Harveys Knob Purpose

The Essence of the Harvey’s Knob Hawkwatch

Back in the early to mid seventies when Myriam Moore was seeking help in intercepting the maximum of migrating hawks through southwest Virginia the primary purpose of our efforts was to find the optimum location that would be easy to access and that would provide an intercept of migrating hawks that would be at maximum. In short, lots of hawks at a location that was easy to acquire was the prime consideration.

During the first few years at Harvey’s Knob the site there satisfied both of the conditions for a hawkwatching site that would meet all the requirements for a major hawkwatching site. But, Myriam wasn’t satisfied as she continued to encourage hawkwatching at other locations from Harvey’s Knob. Rockfish Gap and Kiptopeke are just a couple of those locations that she strived to have covered even while she worked to maintain constant coverage of the Harvey’s Knob site.

And, she even encouraged us newcomers to hawkwatching to go experimenting. She encouraged us to find other locations where a maximum number of migrating hawks could be intercepted and yet would be an easily accessible site. In some cases she even wanted us to find sites where a maximum number of hawks could be found that didn’t provide easy access. It was important to know whether or not the hawks could be seen from places that were easily accessed. If the maximum number of migrating hawks could

not be seen from easily accessed sites then so be it. In those days all wheel drive vehicles with high ground clearance were not available to the average hawkwatcher.

The idea was to study hawk migration to its fullest extent because only the study of the migration will reveal the nuances of the migration that will eventually resolve why the hawk is to be seen at a lookout in the first place. Has anyone ever thought of that quandary? Why is that hawk in view in the first place? It is an interesting question and one that must be answered before any theories of hawk migration can be used to resolve the population density of the hawks.

During those early seventies watches with Harvey’s Knob covered for one or two weekends in September there were lots of hawkwatchers dispersed to other mountain tops and ridges in the area. Crawford Mt., Flat top Mt. of the Peaks of Otter, Thunder Ridge on the Blue Ridge, and Potts Mt in Craig Co., were covered. These are but a few that I can remember but we were all to meet at Myriam’s Green Valley retreat after our watches to tally up our counts and try to make heads or tails from them. The idea was to find the primary location to intercept the most migrating hawks possible. That went on for several years with very mixed results.

The control site for this statistical effort was, of course, Harvey’s Knob. Many of the sites investigated such as Crawford Mt., and Flat Top Mt., were only accessible by foot.

Thunder Ridge and Apple Orchard Mt., while accessible by motor vehicle did not provide the numbers referenced to Harvey’s Knob. These are just a sample of the efforts of those years and just the sample that created the Harvey’s Knob Hawkwatch that has continued down through the years. But, the primary question has never been answered.

That question was and still exists in this form: Where is the best location in southwest Virginia for a hawkwatcher to intercept the maximum number of migrating hawks?

With Myriam Moore’s encouragement my wife Joyce Holt and I spent our first six years of hawkwatching at several sites on a ridge called Pott’s Mountain primarily in Craig County, Virginia. We made every effort to cover Pott’s Mt., when we knew that Harvey’s Knob would be covered. Harvey’s Knob was the control for our statistical investigation. On one day in the early eighties I was able to score more hawks at Pott’s than the counters at Harvey’s. But, that did not reveal Pott’s as a better hawkwatching site than Harvey’s. However when one considers that on those days of concurrent coverage the Harvey’s Knob site, was covered by several experienced hawkwatchers, while the Pott’s Mt. site was covered by only one inexperienced hawkwatcher one has to wonder if the experiment was valid.

Okay, the point of this essay should have been laid out by now: The best hawkwatching site in southwest Virginia has yet to be found. And, it is obvious that it isn’t Harvey’s Knob. But, Harvey’s Knob has a history of full season coverage since 1978. You don’t get much better coverage than this. Especially, when volunteers have provided the coverage with no motive other than getting the most hawks. Neither students nor, anyone else that will be given some sort of credit for their efforts has participated in the watch at Harvey’s Knob. So one can conclude that Harvey’s Knob is the best hawkwatching site in the area around the Lynchburg/Roanoke, VA. But one must also conclude that it isn’t the best site for all conditions.

When the hawks are migrating upon the soaring conditions of thermals the Harvey’s Knob site is only good during the early weeks of September. When the hawks are migrating upon the ridge lift during the late September, October and, November then Harvey’s Knob is the place for the hawkwatcher. During the spring, and the spring migration is important, the Harvey’s Knob site stinks on NW winds, which it thrives on in the fall. The reason is simple, the hawks do not migrate symmetrically. They do not migrate symmetrically nor do they migrate on any condition that is not conducive to soaring flight.

But the fact remains and that fact is: The Harvey’s Knob site is not the best hawkwatching site in southwest Virginia but it is the site that provides us with the control numbers in southwest Virginia. To intercept the maximum hawks in southwest Virginia one must choose between several lookouts in the fall as well as several lookouts in the spring. Harvey’s Knob is indeed a control site for southwest Virginia hawkwatching but it is not the only site that should be manned. Those sites have yet to be determined.

Dave Holt

Jan 1, 2007