Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 03, 2009
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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 3 3 204
Bald Eagle 2 4 68
Northern Harrier 0 0 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk 102 140 691
Cooper's Hawk 22 25 104
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 2
Broad-winged Hawk 41 69 12060
Red-tailed Hawk 5 6 58
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 9 11 115
Merlin 0 0 11
Peregrine Falcon 1 1 15
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 5
Unknown Falcon 0 0 4
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 7
Total: 185 259 13352
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 14:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Multiple Counters
Observers: Brenda Tekin, Vic Laubach
Visitors:
Thanks to those who showed up to help, including
Dale Miller, Tom Lord, Bob Ake, John Spahr.
And, a surprise visit by Yulee Larner, accompanied by Mary Vemulean.
Yulee is one of the original founders of Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch back in
1976!
Weather:
Beautiful fall day with brutal bright blue skies and no clouds, not even
the hint of a wisp for most of the day. Someone mentioned the "c" word
sometime around 1:30 p.m. EST and sure enough, there was a cloud to our
north to provide a reference point among all that blue.
A bit breezy, winds from SW 15-25km/h shifting to west and diminishing to
12-17km/h. Temp: 17c climbing to 24c by 10 a.m. EST then steadily dropping
to 17.5c. Humidity: 42% dropping to 29%, then climing to 39%. Clear
visibility all the way to the western ridges approximately 52 miles away.
And, zero cloud cover.
Raptor Observations:
Morning was pretty steady with Sharp-shins making a good showing, with many
coming in small groups of 4-5. Some would come in low, skirting the tree
tops along north ridge, then circle and climb to become small specs that
would "poof" disappear in the blink of the eye in a sea of bright blue.
Two Bald Eagle, both adults, one at 10:33 a.m. and one at 1:28 EST.
A few notable records to add: Season's BAEA count to date of 68 is 2nd
highest since 1976; Osprey count of 204 is 3rd highest.
Non-raptor Observations:
Chimney Swifts - several small waves moving through;
Predictions:
Please let there be a few clouds. Even jet contrails will do.
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Report submitted by Brenda Tekin (bt8x@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, VA information may be found at:
http://www.rockfishgaphawkwatch.org
