Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 20, 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 5 120 169
Bald Eagle 4 130 139
Northern Harrier 2 11 13
Sharp-shinned Hawk 46 220 228
Cooper's Hawk 16 72 84
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 14 17
Broad-winged Hawk 809 18477 18575
Red-tailed Hawk 1 36 53
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 2 2
American Kestrel 10 67 70
Merlin 7 20 20
Peregrine Falcon 0 4 5
Unknown Accipiter 1 6 6
Unknown Buteo 0 1 6
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 2 6 10
Mississippi Kite 0 2 3
Total: 906 19189 19401
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Observation start time: 06:45:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 10.25 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers: Baxter Beamer, Dave Hunter, Rose Thomas, Vic Laubach
Visitors:
Plenty of visitors including Lois Kauffman, Patti Reum, Dan & Sue Harvey
(Knightdale, NC), Randy Cline, Nancy Gray, David Simmons & Karolyn Stober
(Glendale Heights, IL), Jennifer Jowdy, Dave Fischer (Cary, NC), Elizabeth
Hunter (Bakersville, NC), Lois McKim, Bill Nettelhorst (Fond Du Lac, WI),
Bob Eggleston, Susan Lynch, Ibis Chambers, Marshall Faintich, Natalie Romyn
(Vancouver, BC, Canada), Bob & Anne Beckley (Williamsburg), Kim Bolyard
with ecology class of 14 from Bridgewater College, Mary & Daniel Mapel,
David & Elizabeth Waters, Ellison Orcutt, Steve Barnett, Rita Walton.
Weather:
No fog this morning! Moderate WNW Winds throughout the day then strong SW
Winds at the end of the count. 18.2-25.2C. Mostly sunny with some clouds
until 2pm then mostly cloudy with lots of low, heavy clouds and some
distant rain in the western sky. Hazy in the distance.
Raptor Observations:
A fun day with lots of different raptor species. A steady flow of
Broad-wings and no "midday lull" with over 100 for 5 hours in a row. Most
Broad-wings flew down the west side of the gap today with a good number
coming overhead. Unfortunately the BW flight was immediately shut down
when the looming dark clouds moved in. Hourly BW Count: 0 (6:45-8), 125
(8-9), 204 (9-10), 137 (10-11), 116 (11-12), 130 (12-1), 71 (1-2), 26
(2-3), 0 (3-5).
Adult BE 11:00, 11:10. 4th-YR BE 1:11, 3rd-YR BE 1:37. Two immature NH
(9:52 and 10:52). A great Merlin day with seven (12:39, 1:47, 1:47, 2:38,
3:45, 3:45, 3:59).
First Raptor: 7:23 SS, Last Raptor: 4:46 CH.
Non-raptor Observations:
A very nice early morning songbird flight including 6 Red-headed
Woodpeckers, 1 YB Sapsucker, 13 Tree Swallows, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 32
Cedar Waxwings, many warblers (those identified included Cape May, BT Blue,
BT Green), 1 Lincolns Sparrow, 11 Scarlet Tanagers, 3 RB Grosbeaks. Other
birds counted today: 1 Common Nighthawk (11:30am), 506 Chimney Swifts, 8 RT
Hummingbirds. 45 Monarch Butterflies.
Predictions:
Similar weather to 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
