Hawk Watch Friday October 8, 2010

Another great day here in Cape May! The Hawk Watch platform was full of excitement with all the avian activity today. Along with the countless passerines flying through, the raptors made a good showing as well with 1,772 birds counted. The accipiters made up the vast majority of the count, but Northern Harriers, Broad-winged Hawks, and Peregrines put in a good run as well. The Broad-wing kettles were quite impressive for a couple of hours as a steady stream of birds made its way across the point. Although the small falcons weren't nearly as numerous as yesterday, they made a small late afternoon push. Tomorrow's forecast is looking similar to today with moderate West winds turning to Northwest by the day's end but still no cloud cover (boo).

Other highlights included 1 juvenile Great Cormorant, 1 Common Loon, a flock of about 18 Snow Geese, 1 Eastern Meadowlark, and 1 Red Bat flying in off the water.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                4             19             65
Turkey Vulture              28             82            280
Osprey                     141           1166           3907
Bald Eagle                  22            100            276
Northern Harrier            49            223            694
Sharp-shinned Hawk         944           3412           8632
Cooper's Hawk              200            727           1611
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              5             10
Broad-winged Hawk          167            307            760
Red-tailed Hawk             13             39            178
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel           100           1004           3803
Merlin                      32            664           1485
Peregrine Falcon            72            514            791
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:                    1772           8262          22493
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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:
Light to moderate Northwest winds for the majority of the day turning to
West by the end of the day with no cloud cover the entire day.

Raptor Observations:
Really good movement today with 1,772 birds counted.  Impressive numbers of
Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks, Northern Harriers, Broad-winged Hawks
(for a coastal site), and Peregrines.

Non-raptor Observations:
Juvenile Great Cormorant, Common Loon, Red Bat come in off the water,
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

Predictions:
Moderate West winds for the majority of the day turning to Northwest by the
end of the day.  Sunny with no clouds again.