Hawk Watch Wednesday October 19, 2011

Poor weather throughout the day made for a poor day of hawk counting with only 13 birds tallied. Thankfully, I had a few devoted birders to keep me company in between the bouts of rain.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 19, 2011
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0             24             39
Turkey Vulture               0            130            151
Osprey                       1           1082           2429
Bald Eagle                   1            160            285
Northern Harrier             2            266            437
Sharp-shinned Hawk           2           6148           9819
Cooper's Hawk                1           1376           1860
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0             21             30
Broad-winged Hawk            0            845            924
Red-tailed Hawk              0             63            106
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              1              1
American Kestrel             0           2671           4881
Merlin                       3            609           1367
Peregrine Falcon             3            420            949
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:                      13          13817          23281
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Observation start time: 08:30:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 7.5 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
The count was delayed a couple of hours today due to steady rainfall this
morning.  We continued to see scattered showers throughout the day along
with moderate to heavy fog, variable East winds, and overcast skies.

Raptor Observations:
Quite the slow day with only 13 countable birds.

Non-raptor Observations:
8 Hudsonian Godwits, 8 Chimney Swifts, 30 Wilson's Snipe, 10 Pectoral
Sandpipers, 2 White-rumped Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, 1
Eurasian Wigeon, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 3
Eurasian Collared-doves, 8 Great Blue Herons

Predictions:
Tomorrow's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and very gusty winds from
the South-southwest.
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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/