Harvey's Knob
Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 22, 2018
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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 17 142
Bald Eagle 1 32 113
Northern Harrier 1 8 23
Sharp-shinned Hawk 16 232 309
Cooper's Hawk 2 54 81
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 7 13
Broad-winged Hawk 0 657 9275
Red-tailed Hawk 4 87 134
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 1
American Kestrel 1 48 107
Merlin 1 12 16
Peregrine Falcon 0 12 23
Unknown Accipiter 0 3 3
Unknown Buteo 0 5 5
Unknown Falcon 0 6 9
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 8 12
Mississippi Kite 0 0 2
Total: 28 1188 10268
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Don Aldridge
Observers: Bob Epperson
Visitors:
Added new Parkway "state visitor" with vehicle from Utah stopping at the
O/L. A few visitors saw some raptors while many saw the Sun Dogs.
Weather:
Nice brisk day with great visibility under bright blue skies. Began with
only low, thin clouds to the west. Cloud cover built to 25% at mid-day,
then, decreased to 10% by the end of the watch. Winds were generally SE 7-8
mph. Temperatures started out cold at 35 F (1.7 C), and slowly climbed to
55 F (12.2 C) at mid-afternoon.
Raptor Observations:
First three hours were dragging until a Cooper�s Hawk broke the ice at
10:55 am (all times EST). Slow yet steady for the remainder of the watch
with a nice variety of eight raptor species, all seen on the east side,
mostly low, including many birds right overhead. Near eye level Merlin at
11:43 am followed by a very low N. Harrier at 11:56 am. SS Hawks were
mostly singles with two sets of twins. Distant adult Bald Eagle at 12:33
pm. All RT Hawks came in the last two hours, with an immature RT as the
final bird of the day at 3:29 pm.
Non-raptor Observations:
Lots of Ravens, 3 Chimney Swifts, 2 Tree Swallows, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch,
and 1 immature Red-headed Woodpecker, plus, 3 Monarchs in the 1:00 pm hour.
Record day for �Sun Dogs� with 13 sighted throughout the watch (9:49 am,
10:50 am, 12:18 pm, 12:59 pm, 1:04 pm, 1:41 pm, 2:27 pm, 2:37 pm, 2:43 pm,
2:51 pm, 2:57 pm, 3:19 pm, and 3:28 pm). One Sun Dog was huge with multiple
vivid shades of red, blue and purple, which thrilled several visitors from
Ireland that had never seen one before.
Predictions:
Go get 'em Bill...
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Report submitted by Matthew D Hosmer (cumberlandmatt1@xxxxxxxxx)
Harvey's Knob information may be found at:
http://bijame.googlepages.com/home
More site information at hawkcount.org:
http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=482
