Kiptopeke Hawkwatch
Tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 18, 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 1 802 3491
Bald Eagle 10 150 340
Northern Harrier 6 138 279
Sharp-shinned Hawk 50 852 1364
Cooper's Hawk 105 1208 1591
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 12 13
Broad-winged Hawk 9 599 1336
Red-tailed Hawk 16 45 93
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 15 1260 3150
Merlin 1 467 1370
Peregrine Falcon 0 839 1347
Unknown Accipiter 0 3 3
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 9 16
Unknown Raptor 0 3 5
Mississippi Kite 0 1 1
Swainson's Hawk 1 1 1
Total: 217 6389 14400
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Observation start time: 06:30:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Anna Stunkel
Observers: Julia Magill
Weather:
Moderate to strong winds were variable, mostly from the northeast in the
morning and north northwest in the afternoon. Skies were mostly clear, with
temperatures in the fifties up to sixty. It was a lovely, brisk fall day.
Raptor Observations:
A beautiful juvenile light morph Swainson's Hawk was the highlight of the
day! The bird appeared among a kettle of Turkey Vultures and other buteos
and flew right over the platform, nice and low. Photos will be posted on
our blog:
http://coastalvirginiawildlifeobservatory.blogspot.com/
There was a good burst of activity in the morning, although the sharpie
count was still unusually low. The cooling weather brought us a few
red-tails and red-shoulders. The afternoon was slow, with birds flying
high. A Cooper's Hawk tried to land on the roof of the platform, but the
bird saw me and Julia and quickly took off.
Non-raptor Observations:
Hundreds of American Robins were on the move this morning. At least three
cheery little Eastern Phoebes were hanging around the platform, catching
quite a few insects. Other observations included:
19 American Goldfinches
7 Pine Siskins
5 Lesser Yellowlegs
4 Purple Finches
2 Eastern Meadowlarks
1 House Finch
1 Red-headed Woodpecker
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
27 Monarchs
1 Cope's Gray Treefrog (heard calling)
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Report submitted by Brian Taber (Taberzz@xxxxxxx)
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch information may be found at:
www.cvwo.org
More site information at hawkcount.org:
http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=484
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at:
https://dunkadoo.org/explore/cvwo/kiptopeke-hawk-count-2018
