Today.was.awesome.
Someone pinch me because I'm fairly certain that I'm dreaming. I just can't wrap my head around it. Did all that crazy, cool stuff happen at the Hawk Watch today?
Yes, yes it did. The early morning started off fun enough with two different Bald Eagles chasing two different Osprey and a Sharp-shinned Hawk harassing a Peregrine with prey. Sounds pretty good, huh? Well, it gets better....much better. As I was executing a routine scan, a distant Wood Stork popped into view over the Meadows. I'm not going to lie, my heart started racing! I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, and to make matters worse, the bird disappeared when I took my eye off it. I was the only one who had seen it. "Well, great. No one is going to believe me." Luckily, the bird reappeared much closer behind the platform so everyone present at the time got a great view. Soon after, it disappeared yet again for about ten or fifteen minutes only to reappear once more for a larger, more anxious crowd. After soaring high overhead for a few minutes, it set its course for Delaware where hawk counter Forrest Rowland picked up the bird after 22 minutes.
Someone pinch me because I'm fairly certain that I'm dreaming. I just can't wrap my head around it. Did all that crazy, cool stuff happen at the Hawk Watch today?
Yes, yes it did. The early morning started off fun enough with two different Bald Eagles chasing two different Osprey and a Sharp-shinned Hawk harassing a Peregrine with prey. Sounds pretty good, huh? Well, it gets better....much better. As I was executing a routine scan, a distant Wood Stork popped into view over the Meadows. I'm not going to lie, my heart started racing! I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, and to make matters worse, the bird disappeared when I took my eye off it. I was the only one who had seen it. "Well, great. No one is going to believe me." Luckily, the bird reappeared much closer behind the platform so everyone present at the time got a great view. Soon after, it disappeared yet again for about ten or fifteen minutes only to reappear once more for a larger, more anxious crowd. After soaring high overhead for a few minutes, it set its course for Delaware where hawk counter Forrest Rowland picked up the bird after 22 minutes.
I franctically digi-binned the first picture of the juvenile Wood Stork with my simple point-and-shoot camera because no one else had a camera with them at the time.
Needless to say, I was in a great mood. To add to my high spirits, there were lots of raptors moving today. However, they were in high spirits as well. And by "high spirits", I mean they were flying really high up against a clear blue sky. Not the best conditions when you're trying to count them, but I had some great help on the platform, and we all played through the pain. I know there was talk of breaking the single day record for Bald Eagles. We fell short, however, by 4 birds. It's ok though. I'll take a Wood Stork over 4 Bald Eagles :)
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 107 107
Osprey 248 1660 1660
Bald Eagle 43 112 112
Northern Harrier 36 138 138
Sharp-shinned Hawk 481 839 839
Cooper's Hawk 168 346 346
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 5 5
Broad-winged Hawk 122 234 234
Red-tailed Hawk 31 73 73
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 76 1543 1543
Merlin 32 214 214
Peregrine Falcon 2 10 10
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: 1243 5281 5281
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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 and variable North winds with no cloud cover.
Raptor Observations:
Very good flight of Osprey, Bald Eagles, and Accipiters (dominated by
Sharp-shinned Hawks)
Non-raptor Observations:
WOOD STORK
Predictions:
Strong South winds tomorrow; minimal migration activity
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