Hawk Watch Thursday October 7, 2010

Today was good. I mean really good. You know what? I'm just going to say it: Today was awesome! There was just a constant stream of birds the entire day, and since there was a moderate wind, it kept the birds much lower today (which was a nice break for my neck). Sharp-shinned Hawks and Osprey were around in great numbers along with good numbers of Northern Harriers and Cooper's Hawks. The afternoon falcon flight was absolutely stunning as a steady stream flew down the treeline and dune-line with American Kestrels making another good push.

If you haven't already done so, you should check out Tom's post below to get a feel of how the flight went today.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 07, 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0             15             61
Turkey Vulture               0             54            252
Osprey                     219           1025           3766
Bald Eagle                  15             78            254
Northern Harrier            31            174            645
Sharp-shinned Hawk         773           2468           7688
Cooper's Hawk               87            527           1411
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              5             10
Broad-winged Hawk           14            140            593
Red-tailed Hawk              3             26            165
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel           448            904           3703
Merlin                      73            632           1453
Peregrine Falcon            69            442            719
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              0
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              1
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0

Total:                    1732           6490          20721
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 06:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:30:00 
Total observation time: 10.5 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
Zero cloud cover the entire day with moderate West winds turning to
Northwest by the end of the day.

Raptor Observations:
Very good movement of raptors today with impressive numbers of Osprey,
Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, and Peregrines.  Multiple adult
accipters today and great looks at an adult male harrier.

Non-raptor Observations:
Common Nighthawk, Northern Gannet, Savannah Sparrow

Predictions:
Sunny with Northwest winds throughout the day should produce some birds.