At the crack of dawn 3 Wilson's Snipe flushed from directly in front of the platform and when I looked to see what had put them up a Deer was galloping through the marsh. Certainly not the way I usually start my day at the State Park. While not a huge hawk flight, at least it wasn't nearly as slow as yesterday's. Other than the general lack of migrating raptors however, it was a very pleasant day on the platform. The front passed within the first hour of the watch, and after that the sun was shining all day long, and this afforded excellent looks at what birds were seen. The Swainson's Hawk put in an appearance or two, but was only seen out over the Meadows today. 4 Cave Swallows were pretty cooperative for the first couple of hours in the day, and after diappearing for the middle of the day came back and were in view almost constantly for the last couple of hours of the count, albeit a bit far away (over Lighthouse Pond) for satisfying views. A real nice early morning bonus was an American Bittern which landed nearby the platform and then foraged mostly in view for at least 20 minutes. Here's hoping the raptors come through thick tomorrow.
Location: Cape Island--Cape May Point SP--CMBO Hawk Watch
Observation date: 11/20/09
Number of species: 56
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
American Wigeon X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Green-winged Teal X
Common Goldeneye 1
Ruddy Duck X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Northern Gannet X
Double-crested Cormorant X
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 1
Black Vulture 26
Turkey Vulture 83
Bald Eagle 2 (1 local adult)
Northern Harrier 13
Sharp-shinned Hawk 38
Cooper's Hawk 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Swainson's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 27
American Kestrel 3
Merlin 1
American Coot 20
Wilson's Snipe 8
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Northern Flicker X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 2
Cave Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee X
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
American Pipit X
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) X
Song Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
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