Hawk Watch Monday October 25, 2010

It was a better than expected flight at the Hawkwatch today. Despite the SSW winds there were still raptors moving with decent consistency throughout the day. Sharp-shinned Hawks (as usual) dominated the flight, although Cooper's Hawks were no slouches in the middle of the day either. The raptor highlight, by far, was a juvenile Northern Goshawk that came by the platform during the noon hour giving pretty decent views for the few (Read: 2) people remaining in the upper deck of the platform.

This Blue Grosbeak spent the whole day hanging around the platform and could often be heard "chinking" from the vegetation when it wasn't in view. (photo by Alyssia Church)

Non-raptor highlights were an American Bittern, 3 Great Cormorants, a juvenile Blue Grosbeak, 11 juvenile White-crowned Sparrows, an American Golden-Plover (seen twice flying towards the beach with a flock of Black-bellied Plovers), 6 Eastern Meadowlarks, and 2 each of Eastern Bluebird and Pine Siskin. There was also a sizeable movement of House Finches this morning, along with a southbound (as typically happens on south winds) push of Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Complete eBird list follows with Hawkcount data below:

Location: Cape Island--CMPSP--Hawkwatch Platform (CMBO hawkwatch)
Observation date: 10/25/10
Notes: SSW Winds all day.
Number of species: 79

Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
American Wigeon X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 3
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail 6
Green-winged Teal 115
Ring-necked Duck 1
Surf Scoter 1500
Black Scoter 400
Surf/Black Scoter 2000
Ruddy Duck 52
Red-throated Loon 4
Common Loon 2
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Northern Gannet 35
Double-crested Cormorant 2100
Great Cormorant 3
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron X
Great Egret 2
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 9
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 16
Sharp-shinned Hawk 276
Cooper's Hawk 66
Northern Goshawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 8
Merlin 18
Peregrine Falcon 21
Black-bellied Plover 14
American Golden-Plover 1
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Lesser Yellowlegs 14
Sanderling X
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Royal Tern X
Black Skimmer 180
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow 500
Tufted Titmouse 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren X
Golden-crowned Kinglet X
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 2500
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1000
Palm Warbler (Yellow) 2
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 3
White-crowned Sparrow 11
Northern Cardinal 2
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird X
Eastern Meadowlark 6
Common Grackle X
House Finch 800
Pine Siskin 2
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X


Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 1 82 128
Turkey Vulture 5 648 846
Osprey 1 1750 4491
Bald Eagle 0 209 385
Northern Harrier 16 806 1277
Sharp-shinned Hawk 276 10480 15700
Cooper's Hawk 66 2547 3431
Northern Goshawk 1 2 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 56 61
Broad-winged Hawk 0 748 1201
Red-tailed Hawk 2 253 392
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 3 3
American Kestrel 8 2325 5124
Merlin 18 1207 2028
Peregrine Falcon 21 984 1261
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: 416 22100 36331
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 06:15:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 9.75 hours

Official Counter: Doug Gochfeld

Observers:

Weather:
SSW Winds all day.

Raptor Observations:
Juvenile Northern Goshawk AT 12:25 PM. Several adult male Merlins.

Non-raptor Observations:
Juvenile Blue Grosbeak, 11 juvenile White-crowned Sparrows, American
Bittern (1-2), American Golden-Plover, 6 Eastern Meadowlarks, 2 Eastern
Bluebirds, 3 Great Cormorants, 2 Pine Siskins, several hundred House
Finches.

Predictions:
S and SSW winds again. Clouds.

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