CAPE MAY RAPTOR BANDING PROJECT, INC.

2008 Operations Report 

Prepared by Sam Orr and Gene Biglin

The 2008 Banding Season was our 42nd year of operation. 2119 birds were banded. After four consecutive years with increasing numbers of birds banded, this year's total represents the least number of birds banded since the year 2000. It is well below our 10 year average of 2941. 

Operational Impacts

Due to changing land use patterns on the property where the North Station was located, the landowner requested CMRBP Inc to remove the banding station and relocate it to a nearby field. Additionally, the 228 days which we operated our banding stations in 2008 is a significant reduction from the 268 days of banding during the 2007 season. These two factors contributed to a significant reduction in the number of birds banded for the 2008 season. The most striking impact is the reduction in the number of birds banded at the North Station, 403 in 2008 as compared to 1338 in 2007.

The new location of the North Station has great potential. We will work with the landowner to make improvements to the site for the 2009 migration.

Interns

The Project was once again fortunate to have a research assistant for the 2008 season. John Beetham was on site from the end of August until the end of the season. John did an excellent job of assisting with the banding operations, giving banding demos at the State Park and did a great job of maintaining and updating the CMRBP Inc website. We really appreciate the good work and wish John the best as he moves on to other projects. John was provided with free housing and a stipend for his time. The cash stipend for the internship was made possible through a generous private donation.

NORTHERN HARRIER

We caught and banded 57 Harriers which is far fewer than our 10 year average of 107 and a dramatic drop from the 124 banded in 2007. 

ACCIPITERS

Sharp-shinned Hawk: 567 Sharpies were banded this year. This number is well below our 10 year average of 1067, our 5 year average of 975 and a drop from last year's 980. The drop can be explained in part by the by the Project's reduced number of banding days in 2008. However, it is worth noting that the North station has traditionally accounted for the largest portion of our annual Sharp-shinned Hawk count. It is possible that the reduced number of Sharpies banded in 2008 is directly related to the dramatic reduction in the overall number of birds banded at the North Station.

Coopers Hawk: The Coop capture rate of 1061 is slightly lower than last year's 1326, but very close to our 10 year average of 1092, despite the reduction in the number of banding days in 2008.

Northern Goshawk: Only two Goshawks were caught this year. Both were caught over the last 2 weeks of October, one at the Mag and one at Far North.  

BUTEOS

Red-shouldered Hawk: We banded 10 Red-shouldered Hawks which just about on par with our 5 and 10 year averages of 11 and 9 respectively.

Broad-winged Hawk: 3 Broad-winged Hawks were banded this year which matches our 10 year average.

Red-tailed Hawk: 240 Red-tails were banded in 2008. This is slightly higher than our 10 year average of 231. Many of the Red-tails that were banded this year arrived in spectacular fashion during the week of November 16. 102 were banded during that week with only the Far North in operation. There were daily totals of Red-tails of 27, 36 and 24.The overall number of 133 birds banded that week was the highest weekly total for the season for Far North and the second highest weekly count for any station throughout the season. It would have been very productive for the Project to have had the other stations in operation at the time. 

Swainson's Hawk: No Swainson's Hawks were caught this year.  None have been banded since 2003.

Rough-legged Hawk: No Rough-legged Hawks were caught this year. The last time one was banded was 1999.  

FALCONS

American Kestrel: Kestrel numbers have declined for each of the past 4 years. This year's rate of 30 birds banded is the lowest number ever recorded for the Project. It is also far below our 10 year average of 170 and the 5 year average of 95.

Merlin: Merlin numbers have held steady over the years. Our 10 year average is 196 and the 5 year average is 193. The 86 birds banded in 2008 however, is the lowest total since 83 were banded in 2004.

Peregrine Falcons: 61 Peregrines were banded in 2008. This number approximates our 5 year average of 62 and is higher than the 10 year average of 52. 

 EAGLES

Golden Eagles: Two Golden Eagles were captured this year. One was trapped at the Mag Site on November 9th by Claudia Thompson Deahl and crew, the other by Brian Smith at the North on the following day.

Bald Eagles: No Bald Eagles were captured this year

Banding Demos 

Regularly scheduled banding demos were given at the state park on Saturdays and Sundays, conditions permitting, from mid-September through October. 

Owls

The CMP owl project was operated by Katy Duffy for ten nights between October 31 and November 13 in the Far North field. Three Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) and one Long-eared Owl (LEOW) were captured. All NSWOs were SY-F. The LEOW was also an adult. The first NSWO captured was a foreign retrap, originally banded by David Bonter at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on 10/16/07.

Acknowledgement and Thanks 

Thank you to David Rutherford, Bobby Hulburner and Bill Maher. We are grateful for the continuing support these landowners provide by allowing the Project to operate on their respective properties.

Thanks to Emelia Olsen for graciously providing housing free of charge for our intern.

We thank the New Jersey Division of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Management, Lee Widjeskog and David Golden. Thank you for the use of Hidden Valley, for allowing us to re-open the Mag Site and for allowing us to store our equipment at your facility.

Thank you to Alin Grier for helping with cutting all of the fields. We also thank Alin for allowing us to use his equipment. We couldn't get the job done without that equipment.

Thanks to our intern John Beetham for all of his help at the blinds and for all of the support with the website.

Thanks to all of the banders.

Olin Allen	Steve Felch	Paul Napier
Nick Baer	Jeff Hays	Arthur Nelson
Gene Biglin	Al Hinde	Sam Orr
Bob Cantilli	Greg Ivins	Jeff Ott
Peter Deahl	Dan James	John Shafer
Ed Deal	Robert and Kay Lookingbill	Brian Smith
Katy Duffy	Joey Mason	Bob Studholme
Paul Engman	Dave Merker	Claudia Thompson Deahl

Thanks also to all of the other individuals that helped assist with the banding operations but are not listed here.

Project Totals 2008 vs 2007