Hawk Watch Saturday November 5, 2011

Wow, it was a brisk and blustery day on the platform. And since I handle the cold weather so well (ha!), I had a fun day watching and counting the decent raptor movement. Although there weren't a ton of birds out, we did have a few treats scattered throughout the day. Red-tailed Hawks put on a nice showing with over 40 counted. We also had a lingering American Kestrel and Broad-winged Hawk move through. Other highlights included my first Greater Scaup and Snow Bunting of the season both flying right over Bunker Pond. I also witnessed another first early this morning when an immature Cooper's Hawk landed on an unexpected American Coot and drowned it! It then pulled its meal onto shore and hopefully got a full meal out of it. Apparently, there's a new Cooter in town....and he means business.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 05, 2011
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              0             49
Turkey Vulture               0              0            408
Osprey                       0             10           2619
Bald Eagle                   6             20            392
Northern Harrier             6             21            657
Sharp-shinned Hawk          40            230          14749
Cooper's Hawk               12             45           2855
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          9             36            165
Broad-winged Hawk            1              4            990
Red-tailed Hawk             44            102            382
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              5
American Kestrel             1              8           5232
Merlin                       0              3           1595
Peregrine Falcon             2             14           1072
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              6

Total:                     121            493          31176
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Observation start time: 06:30:00 
Observation end   time: 15:00:00 
Total observation time: 8.5 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
Strong and very gusty Northeast winds all day with completely clear skies. 
Also, it was REALLY cold, and I hated it.

Raptor Observations:
A good movement of Red-tailed Hawks and a late Broad-winged Hawk.

Non-raptor Observations:
1 Greater Scaup, 1 Snow Bunting, 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 2 Common Loons, 1
Short-eared Owl, 2 Rusty Blackbirds, 6 Wood Ducks, 1 Sanderling

Predictions:
East-northeast winds will begin the day but will continue to turn to the
Southeast by the afternoon...therfore, I am not expecting very much
movement.
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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/