Hawkwatch – 7 November 2014

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 07, 2014
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0             17            122
Turkey Vulture              27            125           1193
Osprey                       2             15           3800
Bald Eagle                   1             20            612
Northern Harrier            28            185           1042
Sharp-shinned Hawk         181            670          13731
Cooper's Hawk               25            138           3557
Northern Goshawk             0              0              2
Red-shouldered Hawk         30             83            222
Broad-winged Hawk            3              9            732
Red-tailed Hawk             27            159            638
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              1
Golden Eagle                 1              2              8
American Kestrel            27             89           4491
Merlin                       7             28           1391
Peregrine Falcon             1              8            969
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              4
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              1
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              1
Zone-tailed Hawk             0              0              1

Total:                     360           1548          32518
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Observation start time: 06:30:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 9.5 hours

Official Counter:        Mary Raikes

Observers:        

Weather:
Overall a windy day.  Winds were steady from the NW 15-20 in the morning
and NW/W 20-25 in the afternoon with a high gust of 32 mph.  Skies were
mostly cloudy in the early morning then clearing and a nice couple of hours
of sun between 9:00 and 11:00.  A storm squall came through mid-day and
produced a brief and gusty rain shower.  Skies remained partly cloudy for
the rest of the afternoon with a high temperature of 54F.

Raptor Observations:
Predominantly an accipiter and harrier flight few the first few hours then
as skies cleared and the sun came out a nice buteo flight of Red-shoulders
and Red-tails filled the tree-line.  The flight for the most part shut down
after the squall line passed except for a small burst of American Kestrels
in the late afternoon.

Non-raptor Observations:
A huge Eastern Bluebird flight.  1,552 were counted between 9:30 and 3:40
(per Tom Reed and Steve Bauer) and large flocks vocalizing from daybreak on
were seen.  American Robins, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbirds,
American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, American Pipit were also strong morning
flights.  Duck counts on the pond estimated at Gadwall(450), Ring-necked
Duck(11), American Widgeon(123), Ruddy Duck(90), Northern Shoveler(12),
American Coot(30), Northern Pintail(50), Bufflehead(1), Woodduck(3) per
Vince Elia.

Predictions:
Winds light and variable becoming southerly in the afternoon.  Sunny with
temps in the low 50's.