Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch
Waynesboro, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2006
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
BV 0 0 0
TV 0 0 0
OS 9 49 55
BE 18 26 26
NH 4 9 11
SS 21 53 59
CH 1 5 7
NG 0 0 0
RS 0 1 1
BW 644 3512 3543
RT 0 14 19
RL 0 0 0
GE 0 0 0
AK 7 14 15
ML 2 2 2
PG 1 5 5
UA 0 0 0
UB 0 3 3
UF 0 0 0
UE 0 0 0
UR 0 2 2
Total: 707 3695 3748
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Observation start time: 07:30:00
Observation end time: 17:45:00
Total observation time: 10.25 hours
Official Counter: Multiple Counters
Observers:
Visitors:
A huge THANKS to everyone who helped out today, including Jim Fitzgerald
who opened up by 7:30! The official counters keeping the records:
Jim Fitzgerald, Tom Mizell, David Hunter
and assisted by Ken Hinkle, Tom Lord, Sarah Splaun, Ed & Donna Lewis,
Gordy Adamski and Betty.
Other visitors incuded Michael Goetz, Amy Compton, Brian Hirt, Nancy
Davidson.
Weather:
Strong, NW wind 39-49km/h prevailed throughout most of the day, diminishing
around 20-28km/h by 3 p.m.;
Temp: 26.5c for high at 11am, and dropping to 22.5. Humidity: ranging
from 58% to 63%;
Cloud cover ranged from partly to mostly cloudy.
Raptor Observations:
WOW! What a day it was. A low morning BW count with more sharp-shins but
then the afternoon came along and from 2 p.m. until shortly after 5pm
(EST) it was non-stop action!
But wait, there's more. Picture yourself stuck in the office knowing
there's a good flight heading down the ridge only 20 minutes away. Phone
rings and it's the counters at the hawk watch breaking the news, you know,
kind of rubbing it in. And on a Friday afternoon after a really l~o~n~g
week. Eagles, lots and lots of eagles. Can't talk, more birds coming in.
Click..
Not only was it a decent BAEA flight, the day's tally of 18 shattered the
highest single day count of 11 set last year and 12 of them came through
within 72 minutes! Yowzah!
I managed to leave the office a few minutes before the mass exodus and
arrived at the site by 5:15 to find Dave Hunter, Ed and Donna Lewis, Nancy
Davidson, and Gordy Adamski and Betty hunkered down around corner of the
hotel. Over 170 flew over, many of them still high in the sky, zipping
across the gap, some sailing sideways. WEEEEEeeeeeeeee. Falcons, eagles
and Broadwing, oh my! The last eagle for the day, #18, an immature, sailed
high overhead at 5:20pm (EST). The season's first Merlin (2) zipped by
between 4:30-5:10.
BW hourly count today:
9-10: 5; 10-11:5; 11-12:7; 12-1:15; 1-2:7; 2-3:150; 3-4:279; 4-5:149;
5-5:30 27;
BAEA:
9:30-imm; 10:29-imm; 11:16-imm; 11:50(2)-imm&adult; 3:08-imm; 3:10(2)-imm;
3:16-imm; 3:35-adult; 3:54(3)-adult & 2imm; 4:11-imm; 4:17(2)-adult, imm;
4:20-adult; 5:20-imm.
Non-raptor Observations:
It's difficult to adequately describe the most impressive flight of Monarch
Butterfly I and the observers have ever witnessed. When I arrived at 4:15
EST, driving up to the parking area, I noted quite a fiew low flying
Monarch. At top of the parking area they we litterly swelling up and over
the hillside and when I scanned the sky, it was filled. As far as one
could see, Monarch Butterfly, not a single one here and one there, but
clusters filled the sky, quickly moving through by the brish NW winds, a
continuous flow. The counters noted this incredible flight had been
nonstop all afternoon. Just in the first hour I was there (4:15-6:15pm
EST), literally thousands had passed through. This is not an exaggeration
but a conservative estimate!
Predictions:
sunny and warmer
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Report submitted by Brenda Tekin (bt8x@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, VA information may be found at:
http://home.ntelos.net/~btkin/rockfish_gap_hawk_watch
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