Harvey's Knob
Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 20, 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 16 119
Bald Eagle 0 8 66
Northern Harrier 0 3 23
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 192 307
Cooper's Hawk 0 25 57
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 5 12
Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 6252
Red-tailed Hawk 8 47 87
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 1
American Kestrel 1 19 48
Merlin 0 3 10
Peregrine Falcon 0 4 10
Unknown Accipiter 0 4 6
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 5 10
Total: 14 334 7009
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 10:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 5.5 hours
Official Counter: Mike Purdy
Observers: Baron Gibson, David Kirk
Visitors:
A hawkwatcher from Baltimore, Md., Andy Smith.
Weather:
A beautiful, crisp Autumn day, temps. in the 60s, light breeze out of the
NW, great visibility (you could practically see West Va.), bright blue sky
with high cirrus clouds. Lots of color on the trees, with the red leaves of
the black gums stealing the show.
Raptor Observations:
The hawks missed a good chance to migrate and be counted - we only spotted
14 migrants. No significant vulture movement such as reported yesterday.
Non-raptor Observations:
Several groups of Pine Siskins passed the overlook heading south - numbers
ranged from 4 to 35, for a total of 104.
A Blue-headed Vireo sang as it moved through the trees.
Ravens were rather rowdy this afternoon - a pair landed in nearby trees
out of sight, their vocalizations sounding strangely like monkeys.
Four Monarch butterflies counted.
Predictions:
Forecast is for increased winds out of the NW - should bring more Redtails.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Mike Purdy (MikeLPurdy@xxxxxxx)
Harvey's Knob Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://bijame.googlepages.com/home
