Hi Everyone,
This is my fifth report of the 2025 banding season, covering the weekend of October 5th, 2025.
Sunday, October 5th, 2025
Rick and I drove up to Hawk Harbor Saturday night so we could set up the nets at the banding station and be ready to go first thing Sunday morning. Trudi had commitments at home and did not come along this weekend.
Brynn drove out to Hawk Harbor from Duluth and met Rick and me Sunday morning around 7:00 am. We loaded up the banding gear and headed out to the blind just in time to see the sun coming up over Lake Superior. The skies were clear and the winds were light out of the Southwest. We were all set up and ready by 7:25 am.
The first bird of the day, a young male Sharp-shinned hawk, came in slow from the draw at 8:15 am. It went over the top of the front net, zipped around over the lure, then tried to shoot back out into the field, but hit the the back of the front net! While we were banding that one, a second shin, this time an adult male, came shooting in from the North right into the front net! We banded both birds, took some photos, and then Brynn and Rick did a double release.
At 8:40 am, a big female Merlin started stooping at our fake owl. Rick worked the lure and it came in fast and low right into the front net! We banded it, took photos, and I got to let that one go.
Around 10:30 am, Dave and Larry came up to the banding station. Dave is a retired photographer for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and Larry is a retired Minister. Dave has been coming up to see us for a few years now and this was Larry's first time. We all got settled into the main blind and at 11:00 am, an adult male Sharp-shinned hawk dropped into the field from the North, shot down the tree line and right into the front net! We banded it, took photos, and Larry got to do the release. At 12:15, we got our second Merlin of the day! It was a young male that made the same approach as the last shin, and powered into the front net from the North. We banded that one and Dave did the release.
Things slowed down quite a bit after that, and we were all looking around at a mostly empty sky when at 1:05 pm, a young male Peregrine falcon dropped into the far end of the field and shot towards us along the draw! Rick pulled the lure and the peregrine hit the front net fast and low! Wow!!! A feather perfect young male peregrine! We banded it, took some photos, and Brynn got to let it go.
Almost 3 hours passed without seeing anything, when we noticed an adult Peregrine falcon circling up over the farmhouse at the East end of the field. Every time it faced us in the soar, the sun illuminated its bright white chest feathers, showing it to be an adult. Rick worked the lure every time it came around to face us. After a couple circuits, it noticed our lure and broke out of the soar. We all held our breath as it powered in from high up over the field. Just before it was about to hit the net, it veered off toward the North, made a quick loop around out in front of the blind, and shot into the net from the South! TWO peregrines in one day!!! We were over the moon excited!!! We noticed it still had some juvenile feathers that it had not molted yet. We banded it, took some photos, and Rick released it.
Again, we didn't see anything moving, but sat there thinking we might see a Merlin if we stayed until 5:00. We have caught a few merlins late in the day, so much so that we call any time after 4:00 pm "Merlin Time" instead of "Miller Time" from the beer commercials. Sure enough, at 4:30 pm, an adult male Merlin came hunting down the North side of the field, flying fast and low! It spotted our lure and shot straight into the front net from a gap in the draw. We banded it, took photos, and I got to release it. We closed down at 5:00 pm and all went in to the Culver's in Two Harbors for supper.
We got a total of 8 birds and no bounce-outs on Sunday.
3 Sharp-shinned hawks, 3 Merlins, and 2 Peregrines.
Monday, October 6th, 2025
Monday morning, Rick, Brynn, and I headed back up to the banding station thinking that early morning would be our best chance of catching a hunting shin. A cold front had roared through in the middle of the night that also gave us hope of having a good day. Dave and Larry arrived while we were setting up and we were all in the blind and ready to go by 7:15 am.
We all sat there scanning the field to see if we could spot a hunting shin. We didn't see anything until 9:25 am, when an adult female shin turned a fast loop out around the fake owl and started for us. It came in rather slowly and, not surprisingly, hit the top of the front net and bounced out! Arrrgh!!!
A little while later, an adult shin came in from the draw, saw the nets, popped up over the front one and landed right next to the lure! It sat there for quite a while contemplating the situation, when it decided "naw", and flew up and sat in the tree above the lure for a little while longer, before continuing its migration South. That was the last we saw of anything moving so we packed it in at noon. Our first "Skunked Day" of the season!
We got a total of 0 birds and 1 bounce-out on Monday.
A Skunked Day.
8 total birds and 1 bounce-out for the weekend.
56 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!
Trudi & Frank Taylor
 | | 01. A two Peregrine day! |
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| 02. Sunday morning sunrise. |
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| 03. Our first bird of the day, a young Sharp-shinned hawk. |
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| 04. Brynn banding the young Sharp-shinned hawk. |
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| 05. Our second bird of the day, an adult male shin. |
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| 06. We caught two shins, five minutes apart! |
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| 07. Comparing young and adult male Sharp-shinned hawks. |
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| 08. Rick and Brynn doing a double shin release. |
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| 09. A female Merlin. |
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| 10. Frank, Rick, and Brynn with the Merlin. |
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| 11. The female Merlin. |
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| 12. Frank holding the Merlin. |
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| 13. Frank releasing the Merlin. |
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| 14. Another adult male shin. |
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| 15. Dave, Larry, Rick, Brynn, and Frank with the shin. |
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| 16. Larry holding the shin. |
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| 17. Larry releasing the shin. |
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| 18. A young male Merlin. |
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| 19. Larry, Rick, Brynn, and Dave with the Merlin. |
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| 20. Dave holding the second Merlin of the day. |
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| 21. Dave releasing the Merlin. |
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| 22. A young male Peregrine. |
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| 23. Frank holding the Peregrine. |
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| 24. A young male Peregrine falcon. |
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| 25. Larry, Dave, Rick, Brynn, and Frank with the Peregrine. |
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| 26. A young male Peregrine. |
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| 27. Brynn holding the Peregrine. |
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| 28. Brynn releasing the Peregrine. |
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| 29. An adult male Peregrine falcon coming in. |
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| 30. Rick and Brynn taking the adult Peregrine out of the net. |
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| 31. An adult male Peregrine falcon. |
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