Harvey's Knob
Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 23, 2011
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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 0 1 158
Bald Eagle 6 10 103
Northern Harrier 0 2 33
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 24 824
Cooper's Hawk 0 7 116
Northern Goshawk 0 2 5
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 4 19
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 10226
Red-tailed Hawk 2 215 392
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 0 1 69
Merlin 0 0 20
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 29
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1
Unknown Buteo 0 1 4
Unknown Falcon 0 0 4
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 2 10
Mississippi Kite 0 0 1
Total: 8 270 12015
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Observation start time: 10:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 5 hours
Official Counter: Bill Grant
Observers: Dave Brunstetter
Visitors:
David Brunstetter arrived about 10:40 in time to see all 6 eagles and
photograph several. He was with me until 2:00, the birds stopped at 1:00
as the winds increased and no more birds came the next hour so I called it
quits and went and got WARM!!!!!!!
Very little traffic on the Parkway today, several VA cars came into the
knob as did one from NC. Those that jumped out of their cars to get a
picture or two quickly jumped back in.
Weather:
In a word - COLD!!!!!!! Due to the wind which I clocked one time at 38
mph. When I arrived at the knob around 9:40 it was raining and prospects
didn't look too good. However things began to get better by 10:00. Clouds
moved from west to east very fast today. Had periods with sun and cloud
cover. Temps started out at 11.2C but fell throughout the day to 9.5C.
Winds from the W & NW from B4-B6 with a number of higher gusts at times.
More cloudy than sunny and did I say COLD !!!!!!!
Raptor Observations:
BALD EAGLE DAY AT HARVEY'S - UNBELIEVABLE - 6 Bald Eagles within a 28
minute period from 10:54-11:22 - 2 Mature, 4 immature. The first bird a
fully mature with white head, white tail and dark brown feathers all over
arose from just behind Near Ridge at 10:54, the sun hitting every feature
the bird had to offer.
The other five birds also arose from the direction of the James River and
came in from just in front of Near Ridge. An immature arose just a minute
after the first bird appeared and the two interacted with each other for
several minutes right in front of the west overlook before flying off side
by side to the south.
In addition to the 6 eagles there were also two redtails seen for the day.
Non-raptor Observations:
On the way up to the knob a your 4-point buck ran across the road at MP
202.2.
Ahead of me as I continued I noticed a large group of TV's seeming to
flock to the road and as I approached MP 98.4 the reason became obvious, a
freshly killed possum still all plump and juicy. The birds were lining up
on the rocks and trees just waiting for all the traffic to clear.
One rather scary moment after arriving at the knob - at 9:42 I noticed
something large moving through the clouds to the right of the V on the east
side. A large airliner came out of the low lying clouds passing no more
than 500 feet above the crest of the knob at the N end of the driveway. As
he broke into the clear he made a slight left turn and rose up into the
cloud cover. Don't ever remember seeing a large plane of that size that
low over the knob before -- I guess the clouds made it look scarier than it
was - NAH!!!!!
No little birds today of any kind - too windy. 8 Ravens back and forth
with two of them going back and forth over the west side interacting with
each other for over 20 during the 3:00 hour.
8-10 TV's mainly stayed on the east side the only birds of the day to do
so.
Bob Cat nowhere to be seen - My Guess - since the east side was almost
windless he probably crawled down the east side and was chasing some of the
chickens in the farm fields down there.
Predictions:
Wind should subside, temps should be warmer and could produce some flight.
HOWEVER!!!!!! - IT'S THANKSGIVING FOLKS - HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU HAWKWATCHERS
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY !!!!!!!!!!
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Report submitted by Bill Grant (clarinetman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Harvey's Knob Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://bijame.googlepages.com/home
