Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 14, 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 14 70 90
Bald Eagle 19 34 47
Northern Harrier 1 5 7
Sharp-shinned Hawk 22 55 71
Cooper's Hawk 2 18 22
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 196 382 434
Red-tailed Hawk 4 23 32
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 26 64 69
Merlin 0 1 1
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1
Unknown Buteo 1 3 3
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 4 7
Total: 286 660 785
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Observation start time: 07:30:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 9.5 hours
Official Counter: Vic Laubach
Observers: Dave Hunter
Visitors:
Lots of visitors today. A big welcome back to Dave Hunter who came up from
his new home in South Carolina to help out with our hawk watch for a week!
He was a big help in spotting all those afternoon birds, including that
19th record-breaking eagle! Other visitors: Bill Tucker (from Lexington),
Pete Nebel, Marshall Faintich (who spotted the first BE today!), Jenny &
Elmer Gaden, Louis, Ken Lundstrom (from Durham, NC), Bob Riggs & Ann
Spicer, Ann Shirley, Andrew Clem.
Weather:
Warm (21.0-26.0C). Strong NW winds throughout the day with stronger gusts.
Overcast early becoming mostly cloudy from 9am-3pm, then becoming overcast
again by 4pm. Good visibility, and an awesome sky full of clouds to help
spot the birds.
Raptor Observations:
BANG! ...this is the sound of the starting gun that finally shot off for
this hawk-watching season! After a month of slow hawk movements, today was
quite exciting! Our count of 19 Bald Eagles broke the old record of 18 set
on 9/15/2006. Most eagles were flying in groups: 2 adults (9:59 & 10:01am),
a group of 4 adults and 1 immature (10:18am), 1 immature (10:28am), 1
immature (11:33am), 1 adult (11:59am), 2 adults (12:25pm), 1 adult
(12:39pm), 2 adults (2:09pm), 3 adults (4:11pm), 1 immature (4:26pm). At
one point, two eagles in the group of five actually broke formation and
began chasing each other as if they were Ravens (quite uncharacteristic for
the the typical strong, un-flinching flight of a BE)!
The Broad-Winged Hawks have left the starting gate! We had 196 today total
(138 between 2-4pm). The winds were so strong all day that no kettles
formed and all of the BW Hawks, as well as most all other birds, were
rapidly streaming across the sky with the NW winds. Many of the BW Hawks
were very high in the sky, and the largest group consisted of 32 birds.
A great day for Osprey (14), and Kestrels (26). The Sharp-Shinned Hawks
are starting to fly with 22 today. Overall, a terrific mixture of raptors
with 8 different species. After a slow morning, by noon the sky seemed to
have birds flying at all times. There really wasn't much of a pattern in
the flight, with birds all over the sky. However, most birds seemed to rise
low from right over the ridge and then fly past us either to our left,
right, or directly overhead.
Non-raptor Observations:
26 Hummingbirds. 30 Monarchs. 2 Red-Headed Woodpeckers. Chimney Swifts
throughout the day. 8 Ravens, 1 late Barn Swallow. 1 Tree Swallow.
Predictions:
Sunny & warm again.
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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
