Conducting the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch on a fairly cold and WINDY late fall day! Plenty warm thanks to all my winter gear! Hoping my new pair of awesome Zeiss Victory binoculars, with their wide field of view and incredible image help me spot a Golden Eagle today!
***End of Day Update: As one of the official counters at the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch in Virginia I write up a daily report after I have kept the count. The hourly data and summary are submitted o Hawk Count a site that keeps records from all the hawk watches around the country. https://www.hawkcount.org/
Here is my report for today, and I am pleased to say I got that Golden Eagle I was in search of, along with some Bald Eagles a Northern Goshawk as well! Great day to be a Counter!!
Strong (39-49km/h) winds throughout the day, gradually shifting from WNW to NNW. 9.2-13.5C. A cloudless sky early but very nice varying 70-85% cloud cover after 10am. Haze in the distance to E & W until 2pm, then very clear visibility.Observation NotesThe strong NW winds made for a fun day of fast-flying raptors, sometimes a challenge to identify! Almost all the birds rose up over the ridge to the north, fought the winds and then gave up and headed south down the east side of the gap. Only a few birds remained steady and strong enough to fly down the west side of the gap. One of those birds was an immature Northern Goshawk (11:05am) which flew steadily and swiftly with very little flapping, fairly close by down the west side of the gap. Before continuing on to the south the NG paused to dive-bomb and then circle with three Common Ravens. Similar size of all four birds was noted.
A good Eagle day with four more BE (10:31 4th-YR, 11:36 unaged and 3:50 1st-YR x 2) as well as a gorgeous immature GE which sailed past at 3:13pm.
First Raptor: 8:35 RT, Last Raptor: 3:50 BE (x2).Non-Raptor Notes16 Ravens, 17 Horned Larks, 44 Robins, 1 American Pipit, 202 RW Blackbirds, 348 Grackles, 2 Pine Siskins.VisitorsJennifer Jowdy, Daniel MapelForecastChilly (upper-40s) and sunny with mild North Winds.
***End of Day Update: As one of the official counters at the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch in Virginia I write up a daily report after I have kept the count. The hourly data and summary are submitted o Hawk Count a site that keeps records from all the hawk watches around the country. https://www.hawkcount.org/
Here is my report for today, and I am pleased to say I got that Golden Eagle I was in search of, along with some Bald Eagles a Northern Goshawk as well! Great day to be a Counter!!
Strong (39-49km/h) winds throughout the day, gradually shifting from WNW to NNW. 9.2-13.5C. A cloudless sky early but very nice varying 70-85% cloud cover after 10am. Haze in the distance to E & W until 2pm, then very clear visibility.Observation NotesThe strong NW winds made for a fun day of fast-flying raptors, sometimes a challenge to identify! Almost all the birds rose up over the ridge to the north, fought the winds and then gave up and headed south down the east side of the gap. Only a few birds remained steady and strong enough to fly down the west side of the gap. One of those birds was an immature Northern Goshawk (11:05am) which flew steadily and swiftly with very little flapping, fairly close by down the west side of the gap. Before continuing on to the south the NG paused to dive-bomb and then circle with three Common Ravens. Similar size of all four birds was noted.
A good Eagle day with four more BE (10:31 4th-YR, 11:36 unaged and 3:50 1st-YR x 2) as well as a gorgeous immature GE which sailed past at 3:13pm.
First Raptor: 8:35 RT, Last Raptor: 3:50 BE (x2).Non-Raptor Notes16 Ravens, 17 Horned Larks, 44 Robins, 1 American Pipit, 202 RW Blackbirds, 348 Grackles, 2 Pine Siskins.VisitorsJennifer Jowdy, Daniel MapelForecastChilly (upper-40s) and sunny with mild North Winds.
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