Well, we had 1 immature Golden Eagle that was seen for a few minutes around noon. The black-headed Osprey made a second appearance today, and quite a few people were able to see it this go-round (I'm fairly certain pictures were taken this time!). And let's not forget the Northern Goshawk show. First off, we had 1 juvenile Goshawk that ended up flying low right in front of the platform and made a half-hearted attempt at a duck (a Green-winged Teal, I believe. I was a little distracted by the Goshawk itself). Later, the same Goshawk perched on a semi-distant tree providing an excellent view. As we were watching this particular Goshawk, a second juvenile Goshawk swooped in from below and made a pass at the perched bird!! It was pretty awesome to see 2 Northern Goshawks in the same view of field fighting with one another; it's definitely not something you see everyday here in Cape May.
Other non-raptor highlights included many Cave Swallow sightings (some flying right overhead), 3 White-winged Scoters flying overland towards the ocean, and an impressive flock of 34 Tundra Swans with 2 Snow Geese. It was certainly a fun-filled day at the Hawk Watch platform. Let's hope that tomorrow brings even more excitement.
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 20, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 241 417
Turkey Vulture 0 1129 2219
Osprey 3 40 4570
Bald Eagle 2 79 488
Northern Harrier 22 713 2344
Sharp-shinned Hawk 36 1934 19741
Cooper's Hawk 3 368 4053
Northern Goshawk 2 19 21
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 270 384
Broad-winged Hawk 0 15 1222
Red-tailed Hawk 6 1053 1635
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 1 18 26
American Kestrel 2 86 5647
Merlin 2 69 2242
Peregrine Falcon 3 34 1403
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: 84 6069 46414
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Observation start time: 06:45:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 8.75 hours
Official Counter: Melissa Roach
Observers:
Weather:
SSW winds first thing in the morning soon becoming West for the rest of the
day.
Raptor Observations:
Although actual numbers were low, we had great diversity today on the
platform with 1 Golden Eagle and 2 Northern Goshawks.
Non-raptor Observations:
Cave Swallows! 1 Fox Sparrow, 1 Wilson's Snipe, 3 White-winged Scoters, 52
Tundra Swans, 2 Snow Geese
Predictions:
Colder tomorrow with moderate Northeast winds becoming East by 12. There
should be some movement, but probably not much.
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