The season's best day so far at Harvey's Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
There was a steady breeze out of the east most of the day and Broad-wings flew
over in good numbers totaling 928. Most of the flight was low compared to
recent days with most hawks low enough to be seen by the naked eye. The local
Ravens seemed to be stressed by so many hawks moving through their territory,
lots of squawking when some of the large flights of Broad-wings moved through.
Then late in the day when the flight was over they seemed to relax and started
doing barrel rolls. They were still playing in the updraft when the last of the
hawkwatchers left at 7pm.
9/22/05 Season total
Osprey 7 87
Bald Eagle 0 21
N. Harrier 5 17
Sharp-shinned 8 85
Cooper's 1 25
N. Goshawk 0 0
Red-shouldered 0 2
Broad-winged 928 2056
Red-tailed 5 82
Golden Eagle 0 0
A. Kestrel 0 27
Merlin 1 4
Peregrine 0 3
Unidentified 2 39
Total 957 2448
Mike Purdy
Roanoke, Va.
