Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 17, 2015
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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 0 1 213
Bald Eagle 2 31 211
Northern Harrier 0 16 75
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 73 1478
Cooper's Hawk 2 26 238
Northern Goshawk 1 2 5
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 21 49
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 10497
Red-tailed Hawk 18 301 491
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 4 16
American Kestrel 0 0 187
Merlin 0 1 47
Peregrine Falcon 0 1 40
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 18
Unknown Buteo 1 2 7
Unknown Falcon 0 0 10
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 5 30
Total: 32 484 13612
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Observation start time: 08:45:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 6.75 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers:
Visitors:
Mary Mapel
Weather:
Light E to ESE Wind all morning then moderate SE Wind after noon.
9.6-13.3C temps. Partly cloudy early, then mostly sunny midday, with
increasing clouds in the afternoon becoming completely overcast by end of
count. Hazy to the west and east with haze worsening as day went on.
Raptor Observations:
A pretty good day for this late in the season especially given the easterly
winds. Six raptor species today including another decent Red-shouldered
Hawk flight with four tallied.
First raptor of the day was a stunning adult Bald Eagle that circled low
right out in front of us at 8:59am but then headed beyond Waynesboro to the
NW and not countable. A few dark feathers on the tip of this bird's tail
were noted and an adult Bald Eagle with the same markings (likely the same
bird) returned and migrated south down the west side of the gap at 11:16am,
trailed at 11:20 by a second migrating adult Bald.
The first migrating raptor of the day was the season's fifth Northern
Goshawk, a juvenile that gave good views as it flew straight over at
9:13am.
First Bird-9:13 NG, Last Bird-3:10 RT.
Non-raptor Observations:
Another very good non-raptor day including a flock of 6 Lesser Scaup (3
males, and 3 females) that flew over the gap heading SE, 1 Common Loon, 1
DC Cormorant, 2 Ring-billed Gulls, 35 Fish Crows, 7 Ravens, 605 American
Robins, 672 Cedar Waxwings, 91 Red-winged Blackbirds, 6 Purple Finches, 2
Pine Siskins, and 66 American Goldfinches.
Predictions:
Upper-50s, SE Wind, and cloudy with a 40% chance of rain.
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Report submitted by Gabriel Mapel (birdmangabriel@xxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.rockfishgaphawkwatch.org
