Hi everyone!
Here's a brief breakdown of some Seawatch totals and highlights for the 2018 season!
Top 5 (south):
Black Scoter - 280,462 [Highest season total ever]
Surf Scoter - 114,909
Red-throated Loon - 59,828
Northern Gannet - 33,812
Double-crested Cormorant - 129,478
Rarities (north + south):
Cackling Goose - 1
Ross's Goose - 1
King Eider - 3
Harlequin Duck - 4
Pacific Loon - 1
Cory's Shearwater - 5
Manx Shearwater - 10
shearwater sp. - 3
Red-necked Grebe - 9
Brown Booby - 1
Piping Plover - 1
Marbled Godwit - 1
Black-legged Kittiwake - 20
Little Gull - 1
Arctic Tern - 1
Pomarine Jaeger - 4
Long-tailed Jaeger - 1
Razorbill - 2530
large alcid sp. - 1259
Other Notable Totals (south):
Northern Pintail - 947 on 10/16 [highest single day total ever]
Common Eider - 266 [third highest season ever]
Long-tailed Duck - 3528 [highest season since 1997]
Red-breasted Merganser - 995 [second lowest season ever]
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 68 on 10/12 [second highest single day total]
American Oystercatcher - 177 on 10/12 [highest single day total ever]
A huge thanks to all the visitors who visited the Seawatch this season, to Swarovski for providing the amazing optics, and to Tom Reed for all his help this season!
Best,
David Weber
Seawatch - December 17-22
The final week of the Seawatch! And what a week it was. We had a massive flight of Razorbills; the largest in Seawatch history. We also topped off the season with a few rarities! Here are the totals per day:
December 17: 1610
December 18: 2768
December 19: 2617
December 20: 1695
December 21: 71
December 22: 4369
Tom Reed had some excellent birds on Monday and Tuesday, with a Canvasback, two Harlequin Ducks, a late Laughing Gull, and 6 Black-legged Kittiwakes. There was also an excellent Long-tailed Duck flight on Tuesday the 18th, with 804 southbound birds.
Wednesday had a couple Mute Swan fly north past the jetty, a scarce bird at the Seawatch, a southbound Ruddy Duck, and a Red-necked Grebe. And the last day of the Seawatch, the 22nd, had two jaegers--one a Pomarine and another left unidentified.
But undoubtably the highlight of the week was the massive Razorbill flight that occurred. Here are the numbers of both southbound and northbound birds, adding together both closer definite Razorbills and distant large alcid sp. (which are almost certainly all Razorbill):
Monday the 17th: 9 south, 220 north
Tuesday the 18th: 713 south, 113 northWednesday the 19th: 455 south, 108 northThursday the 20th: 6 south, 59 northFriday the 21st: 0 (fogged in)Saturday the 22nd: 2067(!!!) south, 27 north
I even went back out at sunrise the day after the count ended to see if the movement continued, and Tom Reed the day after that:
Sunday the 23rd: 453 south
Monday the 24th: 298 south
That's an unprecedented total of over 4500 actively migrating alcids in 8 days! (To put that in perspective, the highest season total for Razorbill before this week was 86!) And with over 2000 on the last day of the count, along with 1000 Northern Gannets, the last day was certainly memorable!
That's a wrap on another great season! Stay tuned for a season overview and wrap-up!
David Weber
December 17: 1610
December 18: 2768
December 19: 2617
December 20: 1695
December 21: 71
December 22: 4369
Tom Reed had some excellent birds on Monday and Tuesday, with a Canvasback, two Harlequin Ducks, a late Laughing Gull, and 6 Black-legged Kittiwakes. There was also an excellent Long-tailed Duck flight on Tuesday the 18th, with 804 southbound birds.
Wednesday had a couple Mute Swan fly north past the jetty, a scarce bird at the Seawatch, a southbound Ruddy Duck, and a Red-necked Grebe. And the last day of the Seawatch, the 22nd, had two jaegers--one a Pomarine and another left unidentified.
But undoubtably the highlight of the week was the massive Razorbill flight that occurred. Here are the numbers of both southbound and northbound birds, adding together both closer definite Razorbills and distant large alcid sp. (which are almost certainly all Razorbill):
Monday the 17th: 9 south, 220 north
Tuesday the 18th: 713 south, 113 northWednesday the 19th: 455 south, 108 northThursday the 20th: 6 south, 59 northFriday the 21st: 0 (fogged in)Saturday the 22nd: 2067(!!!) south, 27 north
I even went back out at sunrise the day after the count ended to see if the movement continued, and Tom Reed the day after that:
Sunday the 23rd: 453 south
Monday the 24th: 298 south
That's an unprecedented total of over 4500 actively migrating alcids in 8 days! (To put that in perspective, the highest season total for Razorbill before this week was 86!) And with over 2000 on the last day of the count, along with 1000 Northern Gannets, the last day was certainly memorable!
That's a wrap on another great season! Stay tuned for a season overview and wrap-up!
David Weber
Seawatch - December 10-16
What started off as a good week with good scoter movement and diversity ended as a very slow week with little movement. Here are the totals:
December 10: 4532
December 11: 2675
December 12: 970
December 13: 1584
December 14: 648
December 15: 396
December 16: 606
Tom Reed had a good Monday and Tuesday highlighted by a Razorbill, Cackling Goose, Red-necked Grebe, and a Black-legged Kittiwake, along with a couple thousand scoters. The rest of the week afterward, however, was very slow with very little movement. Check out the individual day totals to see more details!
Stay tuned for our last week of the count! As a little sneak preview, we've had at least a couple Razorbills so far...
David Weber
December 10: 4532
December 11: 2675
December 12: 970
December 13: 1584
December 14: 648
December 15: 396
December 16: 606
Tom Reed had a good Monday and Tuesday highlighted by a Razorbill, Cackling Goose, Red-necked Grebe, and a Black-legged Kittiwake, along with a couple thousand scoters. The rest of the week afterward, however, was very slow with very little movement. Check out the individual day totals to see more details!
Stay tuned for our last week of the count! As a little sneak preview, we've had at least a couple Razorbills so far...
David Weber
Seawatch - December 3-9, 2018
Unlike last week, this week was much more consistent with west and northwesterly winds all week and 2-4 thousand birds. Here're the totals for the week:
December 3: 4904
December 4: 3204
December 5: 2102
December 6: 2690
December 7: 2221
December 8: 3477
December 9: 2372
Tom Reed had very diverse days on the 3rd and 4th, highlighted by a Ross's Goose, Canvasback and Redheads, a Common Merganser, 3 Razorbills, 2 King Eiders, a Harlequin Duck, a Red-necked Grebe, and even a late Least Sandpiper and an American Woodcock coming in off the ocean.
Wednesday the 5th was relatively slow but brought a Humpback Whale and another Harlequin duck. The 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th all brought 100+ Long-tailed Ducks each day. The 8th had another small push of scoters, with 1000+ Black Scoters and 300+ Surf Scoter.
There are some east winds in the forecast, so make sure to keep track of what shows up at the Seawatch!
December 3: 4904
December 4: 3204
December 5: 2102
December 6: 2690
December 7: 2221
December 8: 3477
December 9: 2372
Tom Reed had very diverse days on the 3rd and 4th, highlighted by a Ross's Goose, Canvasback and Redheads, a Common Merganser, 3 Razorbills, 2 King Eiders, a Harlequin Duck, a Red-necked Grebe, and even a late Least Sandpiper and an American Woodcock coming in off the ocean.
Wednesday the 5th was relatively slow but brought a Humpback Whale and another Harlequin duck. The 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th all brought 100+ Long-tailed Ducks each day. The 8th had another small push of scoters, with 1000+ Black Scoters and 300+ Surf Scoter.
There are some east winds in the forecast, so make sure to keep track of what shows up at the Seawatch!
Seawatch - November 26 - December 2, 2018
The days are becoming much more hit and miss as we enter December. The difference between east wind and west wind days is more noticeable, but there's always something moving here at the Seawatch! Check out our totals from this past week:
November 26: 6140
November 27: 3177
November 28: 976
November 29: 3572
November 30: 12,024
December 1: 9093
December 2: 373
The most exciting news from this week is that we have officially broken the record for the highest season count of Black Scoter!!! Those who were following along last year know that last year was the record high count of Black Scoter as well, with around 264,000. Well, at the end of this week, we already have 270,000! How many will we end the season with? Keep checking in to the blog to find out!
Rare birds of the week include Little Gull, 5 Razorbill, and a Pomarine Jaeger. The highlight of the week was definitely the flight of November 30th, with 12,000 total birds! I had 4500 Black Scoter that day, which officially put us over last year's single season record of Black Scoter, along with nearly 1400 Surf Scoter and 1100 Surf/Black Scoters. Not to mention 2300 Red-throated Loons and 100 Long-tailed Ducks! For a late November day, there were certainly lots of scoter!
There weren't too many other standout days, so be sure to check out each day's count to see what I'm not mentioning!
Good birding!
November 26: 6140
November 27: 3177
November 28: 976
November 29: 3572
November 30: 12,024
December 1: 9093
December 2: 373
The most exciting news from this week is that we have officially broken the record for the highest season count of Black Scoter!!! Those who were following along last year know that last year was the record high count of Black Scoter as well, with around 264,000. Well, at the end of this week, we already have 270,000! How many will we end the season with? Keep checking in to the blog to find out!
Rare birds of the week include Little Gull, 5 Razorbill, and a Pomarine Jaeger. The highlight of the week was definitely the flight of November 30th, with 12,000 total birds! I had 4500 Black Scoter that day, which officially put us over last year's single season record of Black Scoter, along with nearly 1400 Surf Scoter and 1100 Surf/Black Scoters. Not to mention 2300 Red-throated Loons and 100 Long-tailed Ducks! For a late November day, there were certainly lots of scoter!
There weren't too many other standout days, so be sure to check out each day's count to see what I'm not mentioning!
Good birding!
Hawkwatch - End of Season Summary - 53,399 Raptors & More!!
Text and photos by Erik
Bruhnke
2018 Cape May Hawkwatch
Counter
Cape May Bird
Observatory
The 2018 Cape May
Hawkwatch enjoyed many highlights throughout the season. Quieter moments took
place earlier on in September, with record-breaking highlights throughout the
middle portion of migration, and solid late-season flights continuing through
the closing day.
September was filled
with a smattering of unseasonably hot days. The warm temperatures mixed with
east and southeast winds to create lulls in the numbers of raptors detected
daily. There was one catch to the less-than-favorable conditions... while these
winds often keep many soaring raptors to the north (farther away from Cape May
Point) they also bring raptors that might be migrating over the ocean into view
from the hawkwatch. Despite these challenging winds, this season racked up the
second highest seasonal Osprey count (6064 individuals) and second highest
seasonal Peregrine Falcon count (1520 individuals) in the history of the Cape
May Hawkwatch! Both of these raptors are known for migrating over both land and
bodies of water. These species are sometimes seen at first light hauling across
Delaware Bay, and they can also be seen midday soaring high overhead with the
other raptors. A total of 11,986 raptors were counted throughout September.
Early morning songbird flights of warblers and other long-distance songbird
migrants wowed visitors all month long.
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Juvenile
Peregrine Falcon
|
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Sharp-shinned
Hawk
|
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| This rare Manx Shearwater showed up on September 9th. It is being chased by a Parasitic Jaeger in this photo. |
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| One of seven Hudsonian Godwits counted from the hawkwatch platform. |
October was filled with
many cool days supported by north and northwest winds. On October 12th, the
largest American Kestrel count ever documented in Cape May took place. These
beautiful falcons were already aloft by twilight, migrating through the early morning
skies of violet and black. By day's end, 5,406 American Kestrels had been
tallied. Watching them was mesmerizing. Counting them was exhilarating.
Witnessing that day's migration felt like a dream. Fourteen of the 15 Golden
Eagles observed this fall were also seen in October, part of the month’s total
of 35,305 raptors. Winter finches also begun moving through the area.
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American
Kestrel
|
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Immature
Golden Eagle
|
Like October, November
was filled with many cool days and northwest winds. We experienced numerous
exciting flights of Red-tailed Hawks and Red-shouldered Hawks. Northern Goshawk
numbers increased as the month progressed. All of the 17 Northern Goshawk documented
this fall were seen in November. A strong Bald Eagle flight continued from the
previous two months, tallying 921 individuals for the season. This is the
highest Bald Eagle total ever compiled in Cape May hawkcounting history. A
total of 6,205 raptors were counted in November. A grand total of 15 species of
raptors were documented throughout the three months.
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Juvenile
Red-tailed Hawk
|
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Juvenile
Northern Goshawk
|
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Adult
Red-shouldered Hawk
|
Hawkwatches are great
places to study raptors and non-raptors alike. One of the pleasures of the Cape
May Hawkwatch is its proximity to the ocean as well as its placement at the end
of a prominent peninsula. Forests and marshes to our north offer shelter and
food for a rich variety of birds migrating through the area. Beyond the tip of
Cape May Point is the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, which bring many offshore-dwelling
birds into view. Just beyond the hawkwatch platform is Bunker Pond, an
important source of food and fresh water to many waterfowl and shorebirds
making their way through. The adjacent habitats of Cape May Point State Park
are home to many year-round and migrating bird species. The overall bird migration
this season lived up to its claim to fame! The annual "inundation" of
Yellow-rumped Warblers and high-flying American Robins took place. Swirling
murmurations of Tree Swallows took our breath away as they flocked together for
safety or merely took a break from eating the rich supply of bayberries. It is
a great challenge putting this spectacle into words. These flights of birds
will change the way you see the outdoors.
Winter finches were also
a noteworthy part of this fall's highlights. Busy flocks of Purple Finches
poured through the skies earlier on, followed by several Red Crossbills,
Evening Grosbeaks, Common Redpolls, Pine Siskins, and thousands of American
Goldfinches. Throughout the season we also witnessed Sandhill Cranes flying by,
a rare but annual treat for the area. A Little Gull was documented in November,
only to be followed by a Black-headed Gull!
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Sandhill
Cranes
|
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Juvenile
Black-headed Gull
|
Every fall is different,
and the world around us is ever-changing. This year marked the 43rd season
of the Cape May Hawkwatch. Us hawk counters do what we do for the love of bird
migration and for the love of contributing to a better understanding of birds.
A special shout out goes to Count Coordinator Tom Reed for his using his
expertise and skills as a relief counter. The 53,495 raptors counted this fall
will take their place in the long-term analysis of population trends. This
season total represents the highest raptor count since 1999. The camaraderie of
everyone coming together has again made this such a special place. Birds bring
us together, and it has been a pleasure experiencing this migration with
everyone who reads the blog and visits the hawkwatch.
Wishing you all good
birding,
Erik Bruhnke