The day started out absurdly well, as there were American Kestrels and Sharp-shinned Hawks dotting the sky over the parking lot when I arrived just before dawn. American Kestrels were streaming high off the water (going north) over the entire visible coastline. In the frst 30 minutes of the day there were already 78 tallied. As a busy morning Kestrel and Accipiter flight tailed off, excitement built around the number of Bald Eagles that were moving. We ended up setting a new single day record count for Bald Eagles at the Cape May Hawkwatch, breaking the old record of 39 by 7.
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 14, 2009
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 163 784 784
Bald Eagle 46 91 91
Northern Harrier 34 58 58
Sharp-shinned Hawk 753 1410 1410
Cooper's Hawk 165 335 335
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 2 2
Broad-winged Hawk 33 83 83
Red-tailed Hawk 34 123 123
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 399 1079 1079
Merlin 47 344 344
Peregrine Falcon 8 45 45
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 1
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 1 1
Total: 1684 4356 4356
Observation start time: 05:30:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 11.5 hours
Official Counter Pete Dunne
Observers: Doug Gochfeld
Weather:
Light NW winds.
Raptor Observations:
Kestrels and Sharp-shinneds were all over the sky pre-dawn. Bald Eagle count of 46 beat the previous daily high of 39.
Non-raptor Observations:
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