Today’s Golden Eagle Flight

Here are several of the Golden Eagles seen migrating in this morning’s stiff north-northwest wind along Second Mountain in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.

Hatch-year/Juvenile Golden Eagle
A hatch-year Golden Eagle, also known as a first-year or juvenile bird.  After December 31 of the year of its birth, it will be known as a second-year Golden Eagle.
Hatch-year/Juvenile Golden Eagle
A hatch-year Golden Eagle reveals no molt of its juvenile flight feathers.  Neat and trim.
Hatch-year/Juvenile Golden Eagle
A hatch-year Golden Eagle displays faded median secondary upperwing coverts, but not the ofttimes mottled tawny “bars” seen on birds after their first year, such as the individual shown in the last image of this post.
A second-year Golden Eagle
A second-year Golden Eagle, also known as a Basic I immature bird.
A second-year Golden Eagle
The same second-year Golden Eagle, just beginning molt of the juvenile flight feathers in the wings.
A second-year Golden Eagle
The second-year Golden Eagle passes the lookout.
A topside (left) and underside (right) view of a probable fourth-year Golden Eagle.
Two views of a third-year (maybe older) Golden Eagle, topside (left) and underside (right).  Note the conspicuous tawny bars on the topside of the wings (present in all birds after their first year) and a trace of white in the tail (present in birds prior to adulthood).  The two-toned appearance of the underside of the wings resembles that of a Turkey Vulture and is an adult trait Golden Eagles begin acquiring as early as their third year.  Some birds in their third year retain noticeably longer juvenile secondaries, making the trailing edge of the wings appear jagged.

To learn more about determining the age of a Golden Eagle on the wing, click the “Golden Eagle Aging Chart” tab at the top of this page, then get to a hawk watch and have a look.

Northwest Winds in November Bring Big Birds

With colder temperatures arriving on gusty northwest winds, the next couple of days will be ideal for seeing migrating birds of prey along the ridges of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.  It’s still peak time for movements of four of our largest species: Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, and Golden Eagle—so let’s grab our binoculars and have a look!

A juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk gliding past a ridgetop hawk counting station.
A juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk gliding past a ridgetop hawk-counting station.
A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk headed south for winter.
A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk headed south for winter.
A juvenile Bald Eagle.
A juvenile Bald Eagle is an attention-getter.
 Golden Eagle
The regal Golden Eagle always creates excitement among observers at regional hawk watches.

Be certain to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper” tab at the top of this page to select a lookout for observing and enjoying the passage of these spectacular late-season raptors.  To improve your chances of seeing a Golden Eagle, visit a counting station in the Ridge and Valley Province, but do bundle up—it’s cold on those mountaintops.

Photo of the Day

Golden Eagle
An early-season Golden Eagle passes the lookout at Second Mountain Hawk Watch in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, today.  This eagle is not an adult.  White in the tail indicates that it has not yet reached its fifth year of life.  It may have spent the summer wandering well south of breeding grounds in northeastern Canada, then, upon commencing autumn migration, arrived here well ahead of the nesting birds.  To learn more about determining the age of Golden Eagles, click the “Golden Eagle Aging Chart” tab at the top of this page.  Though the large flights of Broad-winged Hawks are done for 2022, the greatest number of other raptors, including Golden Eagles, will be passing local counting stations during the coming five weeks, so be certain to also click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper” tab to find details on regional sites that you can visit.

Photo of the Day

A second-year Golden Eagle passes over the lookout at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch north of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Do make plans to visit a hawk watch during the coming days.  The Golden Eagle migration through the lower Susquehanna region is peaking right now, so it’ll soon be last call for this fall.  Be sure to click on the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Raptors” and the “Golden Eagle Aging Chart” tabs at the top of this page to learn more about your sightings.

Early Golden Eagles

Each autumn, Eastern Golden Eagles transit the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed as they make their way from nesting sites in eastern Canada to wintering ranges in the mountains of the eastern United States.  The majority of these birds make passage during late October and early November, so when a Golden Eagle is observed at a local hawk watch during the month of September, it is a notable event.  So far in 2021, both Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch north of Carlisle and Second Mountain Hawk Watch at Fort Indiantown Gap have logged early-season Golden Eagles, the former on the seventeenth of September and the latter just yesterday.

Two images of a distant Golden Eagle seen passing Second Mountain Hawk Watch on September 29th.  Plumage indicates it is a “before-third-year” bird.  Adult birds and birds born this year, the latter known as hatch-year or juvenile Golden Eagles, are the least likely to have already completed the journey from northern breeding territories to south-central Pennsylvania.  This individual is very likely an immature Golden Eagle in its second year, but a view of the topside of the wings would be necessary to eliminate a hatch-year/juvenile bird as a possibility.  Immature Golden Eagles, those birds in their second through fourth years, are the ones most at leisure to wander and show up as unanticipated visitors at unexpected times.

To learn more about identifying Golden Eagles and other birds of prey, be certain to click the “Hawkwatchers Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Raptors” tab at the top of this page.

And for more specific information on Golden Eagles and how to determine their age, click the “Golden Eagle Aging Chart” tab at the top of this page.

Migrating Golden Eagles

Why would otherwise sensible people perch themselves atop a rocky outcrop on a Pennsylvania mountaintop for ten hours on a windy bone-numbing bitter cold and sometimes snowy November day?  To watch migrating raptors of course.

November is the time when big hawks and eagles migrate through and into the lower Susquehanna valley.  And big birds rely on big wind to create updrafts and an easy ride along the region’s many ridges.  The most observable flights often accompany the arrival of cold air surging across the Appalachian Mountains from the northwest.  These conditions can propel season-high numbers of several of the largest species of raptors past hawk-counting sites.

Observers brave howling winds on the Waggoner’s Gap lookout to census migrating late-season raptors.

Earlier this week, two windy days followed the passage of a cold front to usher-in spectacular hawk and eagle flights at the the Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch station on Blue Mountain north of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  Steady 30 M.P.H. winds from the northwest on Monday, November 2, gusted to 50 M.P.H. at times.  Early that morning, two Rough-legged Hawks, rarities at eastern hawk watches, were seen.  They and two Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) provided a preview of the memorable sightings to come.  Two dozen Golden Eagles migrated past the lookout that day.  Then on November 3, thirty Golden Eagles were tallied, despite west winds at speeds not exceeding half those of the day before.

Here are some of the late-season raptors seen by hardy observers at Waggoner’s Gap on Monday and Tuesday, November 2 & 3.

In November, Red-tailed Hawks are the most common migratory raptor counted at hawk watch stations in the Susquehanna region.
An uncommon bird, a juvenile Northern Goshawk, passes the Waggoner’s Gap lookout.
An adult Golden Eagle circles on an updraft along the north face of Blue Mountain to gain altitude before continuing on its journey.
The plumage of juvenile and immature Golden Eagles often creates a sensation among crowds at a lookout.  Golden Eagles don’t attain a full set of adult feathers until their sixth year.  This individual is probably a juvenile, also known as a hatch-year or first-year bird.  At most, it could be in its second year.  Click the “Golden Eagle Aging Chart” tab on this page to learn more about these uncommon migrants and their molt sequences as they mature.
The gilded head feathers of a Golden Eagle glisten in the afternoon sun.
An adult Golden Eagle passing Waggoner’s Gap.  The population known as “Eastern Golden Eagles” winters in the Appalachian Mountains and, with increasing frequency, on the Piedmont and Atlantic Coastal Plain Provinces of the eastern United States, where it often subsists as a scavenger.
Another first-year (juvenile) or second-year Golden Eagle.
A local Red-tailed Hawk (top left) trying to bully a migrating Golden Eagle.  A dangerous business indeed.
Through December, Bald Eagles, presently the more common of our eagle species, are regular migrants at Waggoner’s Gap and other Susquehanna valley hawk watch sites.
Red-shouldered Hawks are reliable early November migrants.
An adult Red-shouldered Hawk from above.
And an adult Red-shouldered Hawk from below.
Though their numbers peak in early October, Sharp-shinned Hawks, particularly adults like this one, continue to be seen through early November.
A Northern Harrier on the glide path overhead.
Merlins, like other falcons, are more apt to be seen in late September and October, but a few trickle through in November.

While visiting a hawk watch, one will certainly have the opportunity to see other birds too.

Common Ravens are fascinating birds and regular visitors to the airspace around hawk watches.  Most are residents, but there appears to be some seasonal movement, particularly among younger birds.
Most people think of Common Loons as birds of northern lakes.  But loons spend their winters in the ocean surf, and to get there they fly in loose flocks over the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed each spring and fall.  They are regularly seen by observers at hawk watches.
Like ducks, geese, and swans, migrating Double-crested Cormorants assemble into aerodynamic V-shaped flocks to conserve energy.
Pine Siskins continue their invasion from the north.  Dozens of small flocks numbering 10 to 20 birds each continue to be seen and/or heard daily at Waggoner’s Gap.  A flock of Evening Grosbeaks (Coccothraustes vesperitinus), another irruptive species of “winter finch”, was seen there on November 3.

As a finale of sorts, near the close of the day on November 3, two Golden Eagles sailed past the north side of the Waggoner’s Gap lookout, one possessing what appeared to be a tracking transmitter on its back.  An effort was commenced by the official count staff to report the sighting to the entity monitoring the bird—to track down the tracker, so to speak.

A Golden Eagle with a backpack transmitter passing Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch at 3:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time on November 3, 2020.

To see the count reports from Waggoner’s Gap and other hawk watches throughout North America, be certain to visit hawkcount.org

A Visit to Rocky Ridge

Early October is prime time for hawk watching, particularly if you want to have the chance to see the maximum variety of migratory species.  In coming days, a few Broad-winged Hawks and Ospreys will still be trickling through while numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks, Cooper’s Hawks, Northern Harriers, and falcons swell to reach their seasonal peak.  Numbers of migrating Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks are increasing during this time and late-season specialties including Golden Eagles can certainly make a surprise early visit.

If you enjoy the outdoors and live in the southernmost portion of the lower Susquehanna valley, Rocky Ridge County Park in the Hellam Hills just northwest of York, Pennsylvania, is a must see.  The park consists of oak forest and is owned and managed by the York County Parks Department.  It features an official hawk watch site staffed by volunteers and park naturalists.  Have a look.

The hawk watch lookout is reached by following the well-marked trail at the north side of the large gravel parking area in the utility right-of-way at the end of the park entrance road (Deininger Road).
The Rocky Ridge Hawk Watch lookout includes outcrops of bedrock, a viewing deck, and grassy areas suitable for lawn chairs.
The bedrock at the lookout is an unusual quartz-cemented conglomerate that forms the Hellam Member at the base of the Cambrian Chickies Formation.
Experienced hawk watchers conduct an official count of raptors and other birds during the autumn migration in September and October each year.  Visitors are welcome.  The view is spectacular.  Check out the concrete columns glowing in the sun to the north of the lookout.
It’s the cooling towers at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station and the smoke stacks at the Brunner Island Steam Generating Station.  Conewago Falls is located between the two.
Interpretive signage on the hawk watch deck includes raptor identification charts.
A migrating Osprey glides by the lookout.
Throughout the month, migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks will be flying in a southwesterly direction along ridges in the region, particularly on breezy days.  They are the most numerous raptor at hawk watches in the lower Susquehanna valley during the first half of October.
A Peregrine Falcon quickly passes the Rocky Ridge lookout.  These strong fliers often ignore the benefits provided by thermals and updrafts along our ridges and instead take a direct north to south route during migration.
A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk soars by.
And a little while later, an adult Red-tailed Hawk follows.
Bald Eagles, including both migratory and resident birds, are seen regularly from the Rocky Ridge lookout.
Other diurnal (daytime) migrants are counted at Rocky Ridge and some of the other regional hawk watches.  Massive flights of Blue Jays have been working their way through the lower Susquehanna valley for more than a week now.  Local hawk watches are often logging hundreds in a single day.
The utility right-of-way within which the Rocky Ridge Hawk Watch is located can be a great place to see nocturnal (nighttime) migrants while they rest and feed during the day.  Right now, Eastern Towhees are common there.
An uncommon sight, a shy Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) in the utility right-of-way near the hawk watch lookout.  This and other nocturnal migrants will take full advantage of a clear moonlit night to continue their southbound journey.

If you’re a nature photographer, you might be interested to know that there are still hundreds of active butterflies in Rocky Ridge’s utility right-of-way.  Here are a few.

A Gray Hairstreak.
An American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas),

To see the daily totals for the raptor count at Rocky Ridge Hawk Watch and other hawk watches in North America, and to learn more about each site, be certain to visit hawkcount.org

A Quick Getaway

It was a placid morning on Conewago Falls with blue skies dotted every now and then by a small flock of migrating robins or blackbirds.  The jumbled notes of a singing Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) in the Riparian Woodland softly mixed with the sounds of water spilling over the dam.  The season’s first Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa), Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors), Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris), and White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) were seen.

There was a small ruckus when one of the adult Bald Eagles from a local pair spotted an Osprey passing through carrying a fish.  This eagle’s effort to steal the Osprey’s catch was soon interrupted when an adult eagle from a second pair that has been lingering in the area joined the pursuit.  Two eagles are certainly better than one when it’s time to hustle a skinny little Osprey, don’t you think?

But you see, this just won’t do.  It’s a breach of eagle etiquette, don’t you know?  Soon both pairs of adult eagles were engaged in a noisy dogfight.  It was fussing and cackling and the four eagles going in every direction overhead.  Things calmed down after about five minutes, then a staring match commenced on the crest of the dam with the two pairs of eagles, the “home team” and the “visiting team”, perched about 100 feet from each other.  Soon the pair which seems to be visiting gave up and moved out of the falls for the remainder of the day.  The Osprey, in the meantime, was able to slip away.

In recent weeks, the “home team” pair of Bald Eagles, seen regularly defending territory at Conewago Falls, has been hanging sticks and branched tree limbs on the cross members of the power line tower where they often perch.  They seem only to collect and display these would-be nest materials when the “visiting team” pair is perched in the nearby tower just several hundred yards away…an attempt to intimidate by homesteading.  It appears that with winter and breeding time approaching, territorial behavior is on the increase.

The second migrating Osprey of the day ran the gauntlet of marauding eagles without incident.

In the afternoon, a fresh breeze from the south sent ripples across the waters among the Pothole Rocks.  The updraft on the south face of the diabase ridge on the east shore was like a highway for some migrating hawks, falcons, and vultures.  Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) and Turkey Vultures streamed off to the south headlong into the wind after leaving the ridge and crossing the river.  A male and female Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), ten Red-tailed Hawks, two Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus), six Sharp-shinned Hawks, and two Merlins crossed the river and continued along the diabase ridge on the west shore, accessing a strong updraft along its slope to propel their journey further to the southwest.  Four high-flying Bald Eagles migrated through, each following the east river shore downstream and making little use of the ridge except to gain a little altitude while passing by.

(Top and Middle) Turkey Vultures riding the fresh breeze and teetering to-and-fro on up-tilted wings.  This wing posture is known as a dihedral.  (Bottom) More than 100 migrating Black Vultures climbed high on the afternoon breeze to make an oblique crossing of the river and maintain a southbound course.

Late in the afternoon, the local Bald Eagles were again airborne and cackling up a storm.  This time they intercepted an eagle coming down the ridge toward the river and immediately forced the bird to climb if it intended to pass.  It turned out to be the best sighting of the day, and these “home team” eagles found it first.  It was a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) in crisp juvenile plumage.  On its first southward voyage, it seemed to linger after climbing high enough for the Bald Eagles to loose concern, then finally selected the ridge route and crossed the river to head off to the southwest.

Ring-billed Gulls began feeding during the afternoon as clouds preceding stormy weather approached.
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