Hawk Watch Sunday September 5, 2010

It was certainly a gorgeous day to be outside with the clear, blue sky, light breeze, and a comfy 77 degrees. Counting hawks, on the other hand, was not as pleasant. With no cloud cover until the late afternoon (even then, it was just a smidge) and that light West wind, birds were flying high. I mean, really high. At one point, I was scanning the high sky and a Northern Harrier came into view as a tiny speck. “Man, that harrier is way up there.” Following that same line, a second harrier, this one an adult male, was just as high up. We watched the sneaky fools cruise right over our heads to Delaware. Since a good field mark for the Northern Harrier is the fact that they cruise very low and lazily over marshes to hunt, it was pretty darn amazing to see, not 1 but, 2 of these raptors at such incredible heights. All in all, it was a slow and steady day raptor-wise with a few highlights throughout the day. One of which was seeing 3 adult Bald Eagles nearly in the same field of view of one another.

Some non-raptor highlights included 9 Short-billed Dowitchers, 1 Stilt Sandpiper, and 1 White-rumped Sandpiper feeding along the close shoreline of Bunker Pond at different times throughout the day. The Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks made two flyby appearances, and the Bobolink flight was simply incredible. The morning started with one impressive flock followed soon after by another, and it continued that way for hours. Most flocks would suddenly lift off from the reeds just in front of the platform and give outstanding views as they flew past. Ask anyone who was there to witness it, and they will surely tell you it was nothing short of amazing.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 05, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              0              0
Turkey Vulture               8             22             22
Osprey                      59            237            237
Bald Eagle                  14             20             20
Northern Harrier             4             23             23
Sharp-shinned Hawk           5             26             26
Cooper's Hawk               12             20             20
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              0              0
Broad-winged Hawk            0              3              3
Red-tailed Hawk              7              8              8
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel            42            174            174
Merlin                       2              5              5
Peregrine Falcon             0              1              1
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:                     153            539            539
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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:
Predominantly light West winds all day with very little cloud cover.

Raptor Observations:
Decent numbers of Osprey and American Kestrel.

Non-raptor Observations:
Short-billed Dowitchers, Stilt Sandpiper, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks,
Bobolinks