[va-bird] HSR: Snickers Gap (25 Sep 2003) Raptor counts (total=606)

Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 25, 2003
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                0              0              0
Turkey Vulture               0              0              0
Osprey                      10            126            139
Bald Eagle                   2             58             64
Northern Harrier             1             31             36
Sharp-shinned Hawk          25            377            379
Cooper's Hawk                7             51             52
Northern Goshawk             0              0              0
Red-shouldered Hawk          0             17             17
Broad-winged Hawk          545          10093          10121
Red-tailed Hawk              6             89             89
Rough-legged Hawk            0              0              0
Golden Eagle                 0              2              2
American Kestrel             6             93             93
Merlin                       0              9             10
Peregrine Falcon             0             10             10
Unknown                      4             21             21

Total:                     606          10977          11033
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 08:30:00 
Observation end   time: 15:30:00 
Total observation time: 8 hours

Official Counter: Linda Millington and Dorothy Tella

Observers:        BJ Westervelt, Ian Topolsky

Visitors:
  David Holmes, Sylvia Churgin, David Allen, Ricter Norton, Sue Ross, Sandy
Z. Miller and a lovely number of canine visitors as well.


Weather:
  Winds, while primarily out of the E, were weak at best with only a few
brief periods of 2-3 on the Beaufort scale. Despite the slight haze, there
was some usable cloudcover today- ranging from 10-25% and more when the
front moving in from the west finally reached us. Temp ranged from 68-80F
during observation hours, humidity was noticeably up from yesterday.

Observations:
  Again with some decent numbers in the early flights of the day. With the
winds being almost non-existant at times, the majority of the BWs lingered
for quite a long time- simply plodding along their merry way. The eagles:
1- 3rd year, 1- was not present for it, but thought I heard someone say
later that it was an adult.

  Blue Jays were even more on the move today, with 30-40 counted ( though
many more probably slipped through the cracks while we were distracted by
hawks ). Also, 3 Black-throated Green Warblers, 1 ad male American
Redstart, 1 Magnolia, numerous Cedar Waxwings and 1 Raven.

Predictions:
 Clouds to our front, wind to our right and the sun at our backs tomorrow?-
"YOU MAY RELY ON IT"...Being right 4 out of the last 5 times, we can only
hope the eightball isn't getting cocky.
========================================================================
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@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.

Other related posts: