Hawk Watch Wednesday October 13, 2010

It started out on a good note this morning with respectable numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks and Northern Harriers then a decent kettle of Broad-winged Hawks formed as well. But as the clouds disappeared and the winds grew faint, birds soared ever higher and higher making them quite difficult to detect. Thankfully, some clouds made their way to the point in the afternoon giving my eyes some relief. Unfortunately, the winds shifted towards the East around the same time so migration slowed down considerably. Tomorrow doesn't look very promising with a forecast of East winds and rain developing sometime in the early afternoon.


Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 13, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 10 53 99
Turkey Vulture 47 287 485
Osprey 46 1564 4305
Bald Eagle 10 149 325
Northern Harrier 30 538 1009
Sharp-shinned Hawk 520 7064 12284
Cooper's Hawk 89 1728 2612
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 22 27
Broad-winged Hawk 38 689 1142
Red-tailed Hawk 12 98 237
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 18 1487 4286
Merlin 22 828 1649
Peregrine Falcon 19 817 1094
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: 863 15324 29555
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Observation start time: 05:45:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10.25 hours

Official Counter: Melissa Roach

Observers:

Weather:
Light and variable North winds turning to East by the end of the day.
Clear skies for most of the day then becoming partly cloudy.

Raptor Observations:
Decent number of migrants early on but with the light winds and clear
skies, high-flying birds most likely went by unnoticed.

Non-raptor Observations:
20 Snow Geese, 2 Common Loon

Predictions:
Doesn't look very promising tomorrow with variable East winds and rain
starting around midday.

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