Snickers Gap
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 13, 2013
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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 0 1 124
Bald Eagle 1 23 134
Northern Harrier 0 2 49
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 13 917
Cooper's Hawk 1 6 134
Northern Goshawk 1 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 5 19 46
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 11616
Red-tailed Hawk 41 227 502
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 2 3
American Kestrel 0 1 88
Merlin 0 1 28
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 10
Unknown Accipiter 0 2 9
Unknown Buteo 0 1 11
Unknown Falcon 0 1 3
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 1 20
Total: 52 301 13695
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Observation start time: 10:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 3 hours
Official Counter: Todd M. Day
Observers: BJ Little, Matt Orsie
Visitors:
The dude in the convertible. Mazda Miata, top down, 30 degrees.
Weather:
What a tease. The forecast was pretty much perfect: northwest wind at ten
to twenty, mostly cloudy, cold. This was to be the day. It even lived up
to its billing, until around noon, when the clouds started to break up. The
sun, while welcome for personal comfort, seemed to have thrown the brakes
on the flight (or my ability to see the flight). In the twelve to one hour,
I saw five birds. So I left at one.
Raptor Observations:
A beautiful adult Goshawk circled around a bit, close, before squaring off
to the southwest and jetting out of there. A few adult Bald Eagles were
milling about.
Non-raptor Observations:
Started out as a strong loon flight, but when the clouds vanished, so did
the sightings of loons. Four Herring Gulls. Close to 100 waxwings moving
around. Some robins still flying. A lone purple finch identified, and
other finches left unidentified.
Predictions:
Warming up with southwesterly winds. I wouldn't expect much.
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Report submitted by Todd Day (blkvulture@xxxxxxx)
