Kiptopeke Hawkwatch
Tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 20, 2017
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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 0 123 2473
Bald Eagle 1 117 396
Northern Harrier 2 142 490
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 237 2226
Cooper's Hawk 1 192 1428
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 53 71
Broad-winged Hawk 0 3 1196
Red-tailed Hawk 4 213 339
Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 4
Golden Eagle 1 10 10
American Kestrel 0 36 3351
Merlin 0 36 1384
Peregrine Falcon 0 14 785
Unknown Accipiter 0 2 8
Unknown Buteo 0 1 2
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 1 20
Unknown Raptor 0 1 19
Swallow-tailed Kite 0 0 1
Total: 15 1182 14203
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Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6.75 hours
Official Counter: Anna Stunkel
Observers:
Weather:
Moderate to light winds were mainly from the northwest, with clear skies
and temperatures in the forties to low fifties.
Raptor Observations:
Despite the slowness, it was a very interesting day! A distant immature
Golden Eagle was a nice highlight. Many large grubs were apparently active
on the lawn to the northeast of the platform, and at least two
red-shoulders (an adult and a juvenile) were taking advantage of this fact.
Throughout the day, I observed them running (it is rather funny to watch a
hawk run) around the lawn and pouncing on grubs. This afternoon, several
American Crows also joined in. A few times, the crows cautiously approached
the adult red-shoulder and pulled its tail. This behavior is often seen in
corvids, and it's thought to be a distraction tactic used to move in and
grab food from other animals. Digiscoped photos of these interactions will
eventually be up on the blog.
Non-raptor Observations:
There seemed to be a considerable Rusty Blackbird movement this morning
(based on call notes heard within Red-winged Blackbird flocks). Northern
Gannets were very actively feeding on the bay, with 20+ birds at a time
often visible in a single scope scan. Two hummingbirds were observed today
(occasionally chasing each other), and photos were obtained of at least one
of the birds. It is a Ruby-throated or Black-chinned, and photos will
require further review before coming to a conclusion. Stay tuned- I will
post any updates here on the hawkcount.org website. Other highlights
included:
327 Tundra Swans
36 Horned Larks
7 American Pipits
1 Purple Finch (FOS, surprisingly)
2 Monarchs
1 Cabbage White
1 Painted Lady (I think), in an Eastern Phoebe's bill and then stomach
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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
