Are you man, or woman, enough to handle a challenge?

If so, maybe it's time you joined the November hawk-watchers.

The luscious afternoons of early fall are gone. The dramatic kettles of broadwings that attracted crowds of neophytes are history.

What's left at Virginia hawk-watch sites are the fanatics and true believers, the raptorphiles who believe that a single merlin or goshawk compensates for a day of gray skies and chilly winds.

"Only the tough people are out there in November," said Bill James, is one of the most single-minded observers of raptors in western Virginia.

"Usually it's northwest winds up there and it's really cold," said James, speaking of the Harveys Knob overlook at near mile 95 on the Blue Ridge Parkway where many Roanoke-area hawk-watchers congregate.

Broadwinged hawks, whose southerly migration in huge numbers draws many observers looking for spectacle, are mostly gone by the first week of October.

Later come sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper's hawks, plus the falcons. Most bald eagles have passed over Southwest Virginia by Halloween.

At Harvey's Knob in November, said Bill James, "You get mostly red-shoulders and red-tails, and some golden eagles, maybe a few accipiters. There are no ospreys in November."

November offers rewards to those who are willing to brave the sometimes bad weather.

"It was in November that we had a record day for red-tails, I think 96 in one day," James said.

Radford-based naturalist Clyde Kessler agrees that November days can sometimes be tremendous. "I was up there [at Rocky Knob, mile 168 on the Parkway] one time on November 24, 10 years or so ago, and I had about 40 redtailed hawks move south in two hours."

Kessler said that bad weather can sometimes mean great days.

"Usually the crappier the weather, the more likely you are to see [raptors]. The wind behind them makes it easier to roll on through," he added.

Kessler recalls seeing a golden eagle, a merlin and a goshawk all on the same November day at Rocky Knob two or three years ago. He has also seen at least two rare rough-legged hawks fly over Rocky Knob in November.

Then there's the waterfowl, who are later than most raptors.

Kessler remembers spotting three common loons circling over the parking lot at the Saddle overlook at treetop level. There was also a grebe and ring-billed gulls.

"The more you get out there, the more you're going to have those good days," he said.

In the past few days, there was a merlin at Harveys Knob. On Monday they spotted a golden eagle, not to mention 51 red-tails. The Harveys Knob hawk watch regulars usually wind up the season around Thanksgiving Day.

Check out Bill James' Harveys Knob website at bijame.googlepages.com/home.