Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 21, 2020
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 5 133 200
Bald Eagle 13 156 222
Northern Harrier 1 14 20
Sharp-shinned Hawk 65 257 265
Cooper's Hawk 6 48 61
Northern Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 10 18
Broad-winged Hawk 1476 29024 29279
Red-tailed Hawk 7 86 134
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 3 3
American Kestrel 4 84 100
Merlin 0 20 22
Peregrine Falcon 4 9 9
Unknown Accipiter 0 4 5
Unknown Buteo 0 4 4
Unknown Falcon 1 4 4
Unknown Eagle 0 1 1
Unknown Raptor 3 8 12
Mississippi Kite 0 2 3
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1
Total: 1585 29868 30364
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Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 17:15:00
Total observation time: 10.25 hours
Official Counter: Brenda Tekin, Gabriel Mapel
Observers: Betty Mooney, Dave Hunter, Gabriel Mapel, Janet Paisley,
Rose Thomas, Vic Laubach
Visitors:
Fewer visitors than the weekend but still a good number including Penny
Warren, Helen Cathro, Doug Wigner, Lois Kauffman, Erin Campbell, Daniel
Mapel, Buddy Leffers, Kelly Rourke, Lisa Klein, Stormy and John Furman
(Tilton, NH), Marshall Faintich, Huck Hutchens, Ann Cline, Zakira Beasley,
and Sharon and Scott Willet (Cana, VA).
Weather:
Chilly again with 8-17C temperature range. Light N winds early gradually
shifting to moderate SE winds. A tough, all blue sky for much of the day
but some nice clouds in the late morning. Clear visibility with only
minimal haze.
Raptor Observations:
Yet another 1,000+ Broad-wing day! A fun and lively morning with an
excellent liftoff on the west side of the gap. Once again we had several
dozen perched Broad-wings visible in the trees sunning themselves before
liftoff, and then witnessed hundreds of birds rising out of the trees and
streaming south low. A little later on we had birds coming in from the
north a little bit higher and forming some nice kettles. We counted well
over 1,000 BW by 10am and then things dropped off dramatically for the rest
of the day. Hourly BW Counts: 45 (7-8), 745 (8-9), 436 (9-10), 71 (10-11),
64 (11-12), 2 (12-1), 6 (1-2), 12 (2-3), 78 (3-4), 15 (4-5), 2 (5-5:15).
The afternoon highlight was four Peregrine Falcons (unaged pair at 2:44,
immature at 4:25, and a nice close adult at 4:34). Earlier in the day we
had a flurry of four Kestrels but we couldn't squeeze out a Merlin for a
three-falcon day. 13 more Bald Eagles (two 1st-YR, one 2nd-YR, two unaged
immature, eight adult).
Non-raptor Observations:
2 Canada Geese, 37 Chimney Swifts, 10 Hummingbirds, 5 Red-headed
Woodpeckers, 6 Flickers, 95 Blue Jays, 20 Tree Swallows, 1 Red-breasted
Nuthatch, 18 Waxwings, 9 Red-winged Blackbirds, 120 Grackles, 2 Cape May
Warblers, 1 Scarlet Tanager, and 16 Monarch Butterflies.
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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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