Hawkwatch, 12 October 2016

Today's raptor flight soared high up in the skies, often times as little pepper flakes among the wispy clouds. Every day the raptors move through the skies a little differently. The light southeast winds and sunny skies from today made for strong thermals (columns of rising air) that the migrating raptors took advantage of. Despite the sky-high conditions, the day's total count of raptors exceeded 300 birds!

Bald Eagle chasing an Osprey for a fish

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker

Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk, a quite densely-marked individual!

Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2016
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              9              9
Turkey Vulture              30            217            351
Osprey                      11            596           3643
Bald Eagle                  14             79            205
Northern Harrier             2            133            267
Sharp-shinned Hawk         138           4709           6531
Cooper's Hawk               84           1244           1471
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          6             26             31
Broad-winged Hawk            1            206            329
Red-tailed Hawk             10             32             71
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              1              1
American Kestrel             1            714           2853
Merlin                       3            635           1139
Peregrine Falcon            15            513            739
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

Total:                     315           9114          17640
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Observation start time: 06:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 10 hours

Official Counter:        Erik Bruhnke

Observers:        

Weather:
Southeast winds, mostly sunny skies, 60's.

Raptor Observations:


Non-raptor Observations:
130 Black Scoter, 1 Common Loon, 1 Little Blue Heron, 2014 Double-crested
Cormorant, 1 Red-headed Woodpecker, 2 Northern Flicker, 15 Peregrine
Falcon, 59 Blue Jay, 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 1 Red-breasted
Nuthatch, 2 American Robin, 24 House Finch, 8 American Goldfinch, 15
Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 Bobolink, 5 Red-winged Blackbird, 1 Brown-headed
Cowbird, 1 Indigo Bunting

Predictions:
Southwest winds and sun. Keep the eyes out for western birds with the
rare-for-the-season western winds.