Hawk Watch Sunday November 20, 2011

Well, it was an even slower raptor day with only 36 birds counted. The morning held the majority of the movement with a fair number of Sharp-shinned Hawks while the afternoon basically shut down and was quite slow. As I mentioned earlier, one of the best things about Cape May is that there is always something to look at...even when the hawks aren't flying.

Yellow-rumped Warblers aren't the only warbler species still around the point. There are still a few Blackpoll Warblers (and other species) fueling up on tasty treats.



Bunker Pond has its fair share of waterfowl at the moment including a group of 11 Lesser Scaup that showed up on Wednesday.

Birds do the darndest things. I captured this Pied-billed Grebe in an unfamiliar pose as it was vigorously taking a bath.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 20, 2011
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0             12             61
Turkey Vulture               0            118            526
Osprey                       0             17           2626
Bald Eagle                   0             42            414
Northern Harrier             6            140            776
Sharp-shinned Hawk          24            476          14995
Cooper's Hawk                2             72           2882
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          1             64            193
Broad-winged Hawk            0              4            990
Red-tailed Hawk              2            168            448
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              1              6
American Kestrel             0             26           5250
Merlin                       0              8           1600
Peregrine Falcon             1             20           1078
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:                      36           1168          31851
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Observation start time: 06:45:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 9.25 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Observers:        

Weather:
Moderate Southwest winds for much of the day with West-southwest winds for
the last 3 hours.  Mostly cloudy skies.

Raptor Observations:
A slow day overall but a fair number of Sharp-shins in the morning and a
late Peregrine.

Non-raptor Observations:
6 Tundra Swans in the morning, 1 Belted Kingfisher
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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/