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Mt. Pisgah, NC Hawkwatch -- Final Report



	WELCOME TO THE MOUNT PISGAH, NC HAWK WATCH REPORT -- FALL 2000
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Today's Date: 19 December 2000

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Species		      Season Total
              
Black Vulture		26	
Turkey Vulture  	85	 
Osprey 			 9		
Bald Eagle 		 3	
Northern Harrier	 5
Sharp-shinned H.	20 	
Cooper's H. 		16
Northern Goshawk	 1
Red-shouldered H.	 1
Broad-winged H.       1674
Red-tailed H.		18
Golden Eagle		 1
American Kestrel 	19
Merlin 			 0
Peregrine Falcon 	 2
unidentified raptors 	19

TOTAL		      1899	

Total hours of coverage = 191
Number of days with at least one hour of coverage = 38


Comments:	Since the Blue Ridge Parkway is shut down for what looks like
the next month due to snow and ice, I may as well submit this as the
final report on our activities for this season.  The Fall of 2000 was a
real mixed bag.  The good news was our first records for Golden Eagle
(27 October) and Northern Goshawk (22 October).  Congratulations to Ray
"Iron Man" Sharpton for making both of these record sightings!  We also
had our first "thousand day", with 1046 Broad-winged Hawks passing on
September 17.  
	Overall our numbers were down from last year.  I could blame the
weather, which was often lousy (solid fog cover or clear blue...both
dreaded conditions at a hawkwatch), but I guess it was more or less a
matter of the birds and the birders just not being at the same place at
the same time.  
	We also had record numbers of volunteers this year.  Ray Sharpton once
again led the way in hours and days at the site.  Other folks who worked
the site were Athena Anderson, Mark Vukovich, Bev and Art Hudson, Greg
Townsend, Elaine Keen, Len Pardue, Bob Wilson, Jerry Echols, Barb Mars,
Bob and Suanna Dickinson, Bob Tuttle, Janet Stephens, Mark Kurdys, Don
Kepler, Jim Stevenson, Tom Joyce, and Charlie Sellers.  I apologize if I
left anyone out.  The interest and comaraderie shared by these special
folks make this effort a genuine pleasure, even (especially?) when the
skies are empty.  Thank you all.
 
Other noteworthy migrants: 	As was the case throughout the east this
year, our numbers of Monarch Butterfly were a tiny fraction of what we
usually get.  We had good numbers of migrating passerines, however, and
the many flocks of vireos and warblers made the early hours quite
interesting.  Black-billed Cuckoos were particularly abundant, as were
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  We recorded one small flock of Cormorants, and
three Sandhill Cranes (7 October).  Oddly, we saw no geese at all this
year.  While not exactly migrants, the sow bear and two cubs that
crossed the Parkway just below the overlook caused considerable
excitement among the 25 teachers and their workshop leaders who were
visiting the site on September 21.

It was a memorable season, and I certainly look forward to next year. 
Please consider visiting the hawk watch if you are in the Asheville area
next fall.
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Reported By:
	Bill Sanderson, Site Coordinator
	Asheville, NC
	nctigers@bellsouth.net
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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.
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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
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