Snickers Gap
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 12, 2007
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 181
Bald Eagle 0 19 200
Northern Harrier 3 19 159
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 34 1621
Cooper's Hawk 0 9 245
Northern Goshawk 0 2 5
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 17 134
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 8110
Red-tailed Hawk 10 297 1123
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 5 13
American Kestrel 0 0 132
Merlin 0 0 45
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 21
Unknown Accipiter 0 4 19
Unknown Buteo 0 1 15
Unknown Falcon 0 0 4
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 1 17
Short-eared Owl 0 0 1
Total: 14 408 12045
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 10:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 5.5 hours
Official Counter: Larry Brindza
Observers:
Visitors:
9 "Whacha doin" visitors.
Weather:
There was rain during the night and early morning in Northern Virginia. The
day started at 10:00 with 100 % clouds. From 11:00 until the end of the
count day EACH HOUR there was both 90 to 100% cloud cover to as little as
10% cloud cover. Winds started at 1-5 km/ hour for the first three hours
and then 6-11 km/hour for the next 2.5 hours. Winds were from the East for
most of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Not much of a day with only 3 Northern Harriers, 1 Red-shouldered, and 10
Red-taileds.
Non-raptor Observations:
Not a day for raptor food type birds either!
========================================================================
Report submitted by Larry Brindza (ljbrindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
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.