Hawk Watch Sunday October 2, 2011

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 02, 2011
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                3              3             18
Turkey Vulture              12             12             33
Osprey                     285            502           1849
Bald Eagle                   2             35            160
Northern Harrier            10             54            225
Sharp-shinned Hawk         174           1190           4861
Cooper's Hawk               19            156            640
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0              3             12
Broad-winged Hawk           12            109            188
Red-tailed Hawk              0              6             49
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel           176            724           2934
Merlin                      45            182            940
Peregrine Falcon            20             98            627
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              0
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              0
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0
Swainson's Hawk              0              0              2

Total:                     758           3074          12538
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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:
Variable West to Southwest winds and overcast skies throughout the day with
a few scattered showers starting around noon.

Raptor Observations:
A much slower day than the 2 previous days but I think weather played a key
role in that.  The day actually started out quite well with good numbers of
birds moving for the first 4 hours (555 birds) but the scattered showers
slowed movement considerably for the remainder of the day.

Non-raptor Observations:
109 Black-crowned Night-herons, 150 Great Blue Herons, 19 Great Egrets, 2
Ruddy Ducks, 7 Chimney Swifts, 1 juv. Red-headed Woodpecker, 3 Red-bellied
Woodpeckers, ~200 Northern Flickers, 1 Common Nighthawk, 1 Rose-breasted
Grosbeak, 1 Baltimore Oriole, 4 Barn Swallows, 1 Bank Swallow, 2 Cliff
Swallows, an ungodly number of Tree Swallows, 6 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2
Brant, 8 Hudsonian Godwits (one flock of 5 had both adults and juvs)
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Report submitted by Melissa Roach (roach.mc1@gmail.com)
Cape May Hawkwatch information may be found at:
http://www.njaudubon.org/Centers/CMBO/