Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 06, 2004
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 1 1 1
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 1
Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 4 4 4
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 1 1 1
Merlin 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown 0 0 0
Total: 7 7 7
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 14:15:00
Total observation time: 5.25 hours
Official Counter: Ian Topolsky
Observers:
Visitors:
Nada.
Joe Gantt- you, and to a slightly lesser extent, you're belly-dancing
skills may need to be called upon this season. Contact me, class is in
session...
That goes for the bald, mustachioed individual also (yeah, you know who
you are).
Weather:
A little taste of what's to come farther on down the road.
A refreshingly cool day with winds that remained steady out of the W/WNW
at 2-3 Beaufort Scale for the major portion of the observation period,
with only a slight midday lull.
The first Temp recorded was a refreshing 62F, topping off at 71F by my
departure.
Cloudcover was nil to start with, increasing to 60%+ by the third hour
and holding tight for the remainder of the day.
Observations:
An expectedly slow day for this early in the season, but what a beautiful
day to be bored outdoors. First birds of the day were 3 adult
Broad-wingeds that came up low from the NW corner of the ridge, followed
by an immature (the last of the day) approximately 20 minutes later.
The seemingly everpresent Bald Eagles that tease us from the very same
NW corner were observed several times throughout the day, but had no
intention of moving (not yet at least). Two adults and one 1st yr bird
were seen, for future reference.
Our first Sharp-shinned, Kestrel and migratory BE of the season came in
the 1-2 o' clock hour.
Other birds, etc:
Tree Swallow- 20, Swallow Sp- 23, Chimney Swift- 10 to 20 individuals
dotted the sky at any given moment throughout the day, Eastern Kingbird-
1, Cedar Waxwing- 6+, Indigo Bunting- 1, American Crow- 3, Common Raven-
2.
The Budd truck is still going strong and continues to park where we
requested, but VDOT has mowed our buffer zone to Rt 7. Also, our first
"annoyance" question of the year; I realized within seconds of being asked
"Why is it called a Sharp-shinned?" that the answer was far too boring for
their limited attention span and that I should've just saved my breath.
If only I could bring myself to lie and say "I don't know"...
Predictions:
No eightball questions just yet...
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Report submitted by Ian Topolsky (ict_earth@xxxxxxxxx)
Snickers Gap Hawkwatch was established in 1990. It is located in
northern Virginia, on the Clarke and Loudoun County line. It is reached
by taking VA Route 7 to the county line, which runs atop the ridge at
Snickers Gap. On the south side of Route 7 is a commuter parking lot.
The count is conducted from there. It is a volunteer site, and is counted
in fall only, from late August until late November or early December.
There are no facilities at the site, so bring a snack, drinks, and a
chair. Many of the birds can be distant, and a scope is helpful.
As a volunteer site, we are always looking to increase our pool of
counters. We are eager to train those who have never counted, but are
skilled with hawk identification. We are also willing to pair
inexperienced observers with experienced counters. Please contact the
compiler, Todd Day, at blkvulture@xxxxxxx with any questions or if you are
interested in participating in the count.
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