Coverage has been sparse this past week here in the inner Piedmont just east of
the Blue Ridge, but sufficient to suggest that so far the vast bulk of the
Broad-winged Hawk flight in this area has been concentrated on the Blue Ridge.
Sorry for the late reporting.
Last weekend when Harvey's Knob and Rockfish Gap totaled about 800 and 1100
Broadwings respectively we only tallied about three dozen, although coverage
did not extend late into either day.
On Tuesday and Wednesday last week when Harvey's Knob and Rockfish Gap tallied
about 12,000 and 11,000 Broadwings respectively, coverage was not possible at
Candler Mountain just outside Lynchburg. But John Williamson in Bedford
County, about 12 miles WSW of Candler Mountain, counted 863 Broadwings over
those two days. His data can be accessed at the Hawkcount site
(www.hawkcount.org<http://www.hawkcount.org>), under the lookout name of Ashton
Ridge. Also, Mark Johnson counting briefly in the city of Amherst in Amherst
County on Tuesday morning counted 479 Broadwings.
This past Thursday when Rockfish Gap tallied 7045 Broadwings and Harvey's Knob
864, no official count was conducted at Candler Mountain, but casual
observations were made there most of the day, which was overcast most of the
day until a little sun made an appearance late in the afternoon. Only a
handful of Broadwings were seen. And no observations were possible there
yesterday/Friday, with today being fogged out, followed by rain. Counts of
other species of hawks migrating here in the last week have likewise been very
sparse during our limited coverage.
Congratulations to both Harvey's Knob and Rockfish Gap for fantastic Broadwing
counts thus far, including an 8000+ day for each, as well as to Snicker's Gap
farther to our north, with nice flights Thursday and Friday of over 3000 and
nearly 4000 respectively.
Gene Sattler
Lynchburg
