Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 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 3 3 204
Bald Eagle 5 5 187
Northern Harrier 2 2 33
Sharp-shinned Hawk 141 141 728
Cooper's Hawk 20 20 138
Northern Goshawk 1 1 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 3 18
Broad-winged Hawk 304 304 22861
Red-tailed Hawk 3 3 59
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 1 1 7
American Kestrel 10 10 171
Merlin 2 2 53
Peregrine Falcon 3 3 40
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 5
Unknown Buteo 0 0 3
Unknown Falcon 0 0 6
Unknown Eagle 0 0 1
Unknown Raptor 0 0 18
Mississippi Kite 0 0 9
Total: 498 498 24543
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Observation start time: 07:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8.5 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers: Raymond VanBuskirk
Visitors:
Craig Kochel (a counter at the Jacks Mtn Hawk Watch in PA), Phil Silas,
David Ledwith, Bob Butterworth, Ann Cline, Joe & Sue Alcock, John & Lila
Porterfield.
Weather:
A beautiful day with 17.5-21.2C temps. No clouds early but a great sky
(45-75% cloud cover) after 11am. Mild breezes gradually shifting from SW
to SSE. Hazy in the morning.
Raptor Observations:
Another 13 species day! Good accipiter movement throughout the day
including an immature Northern Goshawk at 1:08pm, which gave some decent
views as it flew south down the east side of the gap. A nice afternoon
Broad-wing flight with several kettles of 30-40 birds. Five Bald Eagles
(10:14 adult, 10:26 adult, 11:12 3rd-YR, 12:14 1st-YR, 3:21 3rd-YR). A
distant immature Golden Eagle out to the west at 11:22. Three adult
Peregrine Falcons (9:23, 9:46, 12:27) and back-to-back Merlins at 10:15 and
10:18. Two Harriers (11:36 immature and 3:07 adult male).
Non-raptor Observations:
A great non-raptor flight this morning. Highlights included: 70 Chimney
Swifts, 1 hummingbird, woodpeckers (1 YB Sapsucker, 1 Pileated, 5
Red-headed, 1 Hairy, 32 Red-bellied, 40 Flicker), 113 Blue Jays, 6
Red-breasted Nuthatches, warblers (1 Black-and-white, 4 Tennessee, 1
Redstart, 2 Cape May, 1 Parula, 2 Magnolia, 1 Blackburnian, 5 BT Blue, 1 BT
Green), 4 Scarlet Tanagers, 1 RB Grosbeak, 6 Indigo Buntings, and 195
Monarch Butterflies.
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Report submitted by Gabriel Mapel (birdmangabriel@xxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.rockfishgaphawkwatch.org
More site information at hawkcount.org:
http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=491
