Hawk Watch Friday October 15, 2010

It was certainly a brisk and blustery day at the Hawk Watch platform, but there was still plenty to be seen. The raptors were moving steadily throughout the day, and the strong winds kept the birds low the entire day. Somewhat surprisingly, we had over 100 American Kestrels braving the winds today even though it is getting fairly late for their migration period.

There were some standout highlights today as well. A Sandhill Crane was picked up at distance just before 2 pm and slowly, but surely, made its way closer to the platform. It was later seen again flying across the meadows and actually landed on the beach! We also got a great look at a Cattle Egret that flew right in front of the platform. There were numerous Northern Gannets feeding offshore, some of which flew fairly close. We even had 2 River Otters on the pond! Yes, I know they aren't birds, but it was still really exciting to see them make their way across Bunker Pond. What can I say? Otters are awesome.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0             53             99
Turkey Vulture               0            287            485
Osprey                      41           1607           4348
Bald Eagle                   2            151            327
Northern Harrier             5            545           1016
Sharp-shinned Hawk         258           7394          12614
Cooper's Hawk               44           1782           2666
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0             22             27
Broad-winged Hawk            2            691           1144
Red-tailed Hawk              1             99            238
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel           106           1596           4395
Merlin                      34            866           1687
Peregrine Falcon            21            846           1123
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              0
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              1
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0

Total:                     514          15939          30170
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Observation start time: 06:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 10 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
Very strong WNW winds turning to NW for the majority of the day. Clear
skies becoming partly cloudy.

Raptor Observations:
All birds stayed very low today because of the strong winds, but there were
good numbers of Sharp-shinneds and falcons.

Non-raptor Observations:
Sandhill Crane, Cattle Egret, Snow Goose, numerous Northern Gannets

Predictions:
Much similar to today's weather with very strong WNW winds becoming NW by
the end of the day.