Mendota Fire Tower
Mendota, VA, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 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 4 20 21
Bald Eagle 0 23 25
Northern Harrier 0 4 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 6 6
Cooper's Hawk 3 13 15
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1085 3330 3337
Red-tailed Hawk 0 6 6
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 2 2
American Kestrel 0 12 12
Merlin 1 3 3
Peregrine Falcon 1 1 1
Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Mississippi Kite 0 1 1
Total: 1096 3425 3437
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Observation start time: 09:15:00
Observation end time: 18:15:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Thomas O. Hunter
Observers: Ken Turner, Larry McDaniel, Ron Harrington
Visitors:
We had lots of visitors today. All of them were turned into hawk watchers.
It was a busy day so please forgive me if I miss someone or misspell a
name.
Bucky Boone, Joan Boone, Mike Rutheford, Beth Rutheford, Lynn Musick,
Lyndsay Musick, Kathy Musick, Lynette Horn, Blake Logan, Doug Logan, Susan
Logan, Karen Viers, Dallas Duff, Ron Harrington, Joan Harrington, Jill
Scott, Jamie Scott, Matt Scott, Jean Scott, Kent Blazier, Jeanette Blazier,
Mary Erwin and Judy Roach. Also Stevie and Thayer whose last name I missed
writing down.
Weather:
Very warm and sunny. Very little wind.
Raptor Observations:
The first Broadwing was not until almost 11am. Most of the day was spent
lying on the rocks looking straight up and hoping to catch the first bird
in each group. We had our first Peregrine Falcon and Red-shouidered Hawk of
the season. It was a brutal blue sky with no cloud cover.
Non-raptor Observations:
We had several warbler species and 4 Double-crested Cormorants pass by
today.
One of the young people who came by was Blake Logan, a 7th grader from
Bristol who displayed an excellent knowledge of raptors already. He and his
younger brother Doug were a great help in spotting the high flying hawks.
Predictions:
Lots of raptors in the pipeline and tomorrow we may have some cloud cover
for help in seeing the hawks.
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Report submitted by Thomas O. Hunter (opiehunter@xxxxxxxxx)