Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
20 Miles West of Leesburg, VA, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2002
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 49 251
Bald Eagle 4 38 123
Northern Harrier 3 73 121
Sharp-shinned Hawk 31 742 1183
Cooper's Hawk 5 97 163
Northern Goshawk 0 2 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 6 27 49
Broad-winged Hawk 0 30 3365
Red-tailed Hawk 25 184 241
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 1 6 12
American Kestrel 0 93 148
Merlin 0 18 27
Peregrine Falcon 1 38 51
Unknown 2 35 82
Total: 78 1432 5818
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Observation start time: 10:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Site Coordinator: Ian Topolsky
Observers:
Weather:
Winds out of the West today, steady at 3 on the Beaufort scale until 1:00
EST. Cloudcover went from 75% to 100% midday, then diminished to 0% by
endtime. Temp 53-59F.
Observations:
The day seemed promising but as soon as the winds began to decrease after
the brief period of 100%CC, the number of birds followed.
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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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