Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, VA, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 02, 2002
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 3 4 206
Bald Eagle 1 3 88
Northern Harrier 5 5 53
Sharp-shinned Hawk 43 50 491
Cooper's Hawk 5 8 74
Northern Goshawk 1 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 2 24
Broad-winged Hawk 4 12 3347
Red-tailed Hawk 1 13 70
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 6
American Kestrel 2 2 57
Merlin 0 0 9
Peregrine Falcon 1 2 15
Unknown 1 2 49
Total: 69 104 4490
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Site Coordinator: Ian Topolsky
Observers:
Weather:
Wind was out of the W for the entire day ranging from 1-3 on the Beaufort
scale. Blue skies morning/ 100% CC 12-2/ then back to blue skies. Temp
71-80F.
Observations:
1st NG of the season, juvenile. Seen circling w/2 Sharpies. Great, long
look (through scope) at this spectacular beast. A king amongst peasants...
Chimney Swifts were abundant today. 134 seen but you could probably even
double that safely. 1 Double-crested Cormorant came through at 3 EST.
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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.
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