Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 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 2 10 211
Bald Eagle 3 17 199
Northern Harrier 0 4 35
Sharp-shinned Hawk 24 451 1038
Cooper's Hawk 8 97 215
Northern Goshawk 0 1 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 3 18
Broad-winged Hawk 6 1008 23565
Red-tailed Hawk 0 12 68
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 1 2 8
American Kestrel 0 38 199
Merlin 1 3 54
Peregrine Falcon 1 6 43
Unknown Accipiter 1 2 7
Unknown Buteo 0 0 3
Unknown Falcon 0 0 6
Unknown Eagle 0 0 1
Unknown Raptor 1 6 24
Mississippi Kite 0 0 9
Total: 48 1660 25705
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 14:30:00
Total observation time: 6.5 hours
Official Counter: Brenda Tekin
Observers:
Visitors:
Kevin McGann, Syracuse, NY; John Pancake, Tom Pendleton, Mary Jane "MJ"
McMillan from Winston-Salem, NC area; and Ana Blum with young Miss Lucy on
her first bird watching adventure.
Weather:
Once again, low clouds moved low over the ridge with a slight SSE breeze
for most of the morning with zero visibility. When airflow shifted to more
variable the low clouds would move back out to the east to briefly clearing
to view the sunny Shenandoah Valley to the west. Shift of airflow and low
cloud ceiling moved back. A slight increase in wind finally began to
slowly lift the clouds up and out by 10:45 EST, enough for clear skies from
NE corner to west. The towers on Bear Den Mountain were never visible
throughout the day.
Mild temps 22.8c>26.6c; Humidity: 90<78%; Cloud cover: increasing to 80% to
the E.
Raptor Observations:
Arrived to find two Broad-winged Hawks perched atop bare tree snag at top
of Afton. Dense fog moved in and we could only see one Common Raven that
flew in close below out of the mist. Once the winds shifted the fog
finally lifted and we could finally spot birds, some distant, some to the
north that would gain altitude and disappear into the mist. First vulture
came in low through the gap at 10:19EST. Three Bald Eagles (adult-1:11; 2nd
year-11:53 and a 3rd year at 11:53 spotted after following a fast moving
adult Peregrine Falcon that flew up and popped the young eagle.
A low flying adult Golden Eagle at 11:29 headed S behind the "plateau."
Non-raptor Observations:
Quite a few Monarch Butterfly still moving. Chimney Swift-21
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Report submitted by Brenda Tekin (brenda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
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
