Hawk Watch Saturday November 27, 2010

You can definitely tell it's the end of November. If the blustery, cold winds weren't a good enough clue, the lack of raptors on a day with West (sometimes Northwest) winds should be a dead giveaway. We ended the day with 114 migrants, but all-in-all, it was a slow day. Tomorrow's moderate Northwest winds and sunny skies should produce a good flight, just as long as there are still birds to the north of us (which there should be).

Well, with the count ending this upcoming Tuesday, tomorrow will actually be my last day counting (since I have Mondays and Tuesdays off). If the promise of hawks isn't enough to lure you out to the platform tomorrow, you should at least stop by to give me a sweet farewell :)

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 27, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture               18            311            487
Turkey Vulture              33           1412           2502
Osprey                       0             43           4573
Bald Eagle                   3             89            498
Northern Harrier             2            739           2370
Sharp-shinned Hawk          21           2077          19884
Cooper's Hawk                7            401           4086
Northern Goshawk             0             23             25
Red-shouldered Hawk          5            305            419
Broad-winged Hawk            0             18           1225
Red-tailed Hawk             23           1165           1747
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0             19             27
American Kestrel             1             90           5651
Merlin                       1             76           2249
Peregrine Falcon             0             42           1411
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              0
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              1              2
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0

Total:                     114           6811          47156
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Observation start time: 07:00:00 
Observation end   time: 15:30:00 
Total observation time: 8.5 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
Strong winds and cold temperatures today.  Variable West winds and partly
cloudy skies throughout the day.

Raptor Observations:
Fairly slow today but decent numbers of Red-tailed Hawks, Sharp-shinned
Hawks, and vultures.  We also had 1 each of American Kestrel and Merlin.

Non-raptor Observations:
1 Black-legged Kittiwake, 19 Tundra Swans

Predictions:
Tomorrow's clear skies and Northwest winds should bring a good number of
late season migrants.