Hawk Watch Tuesday September 28, 2010

There was a bit of heavy rain early and south winds, but apparently Peregrines don't care. 32 of them flew into a south wind and kept on going. Other raptors were relatively scarce. The really entertaining show in the morning were the adult Parasitic Jaegers patrolling the waters off the State Park. As Tom posted below, we had one especially exciting PAJA encounter where one came in quite close and chased a Royal Tern literally over the beach right in front of the south shelter, eventually ridding the Tern of its fish. Also on the beach were an incredible amount of Great Black-backed Gulls, which would occasionally lift off in an impressive swarm. Among these were no less than 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, including 2 juveniles. Additionally the Dickcissel at the HW platform continued this afternoon.

Hawk Totals and complete eBird list below.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0             46             46
Turkey Vulture               0            198            198
Osprey                       7           2645           2645
Bald Eagle                   1            174            174
Northern Harrier             4            436            436
Sharp-shinned Hawk          20           4837           4837
Cooper's Hawk                3            840            840
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              5              5
Broad-winged Hawk            0            449            449
Red-tailed Hawk              0            137            137
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel             0           2738           2738
Merlin                       6            776            776
Peregrine Falcon            32            177            177
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              0
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              1              1
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0

Total:                      73          13459          13459
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Observation start time: 05:45:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 10.25 hours

Official Counter:        Doug Gochfeld

Observers:        

Weather:
South winds, intermittent rain.

Raptor Observations:


Non-raptor Observations:
5 Wilson's Snipe, 3+ adult Parasitic Jaegers, Dickcissel, 9 Lesser
Black-backed Gulls, Ruddy Duck.

Predictions:
Possibly some birds on west and northwest winds, as long as precipitation
holds off in Cape May and at points to the north.

Location: Cape Island--CMPSP--Hawkwatch Platform (CMBO hawkwatch)
Observation date: 9/28/10
Number of species: 66

Canada Goose X
Mute Swan 10
Wood Duck 2
Gadwall 20
American Wigeon X
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail 1
Green-winged Teal X
Ruddy Duck 1
Northern Gannet 2
Double-crested Cormorant 15
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 6
Snowy Egret 5
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Osprey 10
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 20
Cooper's Hawk 3
Merlin 6
Peregrine Falcon 32
Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 2
Killdeer 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Sanderling 75
Least Sandpiper 2
peep sp. 1 flyby, either WESA or SESA
Short-billed Dowitcher 4
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull 5
Herring Gull X
Lesser Black-backed Gull 9 Including 2 juveniles and 3 full adults.
Great Black-backed Gull 1000
Forster's Tern 30
Royal Tern 50
Parasitic Jaeger 3 adults
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 10
Eastern Kingbird 1
Blue Jay 10
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow 100
Carolina Wren 1
House Wren 1
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Yellow Warbler 4
Palm Warbler (Western) X
Common Yellowthroat X
Savannah Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Indigo Bunting 2
Dickcissel 1 Continues w/ House Sparrows @ Hawkwatch
Bobolink 8
Red-winged Blackbird X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow 60