Hawk Watch Wednesday October 6, 2010

I'm not going to lie, I had low expectations for today's count when the first two hours started out pretty slow (just over 100 birds). Thankfully, I was wrong. One minute there was only a trickle of hawks flying through, then suddenly there were numerous Sharp-shinneds, Cooper's, Osprey, and even Broad-wings. A nice, steady stream of raptors continued through most of the day after that with falcons becoming more prominent in the afternoon.

Some raptor highlights included great looks at multiple adult male Northern Harriers *insert sigh here*, a kettle of 5 Bald Eagles and 1 Peregrine in the late afternoon, 3 adult Peregrines flying down the dune in the same field of view, and Merlins dive-bombing the House Sparrows right in front of the platform.

To add to today's festivities, we had several Common Loon flying through (at least 7), 1 Brown Pelican very close to the platform, a Cape May Warbler bopping around, 2 Great Cormorants fly by very close, and there are now 6 Ruddy Ducks on Bunker Pond. It also appears that we have attracted the attention of 1 very outgoing Laughing Gull, who is now known as Fritter. Going the distance for even the smallest morsel, Fritter literally tried to land on a visitor's head (but failed) then successfully flew under another visitor's feet to grab a piece of food under the bench. Later in the afternoon while the fearless hawk counter was trying to eat a quick bite between scans, Fritter tried to ambush her! Although unprepared for such an attack, the hawk counter guarded her cheese steak from the Laughing Gull's grasp. Fritter may have lost this time, but there's always tomorrow...

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2010
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                8             15             61
Turkey Vulture              25             54            252
Osprey                     148            806           3547
Bald Eagle                  28             63            239
Northern Harrier            26            143            614
Sharp-shinned Hawk         638           1695           6915
Cooper's Hawk              151            440           1324
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          1              5             10
Broad-winged Hawk           38            126            579
Red-tailed Hawk              5             23            162
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel            57            456           3255
Merlin                      95            559           1380
Peregrine Falcon            93            373            650
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:                    1313           4758          18989
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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:
Partly cloudy for most of the day turning to overcast for the last two
hours of the count.  Northwest winds for the first hour then variable West
winds throughout the day.

Raptor Observations:
A steady stream of migrants today with good diversity.  Good numbers of
Osprey, Bald Eagles, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and falcons.  Really good looks
at multiple adult male harriers.

Non-raptor Observations:
Brown Pelican; 7 Common Loon; 6 Ruddy Duck; Bobolink; Cape May Warbler; 2
Great Cormorants

Predictions:
WSW winds and clear skies predicted for tomorrow so there probably won't be
a lot of movement and it will be difficult to find the birds against the
clear blue.