Snickers Gap
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 07, 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 5 5 7
Bald Eagle 4 4 4
Northern Harrier 1 1 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 8 9
Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 4 5
Broad-winged Hawk 48 65 70
Red-tailed Hawk 4 4 8
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 3 3 4
Merlin 2 2 2
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 1 1 1
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 77 97 111
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter: Joan Boudreau and Bob Abrams
Observers: Bob Blakney, Linda Millington, Matt Orsie, The Littles
Visitors:
Lori Thomas & family (including husband Eric, sons Taylor, and twins Maggie
& Matt); Judy Bardsley & family (including husband David Redmond and sons
Declan & Kieran (did I forget an "n"?)
Weather:
BEEEEOOOtiful day - clear, cool, cloudless to start. Winds from the WNW at
about 5mph. Clouds rolled in about 2:30 which assisted in the high-flying,
slow-moving Broadwings.
Raptor Observations:
We had a wonderful treat in the 10 o'clock hour of two Merlins appearing to
travel together. The slowest moving Merlins ever with some swooping and
talon-grabbing acrobatics at the end of our view too. None of us remember
seeing two Merlins showing up in our view at Snickers before, never mind
what seemed to be tolerable interactions between them. Siblings?
Non-raptor Observations:
Since we have plenty of time on our hands we make note of the good number
of dogs breeds that pass us on their way down (or up) the AT. Today we had
our first visit from a Bulldog. We also had a few nice non-raptor bird
species including two Red-headed Woodpeckers, eight Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds, and a good dragonfly migration with mostly Black Saddlebags,
and a couple of Carolina Saddlebags. We also saw lots of raptor munching on
same.
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Report submitted by Joan and Bob (icepeep@xxxxxxx)
Site Description:
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.
Directions to site:
