Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 20, 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 2 107 127
Bald Eagle 8 61 74
Northern Harrier 1 19 21
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12 304 320
Cooper's Hawk 4 35 39
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1276 17667 17719
Red-tailed Hawk 1 34 43
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 7 93 98
Merlin 0 2 2
Peregrine Falcon 1 6 6
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 2
Unknown Buteo 0 4 4
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 5 8
Total: 1313 18340 18465
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Multiple Counters
Observers: Dave Hunter, Gordy Adamski, Rose Thomas
Visitors:
Dan Perkuchin, Robert Plank, Elizabeth Hunter, Peter Nebel, Ellen Amerson,
Phyllis Winters, Gabriel Mapel and his dad Daniel, Vic Laubach. Gabriel did
get to see his favorite raptor, the Kestrel, while visiting in the
afternoon. Actually, if he hadn't have spotted it with his own "naked"
eyes, we might have missed it! Thanks Gabriel!
Weather:
Warm temps (16.5-24.0C) and clear skies in the morning becoming partly
cloudy from 11am on. Light NE breezes throughout the day. Clear visibility.
Raptor Observations:
Gordy reported an early morning lift-off of large numbers of BW Hawks in
the first 2 hours which comprised the bulk of the day's count. All of these
birds lifted off to our west over the Waynesboro area. Hourly BW numbers:
437 (8-9am), 653 (9-10am), 52 (10am-2pm), 98 (2-3pm), 36 (3-5pm).
Another big day for Bald Eagles with a total of 8: 3rd-YR immature
(11:08am), adult (2:25pm), 2 adults (2:33pm), adult (2:39pm), adult
(2:59am), 2 adults (4:19pm). Another Peregrine Falcon in the morning
(10-11am). In the afternoon, most all of the birds were flying VERY high,
and if it weren't for the high clouds, we probably would have missed a lot
including those eagles!
Non-raptor Observations:
1 Hummingbird. Many Monarchs flying everywhere. Our official Monarch
counter, Gabriel Mapel, clicked off 459 in the afternoon, but there were
many more not counted in the morning.
Predictions:
Mostly sunny and warm.
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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
