Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 16, 2020
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 3 108 175
Bald Eagle 6 80 146
Northern Harrier 0 8 14
Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 30 38
Cooper's Hawk 2 15 28
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 6 14
Broad-winged Hawk 1318 8486 8741
Red-tailed Hawk 5 55 103
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 5 40 56
Merlin 1 5 7
Peregrine Falcon 1 1 1
Unknown Accipiter 2 2 3
Unknown Buteo 1 3 3
Unknown Falcon 1 1 1
Unknown Eagle 1 1 1
Unknown Raptor 0 1 5
Mississippi Kite 0 2 3
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1
Total: 1358 8844 9340
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 9.5 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers: Allen Larner, Baxter Beamer, Betty Mooney, Brenda Tekin,
Dave Hunter, Janet Paisley, Jennifer Jowdy, Rose Thomas,
Vic Laubach
Visitors:
Lots of visitors today including Penny Warren, Randy Cline, Mary Mapel,
Ruth Douglas, Cole Burrell, Doug Ruby, Donna and Ed Lewis, Mark Kosiewski,
Karen and Tom Beatty (Virginia Beach), Doug Rogers, Nathan Miller, Huck
Hutchens, and many more whose names I did not get a chance to record.
Thanks to everyone for stopping by today! We're excited to welcome more
visitors during this upcoming peak week, and ask that everyone please
observe social distancing and COVID-19 safety by staying 6 feet apart and
staying outside the "counter only" area marked off by orange and yellow
cones.
Weather:
Another chilly day with 9-20C temps. Fairly light SSE winds. Varying
5-90% cloud cover with smoky haze all day.
Raptor Observations:
Another four-digit Broad-wing day! Fairly slow but steady throughout
except for a nice pulse of activity with lots of kettles between
11:00-12:30. We had to work hard for the birds today with the majority of
our Broad-wings seen only in spotting scopes distant to the west, as well
as some out to the east and some hard-to-spot small groups way up in the
bright blue sky. A big thanks to the many observers on site today who
helped to cover the sky and count the kettles! Hourly BW Counts: 0 (7-8),
5 (8-9), 72 (9-10), 81 (10-11), 712 (11-12), 251 (12-1), 42 (1-2), 76
(2-3), 79 (3-4), 0 (4-4:30).
One big highlight was our first Peregrine Falcon of the season, a nice
adult, that gave some good views as it flew down the east side of the gap
at 3:49pm. We even got our first three-falcon day of the season with five
Kestrels and a fast Merlin out to the west just minutes after the
Peregrine.
Six more Bald Eagles today (four adults and two immature) as well as an
Unidentified Eagle distant to the west. First Raptor: 8:25 SS, Last
Raptor: 4:09 AK.
Non-raptor Observations:
One surprise of the day was two medium sized, unidentified gulls with dark
mantles that appeared to likely be either Laughing or Franklin's Gulls
flying east across the ridge distant to our north. Other sightings today
included 88 Chimney Swifts, 11 Hummingbirds, 1 Great Blue Heron, 11
Red-headed Woodpeckers, 69 Tree Swallows, 20 Common Grackles, warblers
including C. Yellowthroat, Redstart, Cape May, Chestnut-sided, Blackpoll, 1
Scarlet Tanager, and 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak. An awesome flight of 515+
Monarch Butterflies today.
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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
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