Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 04, 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 8 19 52
Bald Eagle 2 4 11
Northern Harrier 2 4 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 2 5
Cooper's Hawk 2 3 8
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1 6
Broad-winged Hawk 38 116 242
Red-tailed Hawk 5 12 26
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 4 4 11
Merlin 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 1 1 1
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 1
Unknown Falcon 1 1 1
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 1 4
Mississippi Kite 2 3 4
Total: 68 171 377
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Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 16:15:00
Total observation time: 7.75 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers:
Visitors:
Jennifer Jowdy, Nelson Lewis, Ben Pumphrey, Marshall Faintich, Randy Cline,
Herman Wells, Mary & Daniel Mapel.
Weather:
A beautiful day! Quite warm (22.7-28.8C). Moderate NW wind early shifting
to moderate ESE wind by 11am. Mostly sunny but enough clouds to help make
spotting easier. Clear visibility.
Raptor Observations:
A very fun and rewarding day with a total of 11 raptor species! The
biggest highlight occurred at 11:42am when a medium-size, fast flying
raptor was spotted somewhat distant out to the west heading south. I was
quickly able to get the bird in my spotting scope to identify an adult
Mississippi Kite! The bird briefly stopped to circle and as it circled it
was joined by a second Mississippi Kite, a juvenile! Both birds then
continued south flying together in the same scope view.
Other highlights today included the season's first Peregrine Falcon (a high
flying adult at 1:34pm), two adult Bald Eagles (12:15 and 3:47), and two
Northern Harriers (9:32 unaged bird and 1:20 adult female). Several birds
including a Kestrel and two Osprey gave close, low flyovers directly
overhead this morning! First Raptor: 9:10 AK, Last Raptor: 3:47 BE.
Non-raptor Observations:
2 Hummingbirds, 44 Chimney Swifts, 2 Scarlet Tanagers. 11 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
