[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Mt. Pisgah, NC Hawkwatch -- 09/10/00



	WELCOME TO THE MOUNT PISGAH, NC HAWK WATCH REPORT -- FALL 2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's Date: 10 Sept. 2000
Hours of coverage today: 9am-11am, 2pm-6pm  (6 hours)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Species		     Today       Year-to-date
              
Black Vulture		
Turkey Vulture  			 
Osprey 					3			
Bald Eagle 				2
Northern Harrier 	
Sharp-shinned H.	1		2 	
Cooper's H. 		2		3
Red-shouldered H.	
Broad-winged H. 	28		49
Red-tailed H.		1		4
American Kestrel 			10
Merlin 
Peregrine Falcon 
unidentified raptors 	1		1
TOTALS			33		74
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Note that only birds showing definite migratory movements are counted. 
Many local raptors and vultures observed at the site are not mentioned
in this report.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's counts were made by: (in order of appearance) Athena Anderson,
Bill Sanderson, Barry and Carro Hinderstein, Tom Joyce, Jerry Echols,
Greg Townsend

	Today's weather was mostly sunny and warm, with light SE winds all
day.  Viewing conditions ranged from excellent to fair.

	The outlook for tomorrow is...I don't have a clue.  I'd expect at best
a fair flight tomorrow if the weather holds.

	Other migrants noted today include very few Monarchs and dragonflies. 
Several tanagers in the morning.  No numbers of jays or woodpeckers yet.

Other comments:  Most of today's broadies came through between 4 and 6
pm, a fairly typical pattern.  No migrants were seen at all in the
morning hours.  

	The watch site will be covered on 9/11 (late afternoon, maybe) and
probably not again until after the passage of the next front.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reported By:
	Bill Sanderson, Site Compiler
	Asheville, NC
	nctigers@bellsouth.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Site Description:
	The Mount Pisgah Hawk Watch, begun in 1995, is located at the Mills
River Valley overlook, mile 404.6 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  At an
elevation of 4085 feet, it is approx. three miles north of Mount Pisgah,
and approx. 11 miles south of the city of Asheville, NC.  The watch site
is staffed by volunteer counters on an irregular basis throughout the
fall migration season; most often on weekday afternoons and weekends,
weather permitting.  The site is handicapped friendly, and
gas/food/lodging are available at the Pisgah Inn complex, approx. three
miles south on the Parkway.  Visitors are always welcomed, and new
volunteer watchers are always needed.  Contact Bill Sanderson
(nctigers@bellsouth.net) for more information.  
	
	The Mount Pisgah Hawk Watch is an unfunded volunteer effort.  
All data obtained are submitted to the Hawk Migration Association of
North America (HMANA).  Other fall hawk watch sites in this region
include the Caesar's Head State Park Hawk Watch in upstate South
Carolina, the Mahogany Rock Hawk Watch on the Blue Ridge Parkway near
Sparta, NC and the Pilot Mountain State Park Hawk Watch in Surry County,
NC.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am the Eagle, I live in high country,
	In rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky.
I am the Hawk, and there's blood on my feathers
	But time is still turning, they soon will be dry.
All those who see me, and all who believe in me, 
	Share in the freedom I feel when I fly!
				John Denver
----------------------------------------------------------------------------