View from the Field: Hawkwatch - Friday, October 12, 2018

Here is a blog post, belatedly sent out due to a very busy week of hawkcounting. Those big raptor days keep us hawk counters on our toes!

Cape May is known for exciting movements of raptors, songbirds, waterbirds and so much more. While at the hawk watch on Friday we had an exceptional flight of American Kestrels that began before sunrise among skies of deep lavender and slate-gray clouds. The intensity of this species' presence increased to record-breaking numbers by the end of the day, in addition to incredible movements of a broad spectrum of other birds.

The peak hour for American Kestrels on Friday took place between the hours of 10am and 11am. A total of 1,577 individuals of this small falcon were tallied in that one hour alone. A steady flight of this species progressed into dusk, totaling 5,406 American Kestrels for the day! The Cape May Hawk Watch platform was filled from side to side with so many visitors; many of them avid birders and some of them birding for the first time in their lives. Many dear friends from near and far were visiting then and gathered to savor the spectacle of rivers of American Kestrels. Pete Dunne was there pointing out American Kestrels to the crowds that gathered nearby. While running the evening count I was treated to talking to Jerry Liguori on the phone briefly. Mentors. Teachers. Heartfelt friends. My core was touched in ways I could not have imagined. I found myself scanning and counting raptors with occasional tears that day. Tears of happiness and appreciation. Hawkcounting zen.

Friday was a beautiful day spent with the much of the Cape May birding family, as the single highest day count of American Kestrels (in the hawk count's 43 years) took place. For all of you readers out there who were unable to make it, you're part of this family. The Cape May birding family is a one-of-a-kind group of people!