Hawk Watch Friday November 6, 2009

Yet another bad photo of a good bird: this the Golden Eagle that appeared north of the platform at around 2:30 this afternoon (photo copyright Doug Gochfeld)

The strong Northwest winds made for yet another extremely interesting day at the Hawkwatch (as they've all been recently). The hawk flight was great, with well over 400 Buteos (447 to be exact), good numbers of Kestrels, Harriers, and Sharp-shinned Hawks and single juveniles of Northern Goshawk and Golden Eagle.
Not only was the raptor flight very good, but I observed 86 species of bird from the platform today, pretty good for having only 2 species of Warbler. Among the highlights were a (presumably THE) Hudsonian Godwit flying on almost the exact reverse path of the one from yesterday, 3 Wilson's Snipe, an American Bittern, 2 Cave Swallows, a Bank Swallow, and 3 Common Eiders flying by on Ocean. The Northern Gannet show this morning almost on-shore at times was simply spectacular, and the day was ended with a Cooper's Hawk screaming along after an American Woodcock over the State Park Parking Lot.

eBird list:
Location: Cape Island--Cape May Point SP--CMBO Hawk Watch
Observation date: 11/6/09
Notes: Strong (15-25 MPH sustained) NW Winds. Clear sky. Huge Gannet show
early.
Number of species: 86

Brant 1 Juvenile on Bunker Pond
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan 6
Wood Duck 2
Gadwall X
American Wigeon X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail 5
Green-winged Teal 35
Ring-necked Duck 8
Common Eider 3
Surf Scoter X
Black Scoter X
dark-winged scoter sp. X
Hooded Merganser 4
Ruddy Duck 40
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 12
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Northern Gannet 580
Double-crested Cormorant X
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 10
Great Egret 2
Black Vulture 14
Turkey Vulture 111
Osprey 4
Bald Eagle 12
Northern Harrier 41
Sharp-shinned Hawk 257
Cooper's Hawk 14
Northern Goshawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 143
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 312
Golden Eagle 1
American Kestrel 37
Merlin 6
American Coot 35
Semipalmated Plover 7
Killdeer 4
Hudsonian Godwit 1
Wilson's Snipe 3
American Woodcock 1 Being chased across the parking lot by a Cooper's
Hawk in the late afternon
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Forster's Tern X
Royal Tern X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow 50
Bank Swallow 1
Cave Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 8
Carolina Chickadee X
Red-breasted Nuthatch X
Carolina Wren X
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
Eastern Bluebird 65
American Robin 7500
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
American Pipit 10
Cedar Waxwing X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Palm Warbler 4
Song Sparrow 15
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird 7000
Rusty Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Purple Finch 1
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X