View from the Field: October 2017

Hawkwatch- Thursday-Sunday, October 26-29, 2017

Over the past week people from all over the world have met in Cape May to attend the 2017 International Bird Observatory Conference. It was an incredible week of awe-inspiring meetings and networking that took place for all who attended.

Delightful bird migration took place too. Cooler, gentle winds from the north brought the first-of-the-season Golden Eagle. A stronger cold front is nearly upon us. Bring on the birds, and see you at the hawkwatch!

Immature Golden Eagle... the first one documented from the Cape May Hawkwatch this fall.

Adult Sharp-shinned Hawk migrating low over the edges of Bunker Pond.

Gray Ghost (adult male Northern Harrier)

Yellow-rumped Warbler taking a rest from migration on hawkcounter Erik's car.

Northern Flicker

Double-crested Cormorant

Sightings from October 26th.

Sightings from October 27th.

Sightings from October 28th.

Sightings from October 29th.

Seawatch - Thursday, October 26, 2017

Late post!

A few days late but here's the recap of the Seawatch from this past Thursday. While we experienced quite the midday lull with few birds moving, the morning and late afternoon weren't too shabby. Double-crested Cormorants dominated the count but diversity was actually quite good with all three scoter species, dabbling ducks, herons, raptors, and songbirds coming in off the water.

Check out this fun list! http://www.trektellen.nl/count/view/1747/20171026

This Blue-headed Vireo struggled to make it the beach but he did it!

A duo of Brown Pelicans.

This Pelican was travelling solo.

Two White-winged Scoters flying north. You gotta love those white patches.

One of my favorite experiences from the day. This Green-winged Teal was basically leading this giant Double-crested Cormorant flock, and it made me so happy.

Seawatch - Friday, October 27, 2017

Today was a good day, with over 7000 birds tallied. Half of today's birds were cormorants! A nice push of 40 Wood Ducks, 30 Red-throated Loons, 36 Common Loons, and 50 Great Blue Herons were all notable compared to the rest of the season thus far. An Eastern Meadowlark flew in off the ocean today, along with some Yellow-rumped Warblers and an American Goldfinch!

Check out the totals here: http://trektellen.org/count/view/1747/20171027

Hawkwatch - Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Light northwest winds brought a flurry of raptors through the morning hours. Afternoon cloudy skies and humid air quieted the latter portion of today's flight. We were treated to outstanding views of Broad-winged Hawks that streamed overhead. One juvenile Osprey spent much of today hunting over Bunker Pond. After much practice and fishing attempts, we saw the bird fly off with a freshly-caught fish!

Tomorrow looks good for an exciting flight of raptors following today's northwest winds well up the coast. Bundle up and bring your binoculars, as gusty northwest winds are expected to accompany refreshingly cool temps. Bring on the raptors! Hope to see you at the hawkwatch.

Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk in front of the Cape May Hawkwatch

American Kestrel

Osprey

Juvenile Osprey making an attempt at fishing.

Osprey going after fish with a belly flop!

Flying away from the fishing belly flop.

Today's migration. Click on the image for a larger view.

Seawatch - Wednesday, October 25, 2017

It was no 20,000 bird day, but I had quite the enjoyable day on the Seawatch sand. A sweet and steady early flight of Double-crested Cormorants, scoters, and Northern Gannets comprised the majority of today's count but we also had both species of loons (including a close flock of Red-throated Loons with one individual vocalizing!), my first Bonaparte's Gulls of the season, and a Bald Eagle chasing a Gannet! We also had the first big push of Northern Gannets today with just under 500 counted -- they're coming, guys.

Check out the Trektellen totals here to see all the goodies: http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1747/20171025

If you ever want to see dolphins, come to the Seawatch! We see them almost every single day.

Double-crested Cormorants against the blue overcast sky.

Here's a terrible photo of Bonaparte's Gulls, ha.

Seawatch - Saturday-Tuesday, October 21-24, 2017

The weekend was packed with birds! Saturday and Monday both had over 26,000 birds! Here are the totals from the past few days (click the day to see the full breakdown):

Saturday: 26,908
Sunday: 7529
Monday: 26,465
Tuesday: 3136

It's impressive how slow 7500 birds can feel after a day of 26,000! Over, a huge push of scoters made up the bulk of the migration, with a decent number of cormorants as well. There's also been an increase in Red-throated Loons and dabbling ducks like Wood Duck and Green-winged Teal. The first Bonaparte's Gulls, Red-breasted Mergansers, and Humpback Whale were seen as well.

Looking ahead: South winds are forecasted for this weekend, as well as on November 1st and 2nd. Considering that this is generally our peak movement times, I would expect some of those days to be quite big! Come on out to the seawatch soon!

Hawkwatch - Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Well, raptors were few and far between today but that wasn't a surprise. We stood our ground against the strong winds and random downpours and were treated to the annual goodies that Cape May provides in the fall. It really wasn't a bad at all and I can't help but love this place so so much.

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2017
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              4              4
Turkey Vulture               0            169            320
Osprey                       0            546           2621
Bald Eagle                   0            112            284
Northern Harrier             0            180            409
Sharp-shinned Hawk           1           3076           8245
Cooper's Hawk                0            751           1327
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0             49             51
Broad-winged Hawk            0            450           1095
Red-tailed Hawk              0            101            158
Rough-legged Hawk            0              3              3
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel             0           1342           6772
Merlin                       1            805           1850
Peregrine Falcon             4            740           1077
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              1
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              4
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0
Mississippi Kite             0              0              1

Total:                       6           8328          24222
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 06:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 9.68 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Oh my goodness, a raptor!! A young Peregrine Falcon against the blue-lavender sky.

Not a bird that graces the platform every day, a lone Black Skimmer over pond.

This Yellow-rumped Warbler doesn't seem to mind the drizzle.

The male Redhead is still hanging out with the dabbling ducks on Bunker Pond.

Hawkwatch - Sunday, October 22, 2017

Southeast winds and heavy early morning fog made for a peaceful day of migration. A few birds moved throughout the day, but the prevailing winds kept birds far to the north. Even during slow days, there's always something to see at the Cape May Hawkwatch. The first-of-the-season Redhead showed up among the ever-increasing waterfowl, and a few Northern Harriers made their passes low over the dunes in the mid-morning hours.

Blue Jay

Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk

Eastern Meadowlark

Today's migration. Click the image to see a larger view of today's birds.

Hawkwatch - Monday, October 23, 2017

South winds in late October produce very few raptors (as you can see from the total of only 27 birds), but fortunately for us, we're in Cape May and there's always plenty of things to see! We were treated to loads of Tree Swallows with 1 Cliff and 1 Cave Swallow, an American Pipit flying over, Eastern Meadowlarks fluttering over multiple times, oodles of ducks on the pond, and excellent seabird activity throughout the entire day. Tomorrow looks to be like a wash out for the hawks, but who knows what this crazy weather system will bring in.

Cape May

Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2017
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              4              4
Turkey Vulture               0            169            320
Osprey                       0            546           2621
Bald Eagle                   1            112            284
Northern Harrier             0            180            409
Sharp-shinned Hawk          14           3075           8244
Cooper's Hawk                3            751           1327
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0             49             51
Broad-winged Hawk            0            450           1095
Red-tailed Hawk              0            101            158
Rough-legged Hawk            0              3              3
Golden Eagle                 0              0              0
American Kestrel             3           1342           6772
Merlin                       4            804           1849
Peregrine Falcon             2            736           1073
Unknown Accipiter            0              0              1
Unknown Buteo                0              0              0
Unknown Falcon               0              0              4
Unknown Eagle                0              0              0
Unknown Raptor               0              0              0
Mississippi Kite             0              0              1

Total:                      27           8322          24216
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 06:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:00:00 
Total observation time: 9.7 hours

Official Counter:        Melissa Roach

Feeling finchy? Three House Finches check out the pines just beside the platform.

This juvenile Common Loon flew right over Bunker Pond. Check out his big, ol' floppy feet
and thick bill.

We had a very obliging Tree Swallow make use of the platform today.

He seemed to like the upper deck more...or maybe he just liked the company up there ;)

This male Northern Pintail has certainly seen better days! He was clearly the survivor of a predatory attack
(check out the lack of feathers on his neck). Hopefully he can make a quick and speedy recovery.

Hawkwatch - Saturday, October 21, 2017

Today's flight of raptors surpassed 200 birds, with over half of them being high-flying Sharp-shinned Hawks. Red-shouldered Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks are making daily appearances over recent days, being the latter half of October. The morning flight of songbirds over the hawkwatch consisted of waves of Yellow-rumped Warblers and American Robins mixing throughout the skies... by the thousands! To the south, up to a dozen Parasitic Jaegers were seen harassing gulls over the distant rips at one time. It was a thrilling morning, with a rare treat to come

Highly unexpected was a Gray Kingbird, found flying quite close to the hawkwatch. This bird is normally found throughout Florida and the Caribbean. This morning's sighting of Gray Kingbird marks the 7th record for Cape May. You never know what will show up in beautiful Cape May!

Tomorrow marks the last day of the Cape May Fall Festival. Stop on by the hawkwatch and see what birds are flying!

Gray Kingbird

Red-shouldered Hawk flying behind a Turkey Vulture

Rusty Blackbird

Today's totals. Click on the image to see a larger view.

Hawkwatch - Friday, October 20, 2017

Today's blue skies and very light northwest winds allowed for migrating raptors to fly high overhead, many as small specks. A few afternoon falcons migrated through low over the tree tops. Even with the high flight, we cranked out over 300 raptors today. It was a great day to study the differences between Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks.