Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch

(Photo: Lori A.)

All,

We want to announce the start of our 36th annual fall raptor migration season at Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch (see link for further details:  Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch, VA ). Our season will officially begin on Wednesday, August 15 and runs through the end of November. We had a banner year last year with 33,010 raptors total, the 3rd highest season count ever! Last year also broke the record for season numbers of Osprey (348), Bald Eagle (176), Cooper's Hawk (312), American Kestrel (294), Merlin (26) and the 2nd highest records for Sharp-shinned Hawk (2,336) and Broad-winged Hawk (28,790).  Our biggest day was Sept. 18, 2011 when we had 10,766 Broad-winged Hawk, 8 Osprey, 6 Bald Eagle plus 8 other species! I hear that birds are already moving to the north, and we're hoping for another terrific season!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  We will be having an Open House at the hawk watch on Saturday, September 8, to kickoff the 2012 season!  We'll be bringing up a canopy tent and grill and will be providing hotdogs and chips for everyone! We hope you can come by for some hawk watching, learn about what we do, how we do it and why, try out some binoculars and spotting scopes, catch up with old friends, and make new friends!

Peak migration (for Broad-winged Hawks) typically occurs during the third week of September (based on data from the past 36 seasons), and thus we predict that the BIG weekend this year will likely occur on Sept. 22-23.

The Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch is held on the grounds of the Inn at Afton, located on the southern side of Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, right off I-64 exit 99 (at the intersections with Rt 250, the southern end of the Skyline Drive and the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway) just 5 miles east of Waynesboro and 20 miles west of Charlottesville. The hawk watch provides panoramic views of the gap and both the Shenandoah Valley to the west and the Piedmont Region to the east. Be sure to bring your binoculars, a lawn chair and sunscreen! We'd love to have you visit and experience the raptor migration (and help us spot the hawks)!

For further information or questions please visit our website or contact us directly. Please forward this along to other folks who may be interested.  See you at "The Watch" soon!

Regards,

Victor Laubach (Co-Coordinator)
Waynesboro, VA
Phone: 434-249-2927
Email: laubach@virginia.edu

and

Brenda Tekin (Co-Coordinator)
Stuarts Draft, VA
Phone: 434-962-4936
Email: brenda@birdsofvirginia.com