Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 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 7 79 112
Bald Eagle 12 115 122
Northern Harrier 2 14 15
Sharp-shinned Hawk 81 96 99
Cooper's Hawk 13 29 34
Northern Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 3 8
Broad-winged Hawk 2205 6104 6230
Red-tailed Hawk 4 28 42
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 2 2
American Kestrel 22 95 102
Merlin 7 34 34
Peregrine Falcon 2 9 9
Unknown Accipiter 3 4 4
Unknown Buteo 0 1 2
Unknown Falcon 1 6 6
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 10 13
Mississippi Kite 0 5 6
Total: 2360 6635 6841
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Observation start time: 06:30:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers: Brenda Tekin, Dave Hunter, John Rowlett, Rose Thomas,
Vic Laubach, William Leigh
Visitors:
Many, many visitors today including: Bill Benish, Janet Paisley, Mary &
Daniel Mapel, Marshall Faintich, Walt Childs, Huck Hutchens (Weslaco, TX),
Lysanne Taylor, Randy Cline, Rollie Lawless, Peter Van Acker, Penny Warren,
a group of 15 adults and 22 children from the Free Union Elementary School,
Bill Nettelhorst (Fond du Lac, WI), Dave Fischer (Cary, NC), Janis Stone,
Pat & John Lloyd, James Williams, Nan Gritsko, Margaret Bomar, Tom Mizell,
Geroge & Susan Boero (CA), Jim & Deb Shetterly, Betsy Murrelle, Anita
Clemmer, and Guy McCrane.
Weather:
A pretty nice day with 17.3-25.2C temps. Fairly strong NW winds early
gradually diminishing to lighter and more variable breezes by 2pm. A
tough, cloudless sky early but increasing 65-90% cloud cover after 1pm. A
thunderstorm moved in by 4:30pm and shut down the count for the day.
Raptor Observations:
Another nice Broad-wing flight with lots of streaming birds and some
kettles. The majority of today's birds appeared over the ridge to the
north and then headed southward high overhead, though we also picked up on
some distant groups to both the east and west. Hourly BW Count: 0
(6:30-7), 7 (7-8), 41 (8-9), 286 (9-10), 836 (10-11), 134 (11-12), 413
(12-1), 55 (1-2), 117 (2-3), 287 (3-4), 29 (4-4:30).
The first (6:34am) and last (4:17pm) birds were both Merlins, two of the
seven we tallied today, another nice count after yesterday's record
breaker. Two high flying Peregrines (12:33 adult and 2:31 unaged) and two
immature Harriers (9:14 and 2:21). 12 Bald Eagles: 7:32 adult, 10:55
adult, 12:31 adult pair, 12:38 1st-YR, 12:53 2nd-YR, 1:01 1st-YR, 1:06
adult, 1:51 group of three (two adults and one 1st-YR), and 3:30 adult.
Non-raptor Observations:
135 Chimney Swifts, 17 hummingbirds, 20 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 1
Blue-headed Vireo, 6 ravens, 19 N. Rough-winged and 3 Tree Swallows, 4
Red-breasted Nuthatches, warblers (1 Redstart, 4 Cape May, 11 BT Blue, 2 BT
Green plus many unidentified flying over), 7 Scarlet Tanagers, 5
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and 300 Monarch Butterflies.
Predictions:
Sunny and warm with light south breezes.
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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
