November is the start of the end for raptor migration, and things are certainly starting to slow down. A lot of species have moved on through so diversity is limited, but November is a good time to get repeated views of Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, Golden Eagles, and Northern Goshawks. These late-season migrants don't constitute a large portion of the overall count so it's always a nice treat to see them (even Red-tails!). Today's count was an average November day with decent numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks, both species of vultures, and Red-tailed Hawks. We had a good look at a soaring Northern Goshawk and Red-tailed Hawk in the same field of view (great size comparison), and were also treated to a late adult Peregrine flying over the lighthouse.
This immature Red-tailed Hawk initially landed on the platform railing, but only for about a minute. It found the cedars by the pavilion much more suitable and perched there for quite a while allowing visitors an up close view.
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 13, 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 17 211 387
Turkey Vulture 44 1049 2139
Osprey 3 34 4564
Bald Eagle 1 63 472
Northern Harrier 6 648 2279
Sharp-shinned Hawk 55 1812 19619
Cooper's Hawk 10 341 4026
Northern Goshawk 1 13 15
Red-shouldered Hawk 8 236 350
Broad-winged Hawk 0 14 1221
Red-tailed Hawk 20 1006 1588
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 17 25
American Kestrel 3 71 5632
Merlin 0 63 2236
Peregrine Falcon 1 20 1389
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: 169 5598 45943
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 06:30:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Melissa Roach
Observers:
Weather:
Light (sometimes moderate) North winds to start with but quickly becoming
East and continuing to turn fast to the Southwest and eventually Northwest
for the last 2 hours. Clear skies again.
Raptor Observations:
Decent movement today with good numbers of vultures, Red-tailed Hawks, and
Sharp-shinned Hawks. Another Northern Goshawk was seen again as well.
Non-raptor Observations:
15 Hooded Merganser, Eastern Bluebirds, American Pipits, 6 Great Egrets,
Cave Swallow, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Great Cormorant
Predictions:
Light NNE winds becoming East by the afternoon with partly cloudy skies.
It will probably be another fair day again.
No comments:
Post a Comment