Harvey's Knob
Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 18, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 10 76 85
Bald Eagle 3 36 44
Northern Harrier 2 4 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk 11 70 72
Cooper's Hawk 1 11 12
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 2328 3630 3633
Red-tailed Hawk 0 29 40
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 2 23 23
Merlin 0 4 5
Peregrine Falcon 0 3 5
Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 5 5
Total: 2357 3893 3932
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 17:30:00
Total observation time: 9.5 hours
Official Counter: Baron Gibson
Observers: Bill Adams, Bill James, Dillard Childress,
John & Eunice Hudgins, John Slaughter, Katie James, Quinns,
Tina Gibson, phillip ferguson
Visitors:
Multiple, Multiple, Multiple, parking at the site a premium & some had to
park in the grass & on the side of the road.
Thanks to King & Joann Irvin who helped keep the count on the east side
early. Liz hunter with Blue Ridge Country Magazine for awhile before
getting up & migrating to Rockfish Gap for a late evening flight. And I
want to add That Mrs. Gilbert came up today and it was good to see her.
Over the years when the Broadies are gone & I on watch, I could always
count on Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert showing up & spending some time with me. Mr.
Gilbert passed a few years back but she still comes at least once during
Broad season.
Judy, Amber & Heather from the Hillins U group that were up on Tue. & Wed
cam back up (not positively sure, but think this is the first time an HU
student has come back) and they were not dissapointed in the flight they
saw. Heather, the last of the three, got to the watch in time to see the
late flight. Thanks ladies, please come back.
Thanks to everyone who helped spot & keep me updated as to where all the
hawks were.
Weather:
Sunny with blues skies most of the watch. Winds out of the E-SE @ a 1-2 all
watch.
Raptor Observations:
Broadwings everywhere, on the East side, on the West side & straight up the
middle. Bulk of Broadies were observed between the 08:00 hr. to the 13:00
hr, but a late push came in the 15:00 - 16:00 hr. with 180 streaming &
kettling through. 3 Balds counted also.
Right at 17:00 (bird time) a couple who had just left the site showed back
up saying they observed a lot of hawks kettling about 1 mile North of us.
The few of us left went on alert and started scanning. A few minutes later
hawks were seen deep in the valley to the east flapping & going down.
Non-raptor Observations:
100+ Monarchs
Predictions:
More hawks in the pipeline according to the Northern post could be another
good day. Sausage gravy, biscuits & some other goodies for the annual
ritual of "Feast of Hawks" provided by Barry Kinzie & others. Weather same
as today except NW winds. And cannot forget "TADLESS"
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Report submitted by Baron Gibson (Hawkwatcher@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
Harvey's Knob Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://bijame.googlepages.com/home
