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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Countdown to Hawks

Well August is done and September is looming on the horizon. For many people, the first weekend in September is Labor Day weekend, the last big beach weekend of the year. For many of us at Cape May, the dawning of September marks the dawning of another Cape May Hawkwatch season.

Tomorrow, at somewhere close to 06:00am, I'll wager, Tom Reed will be climbing the steps of the Hawkwatch Platform, sweeping the skies with a trusty pair of Swarovski binoculars and - hopefully not long after - marking down the first raptor of the season. Truth be known, the weather doesn't look like it's going to send us too many raptors on the first day of the season, but tomorrow won't be about the birds for most of the people there. Tomorrow will be about reaquainting with old friends, bringing down a snack or two and just hanging out, just being there on the first day of the season. Having travelled a goodly chunk of the world in my time, I can honestly say that I know no other place that provides the birding cameraderie and good birds in the way that the Cape May Hawkwatch Platform does. If you can be there tomorrow, please do come and join in the fun. If you can't be there, we'll see you later in the season - the birds will only get better, but we're still going to have a great day tomorrow!!

The 2013 Seasonal Research and Interpretive Naturalist Team with CMBO Director Pete Dunne, and Program Director Mike Crewe. We look forward to your company in the field this year. Short profiles of the team will be posted this coming week on our Seasonal Research page [photo by Rene Buccina].