Candler Mountain
Lynchburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 17, 2006
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 1 18 18
Bald Eagle 1 3 3
Northern Harrier 0 1 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 13 13
Cooper's Hawk 0 2 2
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 46 1918 1918
Red-tailed Hawk 0 1 1
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 2 11 11
Merlin 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown 1 1
Total: 52 1968 1968
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Observation start time: 10:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 5.5 hours
Official Counter: Gene Sattler
Observers:
Weather:
Clear becoming partly cloudy by 12;00 EST, 20% increasing to 60%, W-NW 2-6
mph, with a high of 81 degrees F.
Raptor Observations:
Slow all day with a steady trickle of about ten hawks per hour. One group
of 12 BW but otherwise from 1-5 at a time. By mid day birds were very
high, but it did not seem like lots of birds were sneaking by, so I'm not
sure where those birds were that seemed to be going east of the Blue Ridge
at Rockfish Gap.
I got a late start, and the first hawk of the day at 12:16 EDT was a BW
that landed on the crest briefly, unusual to say the least at that time of
day.
The other unusual event for the day was what I initially took for a large
flock of gulls very high, but which turned out to be a kettle of about 100
balloons that were extremely high. They were travelling across the ridge
so I did not count them.
Non-raptor Observations:
RT Hummingbird - 5
RH Woodpecker - 1
Monarch - 101
NonMonarch - 1
Green Darner - 3
Saddlebag - 1
Predictions:
No coverage on Monday, hoping a load are not passing through these parts,
and no coverage on Tuesday, with rainy weather hopefully to keep things
put until the cold front passes.
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Report submitted by Gene Sattler (edsattle@xxxxxxxxxxx)
Site Description:
Candler Mountain is located on the southeast edge of Lynchburg, VA, in
Virginia's Inner Piedmont. It is 45 miles SSE of Rockfish Gap and 32 miles
E of Harvey's Knob. The primary site is a bare knob known locally as the
"Bald Spot". It is part of a minor ridge that parallels the Blue Ridge
Parkway, which is 16 miles to the NW. The bare knob offers a 360 degree
view from an elevation of 1336 feet. The Candler Mountain count is in its
tenth year, and is sponsored by the Liberty University Department of
Biology and the Lynchburg Bird Club. The count is currently conducted only
from early September to the end of the month because of a shortage of
counters.
For directions to the lookout visit "virtual birder.com" and take a hawk
migration link, then take the "Find a Watch" link, or contact me.
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