Good morning.
Since I don't have any personal bird observations to report I thought I
would forward to the list yesterday's report from the Kiptopeke hawk watch
on the Lower Eastern Shore. There are several other hawk watches scattered
around Virginia - mostly along the Blue Ridge mountains - and several of
them will report higher total numbers than Kiptopeke due to huge flights of
broad-winged hawks that pass through in September. None, however, comes
close to matching Kiptopeke's wide range of species. Yesterday was an
outstanding day but by no means extraordinary. Still, the nearly 150
accipiters (sharpies and coops) and almost 370 falcons must have made for a
busy day for all concerned. The twenty-two peregrines counted indicate that
the peak in peregrines is only a day or two away, depending on the weather.
Some years they will have more than a hundred of these astounding birds on
that day, often zipping past just over the tree tops. It can be magical.
The Kiptopeke hawk watch is a program of the Coastal Virginia Wildlife
Observatory (CVWO) and is located in Kiptopeke State Park in lower
Northampton County. Visitors are always welcome.
Tom Saunders
Balls Neck
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: reports--- via va-bird <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, Sep 24, 2017 at 10:05 PM
Subject: [Va-bird] Kiptopeke Hawkwatch (24 Sep 2017) 955 Raptors
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch
Tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 24, 2017
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 81 1547 1547
Bald Eagle 18 126 126
Northern Harrier 35 138 138
Sharp-shinned Hawk 141 729 729
Cooper's Hawk 101 367 367
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 4 4
Broad-winged Hawk 204 806 806
Red-tailed Hawk 5 36 36
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 298 1869 1869
Merlin 49 571 571
Peregrine Falcon 22 90 90
Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 6 6
Unknown Raptor 0 2 2
Swallow-tailed Kite 0 1 1
Total: 955 6294 6294
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 17:30:00
Total observation time: 11.5 hours
Official Counter: Anna Stunkel
Observers: Betsy Foster, Brian Taber, Chris Foster, Gabriel Mapel,
Joe Beatty, Ned Brinkley, Steve Thornhill
Weather:
Winds were light and variable, often northerly in the morning and becoming
northeasterly in the afternoon. Temperatures were in the mid sixties to low
eighties. Skies were partly cloudy.
Raptor Observations:
It was another busy day, with strong harrier, accipiter, falcon, and
broad-wing movement. Again, there were several large kettles of
broad-wings. We had stunning views of many birds today, especially in the
afternoon.
Non-raptor Observations:
1 Common Nighthawk
1 Pileated Woodpecker
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (FOS)
51 Monarchs1 Long-tailed Skipper
