Kiptopeke Hawkwatch
Tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 20, 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 22 2016
Bald Eagle 1 25 294
Northern Harrier 1 67 523
Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 375 9774
Cooper's Hawk 5 111 2021
Northern Goshawk 0 2 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 27 47
Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 1338
Red-tailed Hawk 0 137 355
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 5 6
American Kestrel 1 33 4089
Merlin 0 15 1415
Peregrine Falcon 0 13 767
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 19
Unknown Buteo 0 0 3
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 2 22
Unknown Raptor 0 3 51
Swainson's Hawk 0 1 2
Total: 17 840 22744
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Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 14:30:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Kyle Wright
Observers:
Weather:
Partly cloudy skies with west winds and temperatures between 14.0c and
18.6c.
Raptor Observations:
An apparently white sharpie at 11:28 (I used all the imagination in me to
change it into a gyr, honest, but given that I had clicked it off as a
sharpie before noticing the color, it was kind of hard to make it bigger
and completely differently shapped with a total attitude adjustment). The
bird remained too far to the east to see whether it was a true albino or
some pale leucistic thing, but an interesting sighting non the less on an
otherwise painfully slow and boring and dull day. I mean, the only other
notable thing about the raptors today is that one of my local balds that
used to have five retained juvenile secondaries on one wing and four on the
other now has four retained secondaries on both wings. You know it's slow
on the hawkwatch when...
Non-raptor Observations:
Another decent robin and icterid flight in the first hour of the count,
with an estimated 5,000 of each. Also a few hundred waxwings, and a few
dozen pipits and bluebirds, eleven monarchs, but really not much to write
home about...
Predictions:
A weak cold-ish front will slide throught the area with a 30% chance of
rain showers (acording to the national weather service) and north winds
behind it. Not the type of front I would expect to induce a huge flight,
but, Cape May had about 250 birds two days ago, and Rough-leg at Cape
Henlopen yesterday... should we assume such things have to (HAVE TO) come
by our platform sometime soon?
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Report submitted by Brian Taber (Taberzz@xxxxxxx)
Kiptopeke State Park information may be found at:
www.cvwo.org
