Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 30, 2020
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 6 154 221
Bald Eagle 4 181 247
Northern Harrier 1 21 27
Sharp-shinned Hawk 141 757 765
Cooper's Hawk 9 121 134
Northern Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 19 27
Broad-winged Hawk 23 29324 29579
Red-tailed Hawk 2 104 152
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 3 3
American Kestrel 7 109 125
Merlin 4 28 30
Peregrine Falcon 0 14 14
Unknown Accipiter 1 5 6
Unknown Buteo 0 8 8
Unknown Falcon 0 4 4
Unknown Eagle 0 1 1
Unknown Raptor 1 15 19
Mississippi Kite 0 2 3
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1
Total: 199 30871 31367
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Observation start time: 07:45:00
Observation end time: 15:15:00
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter: Brenda Tekin
Observers: Betty Mooney, Dave Hunter
Visitors:
It warmed up and with lots of sunshine several folks ventured up including
Barak Brashear and his parents, Will and Sue Hofacker, Peter Vanacker, and
Huck Hutchinson. I want to extend Special Thanks to Terri Cuthriell who
helped me spot those early morning raptors!
Weather:
Mostly sunny with brief period with a few clouds that aided in finding the
many birds. Steady West wind throughout the day, enough to get those
sharpies shooting across the gap.
Raptor Observations:
Pretty much nonstop action most of the day, at time the sky filled with
sharpies including small groups and at one point there were 12 along the
north ridge.
A nice showing of Broad-wings, including one group of four that came in LOW
and CLOSE! No Peregrine but we had several nice closeup Merlin and
Kestrels.
4 Bald Eagles - 2 adults, 1 first year, and 1 second year.
Sorry, Huck, maybe better luck next time for a Goshawk!
Non-raptor Observations:
At times, we could see waves of distant tree swallows but distance plus too
busy scanning and counting raptors so was unable to keep a count. Same for
the Chimney Swifts. 1 Kingfisher, 2 Red-headed Woodpecker, 1 Northern
Flicker and 18 Monarch Butterfly.Barak Brashear and his parents, Will and
Sue Hofacker,
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Report submitted by Brenda Tekin (brenda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.rockfishgaphawkwatch.org
More site information at hawkcount.org:
https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=491
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