Hawk Watch Friday September 17, 2010

It started off rather slow this morning on the Hawk Watch Platform with most migrants being Osprey, but with Northwest winds all day, things started to pick up in the afternoon. We ended up having a pretty good day with 589 raptors. Although most birds were staying far out over the treeline, we were lucky enough to get some great looks at zooming Merlins and pirating Bald Eagles. Speaking of Bald Eagles, it was quite the show late this afternoon when an adult Bald Eagle chased down an Osprey with a fish fairly close to the platform. The eagle snatched the fish mid-air after the Osprey dropped it, landed on the mudflats in the middle of Bunker Pond, and then proceeded to devour the fish. Pretty neat stuff, huh? Well, out of nowhere, a second adult Bald Eagle swoops down on Bunker Pond in the hopes of getting a free meal. However, in the end, no one got the remainder of the fish because the initial eagle dropped it into the water. It was still an amazing event to watch!

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 17, 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              0              0
Turkey Vulture               0            107            107
Osprey                     183           1887           1887
Bald Eagle                  12            124            124
Northern Harrier            38            178            178
Sharp-shinned Hawk         145           1008           1008
Cooper's Hawk               30            381            381
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              5              5
Broad-winged Hawk           18            255            255
Red-tailed Hawk              0             73             73
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel            85           1643           1643
Merlin                      74            291            291
Peregrine Falcon             4             16             16
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:                     589           5968           5968
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 05:45:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 10.25 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
Moderate West winds in the morning turning to Northwest early on, then
becoming light Northwest in the afternoon.  Partly cloudy most of the day.

Raptor Observations:
A slow start to the morning, but then a nice afternoon push of American
Kestrels, Merlins, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and Osprey.

Non-raptor Observations:
Black Tern flyby, Short-billed Dowitchers, Long-billed Dowitcher

Predictions:
North winds in the morning turning to East by late afternoon so there
should be decent movement but it will most likely be far out from the
point.