Hawk Watch Tuesday October 12, 2010

Today's flight was as good as could be expected with light south winds and clear skies for most of the day. While there were many birds moving all day, the early wind shift pushed the visible flight far to the north. There were less Buteos around than yesterday , although Sharp-shinned Hawks were ubiquitous almost throughout. Northern Harriers and Peregrine Falcons also moved in numbers, with almost every single NOHA being (not atypically for Cape May in October) a juvenile.

A good early southbound movement of Yellow-rumped Warblers tapered off rather quickly, and the other landbird highlights were few, but included a few (<5) each of Bobolink, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and Barn Swallow. A female/immature-type Ruby-throated (presumably) Hummingbird circled in front of the platform a couple of times before zooming off to the north was cool, and a flock of 30 purely adult male Scoters (29 Black, 1 Surf) flying over land from due north was possibly the strangest sight of the day.

Also notable was a juvenile Bonaparte's Gull flying around Bunker Pond, which was possibly the first one of the fall here.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                4             43             89
Turkey Vulture              25            240            438
Osprey                      26           1518           4259
Bald Eagle                   5            139            315
Northern Harrier            46            508            979
Sharp-shinned Hawk         432           6544          11764
Cooper's Hawk              144           1639           2523
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          4             20             25
Broad-winged Hawk           14            651           1104
Red-tailed Hawk              6             86            225
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel            22           1469           4268
Merlin                       7            806           1627
Peregrine Falcon            39            798           1075
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:                     774          14461          28692
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 06:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 10 hours

Official Counter:        Doug Gochfeld

Observers:        

Weather:
Light/calm wind all day, shifting from NE at sunrise to south after a
couple of hours.

Raptor Observations:
Sharp-shinned Hawks were once again up in the air in numbers before dawn. A
decent number of Accipiters and Northern Harriers were around all day,
mostly on a flight line far to the north.

Non-raptor Observations:
A couple of Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Bobolinks. One
female/immature-type Ruby-throated (presumed) Hummingbird.

Predictions:
N and NE winds all day with clear skies. Should be a good and diverse
movement of raptors. Maybe higher numbers of Peregrines than the last
couple of days if there are many left to still pass by.