Hawk Watch Sunday October 10, 2010

Although not quite as impressive as yesterday, the raptor show was still a spectacle to be seen this warm and sunny October day. There were surprisingly good numbers early on (22 Northern Harriers before sunrise), and then even more numbers as the thermals heated up producing large kettles of mostly Turkey Vultures and Broad-winged Hawks. The small falcons were lacking today, but we still had a good number of Peregrines flying through.

After a long, hard week, I'm really looking forward to my two days off. Gotta rest up those eyes!!

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                6             28             74
Turkey Vulture              43            147            345
Osprey                     110           1464           4205
Bald Eagle                   6            125            301
Northern Harrier            90            413            884
Sharp-shinned Hawk         793           5678          10898
Cooper's Hawk              117           1039           1923
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          2             11             16
Broad-winged Hawk          139            561           1014
Red-tailed Hawk              8             57            196
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel            19           1394           4193
Merlin                      17            782           1603
Peregrine Falcon            64            703            980
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:                    1414          12402          26633
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Observation start time: 05:30:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 10.5 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
Light Northeast winds early on, two hours of calm conditions (no wind),
then light Southwest winds eventually turning Southeast.  Zero cloud cover
the entire day.

Raptor Observations:
Really good movement of birds before and 1 hour after sunrise.  Good
numbers of birds in late morning and midday, then slowing down drastically
by the afternoon.  Another day of impressive numbers of Broad-wings
(basically the same kettle throughout the day).

Non-raptor Observations:
Common Loon, Brown Pelican, Rusty Blackbird, thousands of Tree Swallows,
Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift

Predictions:
Light West winds for most of the day, but turning to Southwest by the end
of the day so there will probably be decent numbers in the first half of
the day.