Hawk Watch Wednesday October 12, 2011

It was quite the slow day with overcast skies, scattered showers, and strong East-northeast winds. Even though I only counted 25 migrants, the day wasn't a total bust since there were a few Merlins and Peregrines foraging pretty much the entire day. They helped keep me awake.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0             24             39
Turkey Vulture               0            130            151
Osprey                       6           1019           2366
Bald Eagle                   1            140            265
Northern Harrier             2            253            424
Sharp-shinned Hawk           0           5703           9374
Cooper's Hawk                1           1324           1808
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0             21             30
Broad-winged Hawk            0            844            923
Red-tailed Hawk              0             62            105
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              1              1
American Kestrel             0           2448           4658
Merlin                       6            538           1296
Peregrine Falcon             9            371            900
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              0
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              0
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0
Swainson's Hawk              0              1              3

Total:                      25          12879          22343
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 06:30:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 9.5 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
The count was delayed by 30 minutes due to heavy rain this morning, and
moderate to light rain continued until about 7:30 (STD).  The rest of the
day saw East-northeast (eventually turning straight East for the last two
hours) and overcast skies. 

Raptor Observations:
A very slow day for migrants but we were treatly to foraging Merlins and
Peregrines periodically throughout the day and an immature Red-tailed Hawk
that perched just feet away from the platform.

Non-raptor Observations:
4 Parasitic Jaegers, 4 Wilson's Snipe, 2 White-crowned Sparrows, 1
Orange-crowned Warbler, 3 Common Loons, 50 Royal Terns, 60 Forster's Terns,
4 Common Terns, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, 9 Northern Pintail, 1 Eurasian
Wigeon, 1 Cattle Egret, 1 Chimney Swift

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks even worse than today as the wind is supposed to shift to
the Southeast.  Bad news for us.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Melissa Roach (roach.mc1@gmail.com)
Cape May Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.njaudubon.org/Centers/CMBO/