Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 29, 2003
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 191 204
Bald Eagle 3 72 78
Northern Harrier 1 50 55
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 513 515
Cooper's Hawk 0 69 70
Northern Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 21 21
Broad-winged Hawk 20 11539 11567
Red-tailed Hawk 0 100 100
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 3 3
American Kestrel 14 124 124
Merlin 0 13 14
Peregrine Falcon 0 28 28
Unknown 0 25 25
Total: 46 12749 12805
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Jesse Fulton
Observers: BJ Westervelt
Visitors:
Dick Homan and 7 other souls that dropped by at different intervals
throughout the day, but stayed for 15 mins at most due to the wind.
Weather:
Autumn made it's arrival known today and Jesse (our Commander In Chief)
was at the ready. There was a decent percentage of Cloudcover in place to
aid in the success of the mission, too bad the birds weren't in place at
the same time. Winds were hard out of the W at 3-4 Beaufort and Temps
topped off at a balmy 60F.
Observations:
With the strong tail wind to help them on their way, the birds were
coming through low and FAST (scopes were rendered useless and just plain
unnecessary). Bald Eagle was as follows: 1-adult, 2-immature.
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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