Rockfish Gap Hawk Watchers

Raptorthon Date: May 3, 2023 (May 6 rain date)

On May 3, the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watchers team will conduct our 11th annual Raptorthon! Our team of 4 this year (Vic Laubach, Robyn Puffenbarger, Bill Benish, and Rich Wood) will cover Highland County, Virginia (next to the West Virginia border). We’re aiming to outdo our previous Raptorthon record of 111 species including 8 raptor species! We plan to be out before sunrise looking for Whip-poor-wills and owls before arriving at Paddy Knob (at the border with West Virginia, elevation 4,478 ft) just after sunrise. We’ll then spend the rest of the day birding in Highland County and then finish up with a few stops back in Augusta county. Wish us luck!

We hope you can sponsor our team with a donation of any size! Half of the funds we raise will support HMANA programs including Hawk Watch Fund awards and half will help to directly support our local hawk watch (Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch) in Waynesboro, VA. We are an all-volunteer hawk watch that has been counting migrating fall raptors since 1976! We depend on donations like yours to help keep our hawk watch up-and-running year after year.

Thanks for your support!
The Rockfish Gap Hawk Watchers

Team Leader: Vic Laubach