Mendota Fire Tower
Mendota, VA, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 17, 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 1 12 13
Bald Eagle 6 22 24
Northern Harrier 1 3 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 5 5
Cooper's Hawk 3 8 10
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 893 1679 1686
Red-tailed Hawk 1 6 6
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 2 2
American Kestrel 5 11 11
Merlin 1 1 1
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 1 1 1
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Mississippi Kite 0 1 1
Total: 913 1751 1763
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 18:45:00
Total observation time: 9.75 hours
Official Counter: Thomas O. Hunter
Observers:
Visitors:
Ron Pendleton, Rob Biller, Juanita Davis, Dakota Davis, Shane Williams,
Joel Keebler, Katyln Sullivan, Rick Phillips, Ken Turner.
Tom laughlin brought 17 students from his Zoology Class at East Tennessee
State University.
All visitors participated in spotting hawks. I especially appreciated the
sharp young eyes of Dakota Davis that spotted hawks without binoculars
while his elders had trouble with binoculars.
Weather:
Low clouds and fog covered the hawk site until 11 am. Warm with light winds
from w to nw thereafter.
Raptor Observations:
First Broadwing at 11:04am. Fairly steady flight thereafter. The Broadwings
were still flying very high until 6:45. The last 2 were the only ones down
to just above eye level.
Non-raptor Observations:
I had the first Red-headed Woodpecker I have seen this year.
Warblers seen were Bay-breasted, Cape May, American Redstart, Black and
White. Also, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue Jay.
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Report submitted by Thomas O. Hunter (opiehunter@xxxxxxxxx)