Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2017
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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 5 80 129
Bald Eagle 7 102 111
Northern Harrier 0 3 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk 7 41 49
Cooper's Hawk 0 23 35
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 11 14
Broad-winged Hawk 1012 2935 3033
Red-tailed Hawk 1 31 48
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 1 1
American Kestrel 3 36 39
Merlin 1 5 5
Peregrine Falcon 0 3 4
Unknown Accipiter 2 3 3
Unknown Buteo 0 1 6
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 2 6
Mississippi Kite 0 2 3
Total: 1038 3279 3491
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:15:00
Total observation time: 8.25 hours
Official Counter: Rose Thomas
Observers: Brenda Tekin, Dave Hunter, Josh Laubach, Vic Laubach
Visitors:
Lois Gebhardt, Dudley Rochester, Ted Thomason, Chris and Shannon Updike,
Ben Pumphrey, Robert Briscoe, Bill Briscoe, Richard Samuels, Janet Wellman,
Rosie McKay, Jessi Bryl, George Middleton, Mary Bourret, Andrew Clem, Peter
Clark
Weather:
Warm (16.7-25.5C) with partly cloudy skies early becoming mostly cloudy
after 2pm and then 99% cloud cover by 4pm. Moderate NW winds early
diminishing to mild WSW breezes after 2pm.
Raptor Observations:
Our first over-1000 BW day! Most of the birds were flying very high and
fast from the NE to the SW. A few kettles formed, but the birds were mostly
streaming by very high. A Merlin flew through in the 11-12 hour.
BW hourly counts: 9-10 (47), 10-11 (24), 11-12 (11), 12-1 (152), 1-2 (388),
2-3 (240), 3-4 (148), 4-4:15 (2).
Seven BE: 11:57 AD, 12:06 imm, 12:26 3-YR, 1:13 1st-YR, 2:00 3rd-YR, 2:48
AD, 2:53 AD.
Non-raptor Observations:
8 Monarchs. 5 Red-headed Woodpecker, 8 Hummingbirds.
Today the Wildlife Center of Virginia released four Broad-winged Hawks here
at the hawk watch after being rehabilitated for various reasons. After some
coaxing, each bird finally flew away one by one. This may be just a
coincidence, but they all flew rapidly out of site low but southward.
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Report submitted by Vic Laubach (laubach@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
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
