todd went over to his rig while Rick and I drove out to set up the banding station. We got started at 9:00 am. It was a super beautiful day on the North Shore! Clear skies, warm temperatures, but the winds were slight and out of the east. Nice to hang out in, but bad for seeing migrating raptors at our place.

Our first and only hawk we caught all weekend came in from the fake owl at 9:47 am. It was out hunting the draw, saw the owl, took a few passes at it, Rick worked the lure, and it came right in! We banded it, took some photos, and Rick released it.

A little while later, our friends Kris and Eddie with their dog Jango came up to sit in for a while. We saw some hawks passing over, but they were so far up that they paid no attention to us. Kris and Eddie took off after a while to go hike along the river out behind us. After they left, my daughter Becky, and Mike came up with my grandson Max, who had made a special card for my 75th birthday! They brought us some bakery treats and brought along their new Doxie puppy.

Hawk banding is kind of like sailing, long hours of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer panic! Today we had more of the long hours than panics. We had a Red-tail Hawk come in for a look. We had a Kestrel come in for a look. And, even a Raven came by, but I think it was laughing at us! Nothing else got caught that day, so we closed down at 5:00 pm. A little later, Kris and Bruce stopped by Hawk Harbor to visit. So, Kris and Bruce, Kris and Eddie, Rick, Todd, and I all went in to Culver's for supper. Later when the other falconers got back, we all sat around the campfire enjoying the great weather.

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

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Sunday, September 29th

Sunday morning, Rick and I went up to the banding station early, hoping to catch another shin that might be out hunting the draw. We were set up and ready by 7:00 am. All the other campers were just getting up as Rick and I watched the sun come up over Lake Superior. You know that old saying, "The early bird gets the worm."? Well, no worms for us today! Another beautiful day in paradise, but not good for our banding site as the wind was freshening out of the southeast, blowing the birds away from the shore. Any hawks we saw were passing over at a tremendous height, not giving us a look! We did have a Blue Jay that was flitting up and down the edge of the woods accidentally fly into our net. We pulled it out, took some photos, and let it go.

A little while later, Lynn, who has been coming up to see us for many years, brought her friend Teresa out to see our set up. Both Lynn and Teresa have been banders for years at many banding stations around the country and also worked at the banding station in Veracruz, Mexico. It was so interesting to hear about all the other banding stations they have worked at. Before they left, we went back down to Hawk Harbor where I handed out some prints. A few Turkey Vultures were the only large migrating birds coming close that day, so we decided to cut our losses and fold up at noon.

We got a total of 0 birds and 0 bounce-outs on Sunday.

Skunked Day.

Only 1 bird for the weekend.

34 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!