Fwd: [Bristol-Birds] Mendota Fire Tower (22 Sep 2025) 615 Raptors

[Betty Bailey]

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From: reports <dmarc-...@freelists.org>
Date: Mon, Sep 22, 2025, 8:08 PM
Subject: [Bristol-Birds] Mendota Fire Tower (22 Sep 2025) 615 Raptors
To: <bristo...@freelists.org>

Mendota Fire Tower
Mendota, VA, Virginia, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 22, 2025
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	12	12
Osprey	0	9	9
Bald Eagle	3	14	14
Northern Harrier	0	1	1
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	7	7
Cooper's Hawk	2	11	11
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	5	5
Broad-winged Hawk	607	4989	4989
Red-tailed Hawk	1	11	11
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	2	2
American Kestrel	0	3	3
Merlin	0	5	5
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	1
Unknown Accipitrine	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	1	3	3
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	615	5073	5073

Observation start time:	07:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	9 hours
Official Counter	Scott Turner
Observers:	Bob Riggs, Elaine Sharp

Visitors:
Eliza Cooperstein and Joan Dozier were with us for 4 hours, assisting substantially with the count. Brandon Lawson helped for 1 hour.

Weather:
The temperature rose quickly from 65° at the beginning, to a warm 81° for the afternoon. Thin high clouds covered about 1/4 of the sky in the morning, with cumulus building up beginning at 11 a.m. (times EST) covering 1/4 to 1/2 of the sky. Wind was a steady, gentle breeze from the east for most of the morning, strengthening to a moderate breeze near the hour of 10 a.m., and gradually veering to southeasterly. By 2 p.m. the wind had diminished to a light breeze. Visibility was 30 miles all day.

Raptor Observations:
The first Broad-winged Hawk was seen at 9:29 a.m. (times EST). From then, hawks formed kettles of up to 20 both east and west of the observation site, passing by to the south both low and high, and occasionally overhead. The three Bald Eagles were in mature plumage, moving west along the ridge.

Non-raptor Observations:
A flock of warblers passed by earlier than all the hawks, including 1 Tennessee Warbler and 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers. Other birds included Dark-eyed Juncos, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, Chimney Swifts, American Crows, Common Ravens, Turkey and Black Vultures.

Predictions:
The next day's forecast has the wind eventually changing to westerly with a chance of rain. It's likely that Broad-winged Hawks will show up in good numbers in the morning.

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Report submitted by Scott Turner (bristo...@pkturner.org)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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