Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 15, 2017
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 227
Bald Eagle 6 27 248
Northern Harrier 1 5 45
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 57 975
Cooper's Hawk 2 17 235
Northern Goshawk 1 2 7
Red-shouldered Hawk 15 54 91
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 22341
Red-tailed Hawk 27 126 298
Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 2
Golden Eagle 3 14 24
American Kestrel 0 1 120
Merlin 0 2 50
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 34
Unknown Accipiter 0 3 20
Unknown Buteo 0 0 13
Unknown Falcon 0 0 2
Unknown Eagle 0 0 1
Unknown Raptor 0 3 25
Mississippi Kite 0 0 3
Total: 57 312 24761
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 07:45:00
Observation end time: 16:15:00
Total observation time: 8.5 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers:
Visitors:
Lysanne Taylor, Jennifer Jowdy
Weather:
The west side of Rockfish Gap was full of thick smoke this morning, which
gradually cleared out by 12pm. Light SW Breezes early then moderate SE
Breezes after 10am. Quite chilly (0.0-9.2C). Very few clouds early,
mostly cloudy after 11am, becoming completely overcast by 4pm.
Raptor Observations:
A very slow start but it turned out to be quite a good day with plenty of
different species including our best Red-shouldered Hawk flight of the
season. The bulk of today's birds came between 10:00am-1:30pm. A great
Eagle day! Six Bald Eagles (11:05 adult pair, 11:39 3rd-YR, 12:07 adult,
12:15 2nd-YR, and 1:35 adult). Three immature Golden Eagles (back-to-back
juveniles at 11:29 and 11:33, and a subadult at 12:54). The subadult GE
came in low and circled directly overhead giving us some absolutely
spectacular views. Adult female Harrier at 11:21 and immature Goshawk at
2:20. First Raptor: 9:58 SS, Last Raptor: 3:55 RT.
Non-raptor Observations:
600+ Robins, 800+ Waxwings, 50+ RW Blackbirds, 20 Grackles, 1 E. Phoebe, 1
Fox Sparrow.
Predictions:
Mostly sunny, warmer, strong NW Wind
========================================================================
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
