Snickers Gap Hawkwatch
Virginia, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 29, 2004
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 2 282
Bald Eagle 0 34 178
Northern Harrier 0 43 156
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 85 1705
Cooper's Hawk 0 35 407
Northern Goshawk 0 1 10
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 66 179
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 3701
Red-tailed Hawk 17 847 1732
Rough-legged Hawk 1 2 2
Golden Eagle 0 14 20
American Kestrel 0 1 88
Merlin 0 1 24
Peregrine Falcon 0 2 32
Unknown 0 12 84
Total: 22 1145 8600
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Observation start time: 10:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Todd M. Day
Observers:
Visitors:
Nary a soul.
Weather:
It was in the forties all day, even popped up to fifty at some point, but
certainly felt colder. Wind was between 1-3 on the Beaufort, WNW. Big
blankets of clouds crept past all day, seemingly being kicked off at times
by a restless sleeper.
Observations:
Buteo lagopus, the old Hare Foot. A light immature bird at 2:38. This is
our rarest annual raptor, so rare that it isn't annual. Being alone and
adorned with a hat, I figured my ears were of little use to me for the
day. I slipped in some earphones, and had the iPod randomly play songs by
The The. Diesel Breeze was the soundtrack for the Rough-legged, with the
first few bars of December Sunlight piping in as the bird moved out.
Every raptor I counted today appeared out over the Catalpa. Made it easy
to scan when I only had to look in one place.
One Black Vulture, certainly migrating, possibly not returning until next
fall.
The feeder was a frenzy of activity, the usual crowd.
American Goldfinch, 20; Northern Cardinal, 10; Carolina Chickadee, 12;
White-throated Sparrow, 2; Tufted Titmouse, 12; Black Vulture, 15; Turkey
Vulture, 6; Canada Goose, 24; Red-bellied Woodpecker, 2; Downy Woodpecker,
2; Yellow-shafted Flicker, 1; Common Raven, 1; American Crow, 30; Cedar
Waxwing, 37; Common Loon, 5; European Starling, 71; Eastern Bluebird, 21,
all heading south.
Most interesting was a vortex of thrips or some other tiny bug above the
trees across the street. It was a dense column, and looked quite a lot
like a small funnel cloud. When I put it in my scope, it disappeared. It
reminded me of the bees in Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume, waiting to form a
spearhead and strike at anyone approaching the sacred boof. Banjo Pajama
no where in sight.
Predictions:
Our official close of the count, which means we're only a few days away
from being done.
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Report submitted by Todd Day (blkvulture@xxxxxxx)
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