Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, VA
Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2004
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
BV 0 0 0
TV 0 0 0
OS 1 10 103
BE 0 5 24
NH 0 12 26
SS 69 652 950
CH 15 106 141
NG 1 2 2
RS 2 8 10
BW 0 13 4582
RT 542 726 767
RL 0 0 0
GE 0 0 2
AK 3 26 59
ML 2 7 13
PG 1 4 10
UA 0 3 8
UB 0 1 5
UF 0 0 5
UE 0 0 0
UR 0 8 17
Total: 636 1583 6724
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Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 17:45:00
Total observation time: 9.25 hours
Official Counter: Brenda Tekin
Observers: Gordy Adamski
Visitors:
Thanks to Mark Johnson from Lynchburg area for helping most of the day.
Duane Brown from Richmond
BIll Funk
Mr.&Mr. Cahill
Ron & Priscilla Kingston
Weather:
Strata, cirrus, and wisps of white clouds along with contrails against blue
sky for perfect backdrop throughout the day. Thicker, grayer clouds moved
in late afternoon but moved on out.
Wind was more WSW than SW, very brisk 25+km/h diminishing to about 10km/h
late afternoon. By then sun was getting low in sky and birds were
settling down for the night.
Temp: 21.5c (high)
Humidity: 32>33%
Bar.Pressure: 1010>1011
Visibility: crystal clear for miles and miles on both sides of the
ridge!
Partly cloudy most of the day with blue background behind white clouds and
quite a bit of sunshine throughout the day.
Observations:
Happy to report no tricks but a day full of treats!
At the close of the count I kept adding up the numbers and recounting,
trying to digest the magnitude of today's events. If not for
record-setting Red-tailed Hawk, today was more like the typical first of
October with 8 species. For the second day in a row, it was non-stop
birds throughout the day with no mid-day lull. This was certainly one for
the record books with Red-tails shattering the 2nd highest single day
record with a very impressive 542! Red-tails were everywhere, most in
small groups and several impressive kettles more likened to migrating
Broad-winged. For those us there today, it was one continous spectatular
flight! By 4:10 things were slowing down but quite a few birds were
observed flying in and staying north of the gap, settling down into the
trees. Oh, if only I could be there tomorrow for the liftoff.
No eagles but a single late-season Osprey at 12:06 p.m. sailed through.
Northern Goshawk, an immature at 10:30 a.m., came up low and over NE
corner of building.
Peregrine Falcon at 11:20 a.m.
Hourly count for Red-tail:
8:30-9:12; 9-10:39; 10-11:13; 11-12:21; 12-1:106; 1-2:156;2-3:108:3-4:81;
4-4:45: 6
Ring-billed Gull - single bird heading east
Rusty Blackbird - small flock heading west
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Am.Tree Swallow
Red-winged Blackbird - several med-sized flocks
Am. Robin
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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
***Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, VA - Established 1976***
The Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch is held on the grounds of the Inn at Afton,
located on the southern side of Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains,
just above where I-64 (exit 99) intersects with the southern end of the
Skyline Drive and the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, just east of
Waynesboro, VA and approximately 22 miles west of Charlottesville, VA.
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