Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 07, 2005
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 2 21 30
Bald Eagle 1 27 37
Northern Harrier 1 4 7
Sharp-shinned Hawk 7 19 24
Cooper's Hawk 2 12 12
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 5 6
Broad-winged Hawk 44 244 306
Red-tailed Hawk 1 24 28
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 0 14 15
Merlin 0 1 1
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown 2 3 3
Total: 60 374 469
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Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 16:45:00
Total observation time: 8.25 hours
Official Counter: Ian Topolsky
Observers: Lad Topolsky
Visitors:
I exchanged friendly words with a gentleman that releases racing pigeons
up at Snickers, who proudly whipped out a half-dozen pair of rusty steel
leg-traps he uses to teach "those pieces of s--t Cooper's" their lesson.
I got his plates, but you know how that goes.
Weather:
It doesn't get much better than this...
Zero percent Cloudcover, coupled with searing-blue skies, ripped our
retinas to shreads for all but the third hour of observation (I'm seeing
floaters on the monitor as I type this). The saving grace was the high
Temp; 74F in the shade & perfect. Winds waffled a bit before settling on a
calm NE for the better part of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Exactly what you'd expect on an early Sep day.
Despite a meager 11 & 12 o' clock hour (EST), when the sparkles from an
especially robust sneeze helped to quell my nagging-yet-premature desire
for more things to look at in the sky, we left the site without feeling
completely gypped...
Neither of the two Osprey that passed were packin' a lunch; our
last-minute Bald was a 2nd yr bird.
The 18th of September '98 (19,004 Broad-wingeds tallied, over 12,000 in
a two-hour period) still looms large over Snickers; we long for a nasty
little day to rival it, though we'll never admit how much...
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptor notes:
Cedar Waxwing- 25, Red-headed Woodpecker- 2, White-eyed Vireo- 1,
Ruby-throated Hummer- 13 (including one that yanked on the parking brakes
at 60 mph to nectar on the unknown orange plants flanking us on the back
side of the lot.
Monarch Butterfly- 49.
Predictions:
I can't find the 8-ball tonight, I know it's somewhere here...
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Report submitted by Ian Topolsky (ict_earth@xxxxxxxxx)
Site Description:
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.
Directions to site:
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