NRA Cape May Excursion 1998 & Beyond: Covering our Fall trip but continuing afterwards, thanks to Cape May Bird Observatory professional hawk counter Pete Gustas. YTD 10/1 10/2 10/3 10/5 10/6 10/7 10/10 10/11 10/12 10/22 YTD BV 72 0 9 18 0 6 0 0 0 5 11 142 TV 697 18 72 78 42 23 0 5 95 57 382 2169 OS 1271 101 80 86 561 87 38 58 226 111 15 2938 BE 54 1 6 2 7 1 2 0 3 3 2 107 NH 861 13 26 30 45 25 1 3 44 39 64 1597 SS 5425 51 299 640 442 742 112 50 2699 1114 1660 19085 CH 599 32 96 111 104 52 9 24 311 161 272 2594 NG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 RS 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 69 120 BW 1265 4 172 111 2 7 0 0 5 17 20 1654 SW 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 RT 122 0 2 9 4 12 0 0 8 26 114 638 GE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 AK 4877 485 67 16 78 48 11 105 875 11 30 7234 ML 876 117 27 19 96 41 7 61 124 31 14 1962 PG 290 197 21 17 62 26 8 20 27 102 2 941 Total 16436 1019 877 1138 1443 1071 188 326 4415 1679 2657 41332
	Chris Schultz at CMBO 'Far North' Banding Station w/ Cape May's first adult Peregrine catch... almost completely adult , that is. Circa 1990.
	Read a story about a "PEREGRINE" call and dining out on Pine Siskins in Cape May, NJ.
							BV-Black Vulture; TV-Turkey Vulture; OS-Osprey; BE-Bald Eagle; NH-Northern Harrier; SS-Sharp-shinned Hawk; CH-Cooper's Hawk; NG-Northern Goshawk; RS-Red-shouldered Hawk; BW-Broad-winged Hawk; SW-Swainson's Hawk; RT-Red-tailed Hawk; GE-Golden Eagle; AK-American Kestrel; ML-Merlin; PG-Peregrine Falcon. The YTD figure on the left is the approximate Cape May total thru 9/30/98 The total of 197 Peregrines for 10/1 doesn't tell the whole story as there were 4 more migrants after the paperwork was completed -- so the day exceeded 200 birds. The YTD figure after 10/22 is as of 10/25. And, there's been one Mississippi Kite and one dark morph Rough-legged Hawk.
						October 1: Primarily an afternoon flight and that's a good thing as I arrived in the early afternoon to glimpse my first Cape May Peregrine Falcon cruising down Sunset Ave. Another as I got out of the car in the parking lot. Well over a hundred more seen well--many very close. Many of the day's 200 Peregrines -- the vanguard -- were little pale blue, adultmale, tundrius sub-species of the quick flapping, darting variety. Later, in the afternoon, smokey-gray young females took over. They are the larger soaring 'grines. Hello, Cape May. October 2: The numbers grew as the day developed. A west wind increased in the afternoon as the colder air mass associated with Thursday's cold front entered the area. But falcons are a specialty at most hawk watches just on the cusp of the frontal passage while the second day brings the buteos and accipiters... and eagles. October 3: On easterly winds, the hawks can sky up because they have no fear of being blown out over the water. The flight was high but a steady procession of kettling accipters and others. By Cape May standards, when the question, "Any Peregrines today?" is asked, "No." is the usual answer, as seventeen Peregrines is considered worth mentioning. Hundreds of birders also migrated into Cape May State Park today. October 5: First, 10/4 was a wash out -- an hour north or south birders were birding but at Cape May where the front moved through along a horizontal west-east line, it was an all-day rain and it was cloudy into the middle of Monday. But. The winds were northeast for Monday and the hawks were on the move. Over 350 Osprey between 7 & 9 am DST. The flight was steady throughout the day and 60+ Peregrines is a nice, steady show enjoyed by all. October 6: A brisk NE wind and nice combo blue/cloud-filled sky made for a another memorable day at the platform. At sunrise a procession of Sharpies gave us a quick hundred and a half in the first hour. There was rush of Merlins in mid-afternoon with a Peregrine in the air whenever someone complained there hadn't been one in awhile. October 8-10: Saturday, the tenth, was alot like Thursday and Friday: low clouds and varying intensities of drizzle. But a definite flight was had in the afternoon. Also over this three-day period, you could log as much Peregrine time as you wanted: there were always was one to three Pbirds in the area hunting out to sea or perching on the lighthouse. We had an adult Peregrine tee-up in a dead snag for all to see. October 11: Finally the front-from-hell exited and NW winds blew in the highest single day total of the '98 season. Hundreds and maybe a thousand birders dropped by for the event. October 12: Following the season's big day, Columbus Day did not disappoint. Unless, that is, you left Cape May on Sunday or had to migrate midday Monday before the afternoon Peregrine push. But the morning was impressive in its own right: over 200 Sharpies before sunrise, the total rose to over 700 by 9am DST. October 20-23: The week's steady diet of westerly winds lead to four straight days of counts over a thousand birds, including 2,657 birds on Oct.22nd. The bulk of each day's flight was the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
	Pete Gustas conducts the Cape May hawk count for the Fall '98 season. Pete's a "veteran" of CM, Braddock Bay, VeraCruz, etc. and a union carpenter in NYC when the hawks aren't in motion.
		More photos from Cape May '98...