Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 26, 2004
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 13 214 232
Bald Eagle 1 62 69
Northern Harrier 1 37 39
Sharp-shinned Hawk 97 445 450
Cooper's Hawk 23 117 129
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 24 24
Broad-winged Hawk 34 3506 3616
Red-tailed Hawk 6 59 73
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 3 56 60
Merlin 1 7 7
Peregrine Falcon 0 4 4
Unknown 0 31 31
Total: 183 4562 4734
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter: Joan Boudreau and Bob Abrams
Observers: Max Heath
Visitors:
The Littles, The Gantts, The Heaths, The Topolskys, The Day and last but
never least, The Bevster.
Weather:
Overcast skies and a relatively low ceiling hung over Snickers today.
Winds were out of the NW at 1-2 Beaufort.
Observations:
Though they have made no public declaration as to their intentions,
Osprey seem to fancy taking another shot at the record (for the 3rd yr in
a row). We're sitting at 232 (107% average) and need a mere 58 birds to
break it; third time's a charm... Of the 13 Osprey seen today, none were
packing a lunch.
We had a couple decent flurries of Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks
today.
Blue Jays- 1421, Chimney Swift- 14, Double-crested Cormorant- 6, Canada
Goose- 41, Ring-billed Gull- 3, Red-Headed Woodpecker- 4, Red-bellied
Woodpecker-2, Downy Woodpecker- 2, Hairy Woodpecker- 1, Pileated
Woodpecker- 1, Yellow-shafted Flicker- 2, Eastern Towhee- 2, Carolina
Wren- 5, Northern Mockingbird- 1, Scarlet Tanager- 1, Gray Catbird- 2,
Cedar Waxwing- 40.
Predictions:
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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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