Seriously though, today was absolutely amazing!!! The hawk flight was just extraordinary. There was a constant (fairly heavy) stream of Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks all day long. Northern Harriers made an impressive showing with 100 birds counted, including multiple adult males (2 of which were in the same view at once!). We still had Broad-winged Hawks moving in big numbers in October for goodness sake!! And let's not forget the afternoon falcon show. Most people were pretty bummed that we were short on falcons for most of the day, but that changed around 3 pm. We had Merlins chasing and eating dragonflies on the wing, lines of American Kestrels coming down the dune-line and flying right over our heads, and some beautiful looks at Peregrines cruising on by.
Well raptors are definately great, but this is Cape May so you know there were other exciting treats to be had at the platform today. We had 4 Brown Pelicans early, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, 5 Common Loons (3 of which flew by very close), 2 Chimney Swifts, 8 Snow Geese, and 10 Common Nighthawks (2 of which came very close to the platform providing awesome views) . Surprisingly, I also picked up a Short-eared Owl trying to escape the harassment of a murder of crows at 9:15. Unfortunately, it was pretty distant, and I was unable to get anyone else on the bird (sorry guys!).
I would also like to give a big shout out to all my helpers today. You guys rock!! It got pretty crazy up there for a while, and I really appreciated those extra eyes. Thanks for the great support :)
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 3 22 68
Turkey Vulture 22 104 302
Osprey 188 1354 4095
Bald Eagle 19 119 295
Northern Harrier 100 323 794
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1473 4885 10105
Cooper's Hawk 195 922 1806
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 9 14
Broad-winged Hawk 115 422 875
Red-tailed Hawk 10 49 188
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 371 1375 4174
Merlin 101 765 1586
Peregrine Falcon 125 639 916
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: 2726 10988 25219
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Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 16:45:00
Total observation time: 10.75 hours
Official Counter: Melissa Roach
Observers:
Weather:
Light West winds for the first 2 hours then light Northwest winds the
remainder of the day. Sunny all day.
Raptor Observations:
Great movement of birds today! A constant stream of accipiters throughout
the day, falcons making an afternoon push, impressive numbers of harriers,
and a decent number of Broad-wings for October (and a coastal site for that
matter).
Non-raptor Observations:
4 Brown Pelicans, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Short-eared Owl, 5 Common Loons,
2 Chimney Swifts, 8 Snow Geese, 10 Common Nighthawks
Predictions:
Not looking too good for tomorrow. A very light NE wind early in the
morning, but quickly turning to light SW/S winds for the remainder of the
day.
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