Today was just about as great of a day as you can reasonably
ask for in Cape May! A day of plentiful raptors, bounding flickers, darting
warblers, and swirling swallows surrounded by beautiful scenery and great
company.
Before I write any further, take a quick look at who is
writing this blog post—it’s not Erik or Melissa! That’s right, it’s Andrew
Dreelin, one of your friendly neighborhood interpretive naturalists. Erik was
away at a cousin’s wedding in Wisconsin, and Melissa was counting at morning
flight, so I got called up to the big leagues today!
A kestrel-like sunrise of warm orange and pale blue-gray
greeted me at the platform as I set up for the day, complimented by a backdrop
of warbler flight calls. Today was the third day of sustained north winds following
hot on the heels of Wednesday’s mega flight of American Kestrel and
Sharp-shinned Hawk (you can read more about that day here), so there were high
hopes for the day may bring.
Today’s flight was similarly composed of great kestrel and sharpie
numbers, echoing Wednesday’s movement. As morning rose, the flight was diffuse;
sneaky kestrels popped up over the dunes behind and overhead. But as the day
progressed, consistent cloud cover and 5-10 mph NW winds over the course of the
day kept temperatures and the flight low, making for an excellent day of
hawkwatching. Thanks to the conditions, the flight lines soon crystallized
nicely in classic Cape May fashion: a northbound raptor stream moved right to
left across Bunker Pond while falcons flew down the dunes by the ocean,
sometimes cutting north across the pond and joining the rest, at other times
heading out over the Delaware Bay.
Although the day was dominated by American Kestrel (723) and
Sharp-shinned Hawk (409), we had a notable uptick of several species with our
single-day season high of four different species. There was nary a Buteo to be
seen except for a lone, local Red-tail, but we did have 197 Osprey 31 Northern
Harrier, 110 Merlin, and 18 Peregrine Falcon! Certainly those highs will be
shattered later in the season since many more birds of those species are headed
our way, but it’s still a wonderful sign of the inexorable march of fall.
Many highlight species like Northern Harrier also
made close passes to be enjoyed by the crowds on the platform. Even though each
of the four gray ghosts we saw today stayed distant from us, the pumpkin-orange
of this female type individual
stood out well as it circled low overhead before clearing away across the
parking lot.
Unlike the
relatively confiding harriers, nearly all of the day’s Merlin behaved in
characteristic uncooperative fashion by rocketing down the dune line or over
the conifers! This individual flew by one unaware gentleman on the dune
crossing who has not yet become attuned to the spectacle of migration in Cape
May.
While the raptors were a fantastic spectacle, part of what
makes Cape May so exceptional is the supporting cast of migration that on certain
days can threaten to steal the show. In the morning hours and throughout the
day, several hundred warblers dropped across my scope view and down into the
State Park, a humbling and awesome sight. This Cape May Warbler zipped by behind
the platform around midday, one of the few flyovers identified that day.
Cape May wouldn’t be complete without rarities though. A
bonus White-winged Dove made two separate passes by the HawkWatch Platform,
first picked by Scott Whittle and then later by interpretive naturalist Ben
West! This was the second individual of the season, complementing the
individual I found on opening day, so it was also the second time that we
cranked up Stevie Nicks’ classic “Edge of Seventeen” on the platform in
celebration.
That just about rounds out the day, so I’ll sign off with the
classic Peregrine Falcon across the Cape May lighthouse photo. Few other
sightings are as emblematic of fall and migration in Cape May!
Today’s count wouldn’t have been possible without the
amazing support from my fellow seasonal staffers, the Cape May community, and all
of the visiting birders who passed through. Special thanks go out to Erin
Rawls, Melissa Roach, Brett Ewald, Ben West, Carolyn Rubinfeld, Scott Whittle,
Tom Johnson, and too many more to name! See y’all on the platform!
-Andrew
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 22, 2017
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ -----------
-------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 55 55
Osprey 197 1493 1493
Bald Eagle 0 93 93
Northern Harrier 31 94 94
Sharp-shinned Hawk 409 3862 3862
Cooper's Hawk 25 219 219
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 1
Broad-winged Hawk 0 197 197
Red-tailed Hawk 0 39 39
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 723 2957 2957
Merlin 110 540 540
Peregrine Falcon 18 88 88
Unknown Accipiter 1 1 1
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 4 4 4
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Mississippi Kite 0 1 1
Total: 1518 9644 9644
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Observation start time: 05:00:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 11.1 hours
Official Counter: Andrew Dreelin
