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.

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