Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 26, 2008
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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 21 141
Bald Eagle 0 6 37
Northern Harrier 0 12 31
Sharp-shinned Hawk 14 558 882
Cooper's Hawk 1 100 155
Northern Goshawk 0 1 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 6 7
Broad-winged Hawk 0 10 14439
Red-tailed Hawk 6 149 172
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 2
American Kestrel 1 33 102
Merlin 1 10 13
Peregrine Falcon 0 14 24
Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2
Unknown Buteo 0 0 2
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 9 15
Mississippi Kite 0 0 1
Total: 23 932 16027
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 12:30:00
Total observation time: 3.5 hours
Official Counter: Vic Laubach
Observers:
Weather:
Clear, cloudless, warm day. Temps 11.0-12.5C. Humidity 46-53%. Moderate SW
winds.
Raptor Observations:
A male, juvanile Merlin observed at 10:58am. A few Sharp-Shinned and
Red-Tailed Hawks.
Non-raptor Observations:
A flock of ~50 Crows. >6 Ravens. Two Monarchs. A single American Anhinga
was observed at 9:06am to the north just over the ridge making a few
circles before it then decided to head on. I'm very sure this was an
American Anhinga. I watched it progress to the SE until it disappeared in
the distance (which took about 2 minutes). This bird was likely an adult
male. As it was circling I could easily make out white patches on the upper
wings when it was flying toward me. As it flew relatively low in front of
me across the gap I could make out the very long, snake-like neck. The bird
was all dark underneath, and it did a lot of fast, full flapping with
intermittent gliding as it sailed away. The bird somewhat resembled a
Cormorant, especially the shape of the wings, but the long, thin neck was
distinctive as well as a very long tail.
Predictions:
Party cloudy and cooler with strong NW winds.
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Report submitted by Vic Laubach (laubach@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, VA information may be found at:
http://www.rockfishgaphawkwatch.org
