After several slow days at Harvey's the pace picked up a bit today. We
had strong WSW winds with powerful gusts that made standing difficult at times.
Most of the hawks were easily spotted naked eye and stayed close to the ridge,
most were Redtails, many flying directly overhead. An immature Bald Eagle and
3 Northern Goshawks made for a nice Thanksgiving day on the mountain.
Clark Hill arrived at the lookout first and was treated to 2 Snow Geese
flying low over the ridge heading SW toward Botetourt County. On the way up to
the lookout Clark had Wild Turkeys fly across the parkway in front of him, a
very appropriate sighting, we thought.
Baron Gibson came up to help with the count and brought Skye, his Siberian
Husky, and Harvey's Knob's mascot. We're still training her to spot
hawks...........
Thursday 11/24/05 Season totals to date
Osprey 0 138
Bald Eagle 1 53
N. Harrier 0 44
Sharp-shinned 0 723
Cooper's 0 104
N. Goshawk 3 8
Red-shouldered 0 35
Broad-winged 0 2,564
Red-tailed 39 785
Golden Eagle 0 5
A. Kestrel 0 88
Merlin 0 17
Peregrine 0 12
Unknown 2 75
Total 45 4,651
Mike Purdy
Roanoke, Va.
