Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 12, 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 9 51 71
Bald Eagle 2 12 25
Northern Harrier 2 4 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 20 36
Cooper's Hawk 6 14 18
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 86 170 222
Red-tailed Hawk 2 15 24
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 2 34 39
Merlin 0 1 1
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 3 6
Total: 120 325 450
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 8.5 hours
Official Counter: Multiple Counters
Observers: Brenda Tekin, Vic Laubach
Visitors:
Quite a few folks ventured up to the mountain top including Dave Schoch who
was on hand all day finding quite a few birds for us. Dave, you're hired!!
Peggy Combs and Chris Barker of Richmond; two other local fellows we don't
see too often - Peter Dutnel and David West;
Denise Mutschettes (I hope I read that right) and Gordan Reubusch; Cole
Burrell; Carol and Richard Newman;
William Leigh and Diane Lepkowski returned today for a chance to see a few
more birds. Diane managed to get a few decent shots of one of the Northern
Harriers as it sailed by. And welcome back to Nancy Davidson and a special
welcome to Judy Bonner who is enjoying her new found freedom--retirement!!
Weather:
A front blew through overnight producing very little rain on the western
side of the ridge. Peter Dutnell reported some decent rain fell over in
southern Albemarle Co. to the east. Vic Laubach arrived by 7 a.m. EST and
he reports there were patches of thick fog that quickly lifted with the
strong winds. And it was indeed blustery throughout the day, with mostly
west winds clocking betweeh 29-42km/h. Several times later in the
afternoon we noted winds more out of the NW and then changing back to out
of the west. With the wind, thank goodness there was decent cloud cover
for most of the day that SOMETIMES helped us spot the high sailing birds,
And with the strongs winds those birds were all over the sky -- to the
east, to the west and high overhead. Some were sort of low, some high and
not too difficult to spot and then there were those small, distant specs.
Raptor Observations:
At long last, we hit the triple-digit mark for a single day. It was
certainly a decent day with Broad-wings finally making a showing. With the
strong winds, most sailed right on through without so much as a "Howdy."
Today we finally got to see a few small groups of them and we're hopeful to
be on hand to see lots more in the very near future. The two BAEA, both
adults, came in fairly close for decent looks, one 9:48 a,.m. EST and the
last one for the day at 11:18 a.m. The two kestrels came in faily low and
once they got that tail wind, they zinged across the sky, with no time to
say "hi" or "goodbye." The two Northern Harriers were a special treat. The
first one, an immature, flew past at 1:46 and the second passed over at
2:30 p.m.
Non-raptor Observations:
Vic Laubach reported hundreds of warblers and vireos flying over as the
flog lifted early morning. Other interesting sightings included a large
flock of American Tree Swallow, with quite a few smaller groups and single
birds passing through; Common Yellowthroat Warbler; Scarlet Tanager;
Red-headed Woodpecker (2); Chimney Swifts; Common Raven (6); Ruby-throated
Humingbird (4); Cliff Swallows (4); Monarch Butterfly (70+); and the
surprise of the day was a very late Purple Martin. I need to check our
records, but if memory serves correctly, this may be the first reported
sighting for the hawk watch.
Predictions:
Gordy Adamski will be on hand tomorrow morning. Check our web site for the
schedule. We need counters most of the afternoon shifts including all day
Tuesday and Thursday. Please contact us if you can take on one or more
shifts so that we can get full coverage, at least for the next few weeks in
anticipation of the push of the Broad-wings.
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Report submitted by Brenda Tekin (brenda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, VA information may be found at:
http://www.rockfishgaphawkwatch.org
