Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 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 0 21 222
Bald Eagle 10 81 263
Northern Harrier 1 20 51
Sharp-shinned Hawk 42 1319 1906
Cooper's Hawk 11 243 361
Northern Goshawk 3 7 8
Red-shouldered Hawk 9 22 37
Broad-winged Hawk 1 1030 23587
Red-tailed Hawk 60 273 329
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 1 8 14
American Kestrel 3 108 269
Merlin 1 23 74
Peregrine Falcon 1 16 53
Unknown Accipiter 0 11 16
Unknown Buteo 1 2 5
Unknown Falcon 0 1 7
Unknown Eagle 0 0 1
Unknown Raptor 1 17 35
Mississippi Kite 0 1 10
Total: 145 3203 27248
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Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6.75 hours
Official Counter: Gabriel Mapel
Observers: Dave Hunter, Ezra Staengl
Visitors:
Daniel Mapel, Jennifer Jowdy
Weather:
Strong NW winds throughout the day and fairly chilly with 4.0-13.2C temps.
Some nice clouds from 10am-12pm then an all blue sky. We did have a lot of
big, long contrails today. Very clear visibility.
Raptor Observations:
The strong NW winds shook loose a nice wave of RS and RT, as well as
today's big highlight, three Northern Goshawks! The first Goshawk, an
adult was spotted by Jennifer before it flew SW across the gap at 10:26am,
and it was soon followed by an immature on the same flight path at 10:29.
The day's third Goshawk, a high-flying immature was first spotted by Dave
as it flew straight overhead at 12:28.
12 raptor species today including a late-season BW, all three falcons, and
plenty of eagles. Subadult Golden Eagle at 11:09. Ten Bald Eagles: four
adults (9:25, 11:50, 12:13, 2:18), two 4th-YR (10:59, 1:42), four immature
(11:07 3rd-YR, 12:17 unaged immature, 1:41 1st-YR, 2:18 1st-YR). Adult
Peregrine Falcon at 10:13. Unaged Merlin at 1:47. Adult female Harrier at
9:29.
Non-raptor Observations:
A good non-raptor day. Highlights included: 8 American Black Ducks, 2
Greater Yellowlegs, 39 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Sapsucker, 9 Flicker,
12 Tree Swallows, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 6 Golden-crowned Kinglets (one
of which landed on Ezra's chair!), 67 Robins, 183 Waxwings, 14 Purple
Finches, 5 Pine Siskins, 1 Tennessee Warbler, 1 Blackpoll Warbler, and 21
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
