Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 21, 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 3 16 16
Bald Eagle 1 2 2
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 7 7
Cooper's Hawk 1 3 3
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 4 4
Broad-winged Hawk 6 48 48
Red-tailed Hawk 1 4 4
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 1 3 3
Merlin 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 16 87 87
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Observation start time: 07:45:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 7.75 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel, Rose Thomas
Observers: Rose Thomas
Visitors:
Jennifer Jowdy, Penny Warren, Mary Mapel
Weather:
Finally a nice, fall-like day! NW wind all morning, very strong until
10:00am, blowing over lawn chairs, lunch bags, and threatening to blow over
scopes! In the afternoon the wind gradually decreased and was more out of
the WSW. A nice cool day, a bit chilly at times in the wind and shade,
18.3-28.0C.
Zero clouds early but gradually increasing to 40% cloud cover at 10am and
90% cloud cover at 3pm. A nice "spotting sky" for most of the day! And it
was finally a nice, clear day with only very minimal haze to the west.
Raptor Observations:
Not quite as much action as hoped for under the WNW winds but it was a
decent day nonetheless. The first birds of the day were a Broad-wing and
Kestrel, migrating down the west side of the gap at the very same time
(8:55am EST.)
Arguably, the highlight of the day was the season's second Bald Eagle, a
2nd-year bird, that headed southbound fairly close by at 2:14pm. It was
followed not too long after by the last bird of the day, a distant
Broad-wing at 2:47pm.
Non-raptor Observations:
84 Chimney Swifts, 7 Hummingbirds, 2 Fish Crows, 9 Ravens, 30 Barn
Swallows, 26 Waxwings, 8 Red-winged Blackbirds. 5 Monarch Butterflies.
Predictions:
Similar to today but a bit warmer with less clouds. Sunny, uppper-70's,
north wind.
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Report submitted by Gabriel Mapel (birdmangabriel@xxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.rockfishgaphawkwatch.org
