Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 16, 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 2 282
Bald Eagle 0 24 168
Northern Harrier 0 33 146
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 63 1685
Cooper's Hawk 0 31 401
Northern Goshawk 0 1 10
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 57 170
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 3701
Red-tailed Hawk 1 668 1553
Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1
Golden Eagle 0 9 15
American Kestrel 1 1 88
Merlin 0 1 24
Peregrine Falcon 0 2 32
Unknown 0 11 83
Total: 3 904 8359
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Bev Leeuwenburg
Observers: Jen Folts
Visitors:
Ralph Wall popped in, right as everybody else popped out.
Weather:
Fair skies with little wind, Temp in the high 50's.
Observations:
Not much to speak of. A late Kestrel was nice, but also a sad reminder of
this season's dismal total (54% average).
Also seen by Bev:
A thingamajiggy, or possibly a whoozit, sitting on a whatsit with at
least 36 whatchamacallit dealies (being pulled by a doohicky)...
Sometimes she sounds like Dr. Seuss, but that's why we love her.
What she meant to say: An enormous storage tank on a 36-wheeled,
two-piece trailer got stranded in the parking lot and chaos ensued. Two
semis bombed out trying to get this thing up Mountain Road. They finally
got it up the next morning using two Kenworths (today, I saw it).
Predictions:
Ian will have a slow day.
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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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