Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2003
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 10 42 246
Bald Eagle 0 17 97
Northern Harrier 16 37 96
Sharp-shinned Hawk 107 326 858
Cooper's Hawk 8 46 119
Northern Goshawk 0 3 4
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 13 35
Broad-winged Hawk 3 74 11646
Red-tailed Hawk 1 29 133
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 3
American Kestrel 4 29 160
Merlin 1 4 18
Peregrine Falcon 0 13 41
Unknown 3 29 55
Total: 157 662 13511
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Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Linda Millington and Dorothy Tella
Observers: Ian Topolsky, Lad Topolsky
Visitors:
Dick Homan, who always sticks it out with us and plays the game spot on-
while our attention is being focused in a particular area, he looks the
other way and finds the sneaky ones... (thanks for the Merlin). Harry
Gerkin, found us specks that took minutes to materialize into identifiable
birds. Vincent Vorndran dropped by for a bit in the afternoon.
Weather:
Flight conditions today were dynamite. The only thing we could've asked
for is just a bit more oomph to our prevailing Easterly (0-1 Beaufort).
Cloudcover ranged from 50-75% for the duration, with a nice mix of large
cumulus and higher stratus and cirrus as a backdrop. Temp topped off at
75F.
Observations:
I guess Dorothy did feel lucky today, even with Linda in Kenya. Just into
the second hour of observation, the birds let us know that it was on...
there was no afternoon lull today. The slim majority of birds were being
picked up low on the N to ENE horizon, but no piece of sky was safe- if
you passed over just about any spot 2-3 times, you'd find a bird or birds.
Now for particulars. Our first 100+ Sharp-shinned day of the season.
Also- a slow and gracefull parade of 16 Northern Harriers, that
intermittently popped up throughout the day, with all but 2 birds plodding
along in tandem. Decent Osprey numbers as well, though none packing a
lunch.
A lot of swifts in the early part of the day's flight.
Chimney Swift 270+, swallow sp. (mostly Tree & Rough-winged) 53+, Blue Jay
137, Common Raven 5, Monarch B. 13.
Predictions:
-"Another all-around good day tomorrow"?
-"Soitenly, nyuk nyuk nyuk"...
*the following was not an official magic eightball prediction, it is meant
for entertainment purposes only.
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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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