Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory
37° 30.268' north
080° 27.184' west

 
Since 1952, Hanging Rock has been a monitoring point for hawk, eagle, falcon, and osprey migration along the birds' eastern route.

Look for us on	2010 Count Data posted through 09-05
Everyone associated with Hanging Rock is saddened by the recent passing of Marguerite Flouer. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Flouer family. Her obituary is on our Memorial Page	Our largest one day count for golden eagles was set on November 16, 2009 when 9 were sighted in less than 4 hours. That pushed our yearly total to a record 28.

The Locals With information gathered by volunteers on Jim Phillips' annual eagle surveys, and numerous other reported sightings, it is evident we have a thriving eagle population in southern West Virginia. Photo submissions by Brian Hirt, Shawn & Bobbi McClung, Nancy Ford, and Jeff Hajenga.	Cynthia Ellis of Red House, WV Submitted her account of a presentation by Trish Miller on her project to track golden eagle movements. She is affiliated with Powdermill Nature Reserve, and she is also collaborating with Pittsburgh's National Aviary for her study. On the aviary site you can view maps of the tracking data.
Rick Paulson submitted a bald eagle and some great photos of a  red-shouldered hawk. Thanks. Thanks also to Fred Mannocchi for submitting albino red-tail photos

Welcome to Hanging Rock

History ... Brief history of Hanging Rock with articles written by George Hurley and Doug Wood

Learning Section / Raptor Identification ... This section now contains over 400 photos of the 17 species listed. Now with calls for 14 species. Main Photo Page      Sunrise at Hanging Rock taken by Brian Hirt Photos of the original tower structure as it was in 1952 submitted by Jack Flouer have been added to the Main Photo Page Photos from: 2000  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006   2007 2008  2009       Updated 09 / 05 / 2010 Photos from 2010

Counts ... Migration count data from 1959 to present. 2009 Migration count Record counts ... Daily and yearly record totals Complete yearly totals Count data comparison ... Gives peak of migration dates, earliest and latest sightings for each species and compares count data from 1974 through 2003 Results from the 2006 hrough 2010 local eagle surveys, conducted by Jim Phillips, in an attempt to determine the population in southeastern West Virginia. Track the New River Gorge peregrines

What is a raptor?

Peters Mountain Roar by George Flouer

Learn how hawks use air currents when they migrate

 

Comments ... Read comments left by visitors, or, submit your own Updated 01-08-2010 Latest comment by Chuck Shumway
e-mail ... Questions, suggestions, submissions
Links ... Links to sites of interest. Most recent link added: Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch - Afton Mountain - located on the southern side of Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Directions to  the Tower ... How to find us. Directions from Gap Mills, Waiteville and Rock Camp, West Virginia and from Paintbank and Blacksburg, Virginia Note: Due to 911 name changes, Waiteville Road is now Limestone Hill Road and Zenith Road at Rock Camp has been changed to Willow Bend Road. Also, the sign marking the parking lot is missing. Hopefully that will be replaced soon.
Miscellaneous Looking for something that used to be on the home page? It may have been moved here.

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