FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] HSR: Snickers Gap (02 Nov 2005) 109 Raptors

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Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 02, 2005
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Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              0              0
Turkey Vulture               0              0              0
Osprey                       0              0            241
Bald Eagle                   9             12            171
Northern Harrier             2              5            100
Sharp-shinned Hawk          10             27           1754
Cooper's Hawk                4             12            322
Northern Goshawk             0              0              5
Red-shouldered Hawk          7             17            110
Broad-winged Hawk            0              0           6825
Red-tailed Hawk             75            118           1162
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              0              8
American Kestrel             0              0            139
Merlin                       0              0             40
Peregrine Falcon             0              1             17
Unknown                      2              3             81

Total:                     109            195          10975
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Observation start time: 09:00:00 
Observation end   time: 16:30:00 
Total observation time: 7.5 hours

Official Counter: Ian Topolsky

Observers:        Bob Blakney, Lad Topolsky

Visitors:
  A teacher leading one of four busloads of middleschool-aged children
brought me a Golden-crowned Kinglet that had spent much of it's day in her
shirt (with an injured wing) asking if we knew what it was. 

  The little things are only cuter the closer you get, I must admit. *Ian
is a loser. 


Weather:
  Winds were a dependable 3 on the Beaufort scale for most of the day,
weakening to a 2 by close. Cloudcover started at 0% and ended up at 0%
(peaking at 60% in the 1 o' clock hour). High temp in the mid fifties.
*Ian is a loser.

Raptor Observations:
  Lots of Balds (too many possibly); with each of the past 3 or so seasons,
it's becoming harder to tell if we're gettin' worked by an ever-increasing
wintering pop. in the area. 
  
  Ask the eightball, 'cause I don't know. But what I do know is that when
an eagle comes into view, in a rock-steady soar - and exits without a
twitch - I have to count it. 
  And tho it pains me slightly, even consistently wrong numbers may be of
some value. 

  We're deep in closed-session talks on the very matter, shhhh...

  Breakdown: 4 - adult birds, 1 - 1st yr bird, 1 - 2nd yr bird, 3 - 3rd yr
birds. 

  At 3:20, a Red-tailed passed through with a bumper sticker on it
proclaiming, "I BRAKE FOR SID'S". 

  The light did not allow for aging of the individual and there were no
Osprey packin a' lunch. *Ian is a loser.

Non-raptor Observations:
  4 Common Loons, 1 Ring-billed Gull. *Ian is a loser. 

Predictions:
*Ian will still be a loser. 

* Portions of this report have been augmented by the compiler of the site,
Todd M. Day. 


 Why I oughtta...
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Report submitted by Ian Topolsky (ict_earth@xxxxxxxxx)


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