Kiptopeke Hawkwatch
Tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 21, 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 0 25 294
Northern Harrier 4 71 527
Sharp-shinned Hawk 17 392 9791
Cooper's Hawk 13 124 2034
Northern Goshawk 0 2 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 28 48
Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 1338
Red-tailed Hawk 1 138 356
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 5 6
American Kestrel 1 34 4090
Merlin 0 15 1415
Peregrine Falcon 2 15 769
Unknown Accipiter 1 2 20
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: 40 880 22784
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Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 15:45:00
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter: Kyle Wright
Observers:
Weather:
A weakish, coldish front slid through the area some time today, with
temperatures mostly falling throughout the day to a three o'clock low of
15.4c, with light drizzle for about five seconds around noon thirty. Winds
out of the west southwest in the morning, shifting to northwest around
eleven and then northeast origins for the afternoon hours.
Raptor Observations:
A nice little flurry of southbound birds on the northwest winds midday, but
the southbound flight seemed to halt once the winds shifted to northeast
origins, which is quite curious given that all the books say northeast is
the ideal wind for this site. There were plenty of northbound birds in the
afternoon, including the (I think I can say "the", not "a") leucistic
sharpie, who came up from the south around 12:47, took one spin around the
trapping station, but being uninterested or fearful of the red-tail in the
station at the same time, the bird headed south again into the trees and
disapeared. (Our trapper called a mulligan on the bird.) The bird was close
enough this time to see blotchy buffy-yellow and white on the upperparts,
but not enough of a pattern below to try to age it by. In other news, at
least three peregrines were seen today, with two being counted, and three
northbound red-shoulders were seen, though only one southbound bird was
counted.
Non-raptor Observations:
I got out of the car this morning with streams and rivers of Robins
overhead, and made the decision that I lacked the gumption today to count
the migratory turds. This was a mistake in hindsight, as I would estimate
that in the first two hours of the count, fifteen to twenty thousand of the
big thrushes went south overhead, likely a high count for the season. Also
about five thousand icterids of three species, about one hundred twenty
five bluebirds, four Common Loons, about fourty Snow Geese, and a handfull
of American Pipits and Horned Larks. A hummingbird showed up for a few
minutes, and as with the sharpie yesterday, I used all the imagination I
could conjure, but could not make it anything other than a late
Ruby-throated. Seventeen Monarch flutter-bys also seen today. On an
unrelated note, a regular visitor and friend to the site suggested today
that I put together a platform list for the season. I was assured that this
was a suggestion, not a threat, and per usual I will leave all names
anonymous, suffice to say his name may have started with Robert and ended
with Ake. Well, long story short, by my count since September first of the
year, we have observed some 193 species from the platform, with a handfull
of big holes in the list that we might be able to fill out by the end of
the season for an even 200 species.
Predictions:
Predicted east winds should keep any birds trying to migrate on the
platform's side of the peninsula, but there is also a 50% chance of rain.
We can hope Wednesday's cold front will make for a bit of a flight on
Thanksgiving, but, we are soon running out of time in the season to keep
saying "the next front will be THE front", "the next front will bring a big
push of birds", "the next front will..." ya get the point...
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Report submitted by Brian Taber (Taberzz@xxxxxxx)
Kiptopeke State Park information may be found at:
www.cvwo.org
