Frost! The first real frost of the season hit Cape May last night, and the entire platform was covered with a thin film of it this morning.. The flight was mostly very high, and mostly Vultures, but two Merlins, two Peregrine Falcons (1 adult and 1 juvenile), and one Broad-winged Hawk (!) helped add some spice to the raptor platter. Meanwhile, by far the coolest avian happening today (although not for one of those animals involved) took place while I was watching two Cave Swallows and two juvenile Barn Swallows fly around the far side of Bunker Pond. All of a sudden one of the Cave Swallows was plucked up by a Sharp-shinned Hawk which seemed to materialize in my field of view from out of nowhere. In addition, there was an excellent-for-the-date-and-weather morning flight, over 1,500 American Robins and hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and American Goldfinches passed by in the first couple of hours after sunrise. Here are a couple of photos from some fun Passerine moments at the watch today:
This Red-breasted Nuthatch has been hanging out around the Hawkwatch Platform for quite a while now, and it's quite an enjoyable bird to watch in action.
These two Baltimore Orioles flew in from well to the East today and landed right in the Cedars where they briefly sunned themselves before flying off (I didn't see them go very far, so they may still be hanging around).
Anyway, tomorrow is the LAST day of CMBO's Hawkcount (sponsored by Leica) for the 2010 season, so if you haven't made your way down to the platform yet (or even if you have for that matter) tomorrow's your last day to do that while having guaranteed company!
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 29, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 14 345 521
Turkey Vulture 64 1546 2636
Osprey 2 46 4576
Bald Eagle 0 97 506
Northern Harrier 2 754 2385
Sharp-shinned Hawk 34 2151 19958
Cooper's Hawk 5 421 4106
Northern Goshawk 0 24 26
Red-shouldered Hawk 5 329 443
Broad-winged Hawk 1 19 1226
Red-tailed Hawk 21 1225 1807
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 19 27
American Kestrel 0 90 5651
Merlin 2 79 2252
Peregrine Falcon 2 46 1415
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 2
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 152 7192 47537
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Observation start time: 06:45:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 8.75 hours
Official Counter: Doug Gochfeld
Observers:
Visitors:
Garland, Crewe, Glazer, Parsons, Breslow.
Weather:
Calm wind, then going light NE and staying light but shifting around to the
SSE by the end of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Birds were mostly extremely high. Local Adult Bald Eagle(s).
Non-raptor Observations:
25+ Cave Swallows in view at once, but the number of them dropped
throughout the day; hopefully that means many made it over to Delaware and
will continue south. 1,500+ American Robins, 20+ American Pipits, Purple
Finch, Pine Siskin, Palm Warbler, Greater Yellowlegs, several hundred
Northern Gannet.
Predictions:
Strong SE Wind and clouds with precipitation moving in in the afternoon.
Today may have been the last day of the season with any countable
raptors...but come down for the Grand Finale anyway!
Location: Cape Island--CMPSP--Hawkwatch Platform (CMBO hawkwatch)
Observation date: 11/29/10
Number of species: 67
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
American Wigeon X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail X
Green-winged Teal X
Ring-necked Duck X
Surf Scoter X
Black Scoter X
Hooded Merganser 17
Ruddy Duck X
Red-throated Loon 25
Common Loon 1
Northern Gannet 750
Double-crested Cormorant 50
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 20
Turkey Vulture 85
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 34
Cooper's Hawk 5
Red-shouldered Hawk 5
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 21
Merlin 2
Peregrine Falcon 2
American Coot X
Killdeer 2
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 25
Blue Jay 2
American Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow 2
Cave Swallow 30
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 1500
Northern Mockingbird 4
European Starling X
American Pipit 20
Cedar Waxwing 25
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 4
Palm Warbler 1
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Purple Finch 2
House Finch X
Pine Siskin 3
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
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