Hawk Watch Thursday October 6, 2011

The day started off great with a steady stream of Sharp-shins flying along the west side of the point. Soon, we had a large chunk of the horizon covered in Broad-wing Hawks with a smattering of other species mixed in. As the day progressed, birds starting flying ever higher due to very light winds and zero cloud coverage. Soon enough, we were scanning for super high specks against clear blue...not an easy task. The day ended with a few low falcons much to my delight.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2011
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                3             13             28
Turkey Vulture              33             85            106
Osprey                      86            851           2198
Bald Eagle                  23            107            232
Northern Harrier            37            190            361
Sharp-shinned Hawk         776           4329           8000
Cooper's Hawk              194            859           1343
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          9             16             25
Broad-winged Hawk          225            775            854
Red-tailed Hawk             22             35             78
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel            22           2314           4524
Merlin                      30            460           1218
Peregrine Falcon            18            163            692
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              1              3

Total:                    1478          10198          19662
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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:
Clear blue skies again with light winds starting North-northeast and
gradually turning to the Northwest by early afternoon.  Good visibility for
the first half of the day but a heat haze developed around noon.

Raptor Observations:
Another good movement of birds today especially before noon.  The morning
started with a steady push of Sharp-shins which eventually shifted to a
fairly good movement of Cooper's Hawks.  We also had high numbers of
Broad-wings again, but I'm highly suspicious that these were leftover birds
from yesterday.  Since the winds were very light and we had zero cloud
coverage, birds were flying extremely high this afternoon making detecting
and counting quite the challenge. 

Non-raptor Observations:
1 Red Bat, 1 bat sp, 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, oodles of Palm Warblers
and Monarchs

Predictions:
Looks like the weather is going to be very similar to today so I would
expect a decent push of birds early on but slowing down around noon because
birds will be getting extremely high again.  
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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/