Harvey's Knob
Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 06, 2015
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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 1 155
Bald Eagle 0 1 104
Northern Harrier 0 2 20
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 6 415
Cooper's Hawk 0 1 139
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 11
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 6371
Red-tailed Hawk 3 41 172
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 1 2 2
American Kestrel 0 1 68
Merlin 0 0 8
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 11
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 6
Unknown Buteo 0 1 10
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 1
Unknown Raptor 0 0 11
Total: 6 57 7504
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Observation start time: 09:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 6.5 hours
Official Counter: Mitch Mitchell
Observers: King Irvin
Visitors:
Dave Berjoui visited for the first couple of hours. Actually more traffic
on the Parkway than I had expected today with most of the leaves long gone
but I guess the higher than normal temperatures brought them out. One lady
stopped briefly to ask if The Peaks of Otter were still there. I went out
on a limb and said "yes" since I was looking right at them at that very
moment.
Weather:
Beautiful sunny day with temperatures already in the upper 60s at the start
of the watch and rising to a high of 77 before dropping back to 70 by the
end of the day. Winds were primarily from the southeast most of the day
and in the 8-12 mph range. The east side of the ridge was socked in
initially but was mostly cleared by 11:00. Visibility was very good on the
west side from the start and once the east cleared it stayed that way
throughout the day with an occasional low cloud covering Sharp Top and Flat
Top at the Peaks.
Raptor Observations:
Light day for birds and all were observed between 11:00 and 2:00 including
a golden eagle at around 12:15. A large group of between 15-20 turkey
vultures streamed through in the 2:00 hour. King Irvin sighted an adult
bald eagle at Black Horse Gap on his way to the Knob.
Non-raptor Observations:
One monarch observed today.
Predictions:
The good news, wind predicted to be from the northwest, the bad news, 60%
chance of rain early. But, it's also predicted to clear and temps in the
mid 60s.
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Report submitted by Mitch Mitchell ()
Harvey's Knob information may be found at:
http://bijame.googlepages.com/home
