Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2003
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 2 2 206
Bald Eagle 2 2 82
Northern Harrier 1 1 60
Sharp-shinned Hawk 15 15 547
Cooper's Hawk 2 2 75
Northern Goshawk 0 0 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1 23
Broad-winged Hawk 1 1 11573
Red-tailed Hawk 2 2 106
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 3
American Kestrel 1 1 132
Merlin 0 0 14
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 28
Unknown 2 2 28
Total: 29 29 12878
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 6.5 hours
Official Counter: Ian Topolsky
Observers: BJ Westervelt
Visitors:
David Holmes was on site from 7-12 EST, even through a brief period of
rain, and shared our first bird of the day, possibly an omen, a 2nd yr,
flapping BE right overhead and moving in the exact opposite of south.
Laddy Topolsky made it up around noon, Jamie Gregory stopped in for a bit
and Joseph Gantt toughed it out from mid morn until the end.
Weather:
Very brisk today. Winds were biting out of the NW at 2+ for much of the
day. Cloudcover was 80-90%, but for a brief period (2-3 EST) of 60%. Temp
topped off at 60F.
Observations:
How low will she go?... Another day with some decent skies and the birds
just weren't there. BEs: 1-2nd yr, 1-3rd yr. No OS packing a lunch.
The big push of Monarchs, Blue Jays, Chimney Swifts & Tree Swallows gave
us a nice little spectacle to observe, making the lack of hawks much more
tolerable.
Monarch 193
Chimney Swift 250+
Swallow sp (mostly Tree) 130+
Blue Jay 437
Common Raven 7
Yellow-shafted Flicker 3
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Predictions:
The eightball was WAY off yesterday... I will not speak to it tonight.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ian Topolsky (ict_earth@xxxxxxxxx)
Snickers Gap Hawkwatch was established in 1990. It is located in northern
Virginia, on the Clarke and Loudoun County line. It is reached by taking VA
Route 7 to the county line, which runs atop the ridge at Snickers Gap. On the
south side of Route 7 is a commuter parking lot. The count is conducted from
there. It is a volunteer site, and is counted in fall only, from late August
until late November or early December. There are no facilities at the site, so
bring a snack, drinks, and a chair. Many of the birds can be distant, and a
scope is helpful.
As a volunteer site, we are always looking to increase our pool of
counters. We are eager to train those who have never counted, but are skilled
with hawk identification. We are also willing to pair inexperienced observers
with experienced counters. Please contact the compiler, Todd Day, at
blkvulture@xxxxxxx with any questions or if you are interested in participating
in the count.
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
