Hawk Watch Friday September 10, 2010

I learned that things can change really fast here at Cape May Point. I started off the morning wearing three layers, sipping hot chocolate, and counting a steady stream of American Kestrels. I had the assumption that today's flight was going to be pretty close to yesterday's. I was wrong. The kestrel flight lasted only two and a half hours, then the overcast skies started to change. In about an hour, I went from scanning a cloud-covered sky to an essentially clear, blue sky. Needless to say, the flight changed as well. Instead of counting a neat line of kestrels, I was scanning high overhead to find kettling vultures, accipters, and buteos. Thankfully, some clouds started to trickle their way back over the point in the afternoon bringing the flight down a little lower. With that cloud cover, we had one last spurge of kestrels and 2 Peregrines in the late afternoon. All in all, it was quite the diverse flight today with eagles, harriers, and falcons flying throughout the day.

One of the 13 Merlin seen from the Hawk Watch platform today. We had quite a few come barreling straight towards the platform giving onlookers a chance to see a Merlin as its best, chasing other birds. (photo by Tom Johnson)

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 10, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              0              0
Turkey Vulture              23             45             45
Osprey                      93            579            579
Bald Eagle                  13             46             46
Northern Harrier            28             68             68
Sharp-shinned Hawk          47             92             92
Cooper's Hawk               42             88             88
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              0              0
Broad-winged Hawk           54             64             64
Red-tailed Hawk              8             28             28
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel           199            866            866
Merlin                      13             52             52
Peregrine Falcon             2              4              4
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

Total:                     522           1932           1932
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Observation start time: 05:30:00
Observation end   time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10.5 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:       

Weather:
Light to moderate NNW winds throughout the day.  Overcast in the morning
turning to clear skies, then becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon.

Raptor Observations:
Diverse flight today, dominated by American Kestrels and Osprey.

Non-raptor Observations:
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Stilt Sandpipers, Alder Flycatcher,
Blue-winged Warbler

Predictions:
Sunny skies tomorrow with light N winds turning to NE in the afternoon.
There should be some migrants moving, but not the numbers we've seen the
past two days.