Category: Waggoner’s Gap

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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.
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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.

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Broad-winged Hawk Flights Underway

The smoke has cleared—at least for now—and Broad-winged Hawks are being seen migrating across lower Susquehanna valley skies.  Check out these daily counts from area hawk watches…

    • Rocky Ridge County Park Hawk Watch northeast of York, Pennsylvania: 475 Broad-winged Hawks on Saturday, September 18th—including 388 during the two hours between noon and 2 P.M.
    • Second Mountain Hawk Watch at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania: 300 Broad-winged Hawks on Wednesday, September 15th— one more than was tallied passing the site on the previous day.
    • Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch on Blue Mountain north of Carlisle, Pennsylvania: 1,211 Broad-winged Hawks on Tuesday, September 14th and 1,485 on Sunday, September 19th.
Broad-winged hawks in a “kettle” formation gaining altitude on a thermal updraft above Second Mountain Hawk Watch before continuing on their migratory journey.  “Kettling” can occur above any heat-generating surface on a sunny day, even a parking lot.
A migrating adult Broad-winged Hawk rising skyward.
A juvenile Broad-winged Hawk “feeding on the wing” consuming a dragonfly.

Additional Broad-winged Hawks are still working their way through the Mid-Atlantic States as they continue toward tropical wintering grounds.  And there’s more.  Numbers for a dozen other migratory hawk, eagle, and falcon species will peak between now and mid-November.  Days following passage of a cold front are generally best—so do get out there and have a look!

You can check the daily hawk count numbers and find detailed information for lookout sites all across North America at hawkcount.org

And don’t forget to click the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper” tab at the top of this page to see a gallery of photos that can help you to identify, and possibly determine the age of, the many species of raptors that occur in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.

A juvenile Merlin clutching a dragonfly takes a late-afternoon break from its migration flight.  Merlin numbers peak in early October.
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Smoky Skies in the Lower Susquehanna Region

During the coming two weeks, peak numbers of migrating Neotropical birds will be passing through the northeastern United States including the lower Susquehanna valley.  Hawk watches are staffed and observers are awaiting big flights of Broad-winged Hawks—hoping to see a thousand birds or more in a single day.

During its passage through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, an adult Broad-winged Hawk sails over Second Mountain Hawk Watch in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.
A hatch-year/juvenile Broad-winged Hawk gazes toward hawk watchers on the ground.

Broad-winged hawks feed on rodents, amphibians, and a variety of large insects while on their breeding grounds in the forests of the northern United States and Canada.  They depart early, journeying to wintering areas in Central and South America before frost robs them of a reliable food supply.

The Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina), this one photographed at Second Mountain Hawk Watch on September 8th, is the rarest of the lower Susquehanna region’s migratory dragonflies.  Autumn Broad-winged Hawk movements coincide with southbound flights of the Carolina Saddlebags and the more numerous migratory dragonfly species: Common Green Darner, Wandering Glider, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, and Black Saddlebags.  “Broad-wings” will often eat these and other dragonflies during migration and can sometimes be seen catching and feeding upon them while still soaring high overhead.

While migrating, Broad-winged Hawks climb to great altitudes on thermal updrafts and are notoriously difficult to see from ground level.  Bright sunny skies with no clouds to serve as a backdrop further complicate a hawk counter’s ability to spot passing birds.  Throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the coming week promises to be especially challenging for those trying to observe and census the passage of high-flying Broad-winged Hawks.  The forecast of hot and humid weather is not so unusual, but the addition of smoke from fires in the western states promises to intensify the haze and create an especially irritating glare for those searching the skies for raptors.

Smoke from fires along the California coast and in central Utah can be seen streaming east this morning.  (NOAA/GOES image)
Smoke from western fires and humid air creates a band of haze in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and states to the south this morning.   (NOAA/GOES image)

 

A migrating Broad-winged Hawk in the glare of a hazy sky.  In addition to visibility problems, swarms of Spotted Lanternflies above the treetops make distant hawks difficult to discern for hawk watchers scanning the horizon with binoculars.

It may seem gloomy for the mid-September flights in 2021, but hawk watchers are hardy types.  They know that the birds won’t wait.  So if you want to see migrating “Broad-wings” and other species, you’ve got to get out there and look up while they’re passing through.

Migrating Ospreys typically fly low enough and are large enough to be spotted even during the haziest of conditions.
Bald Eagles like this fourth-year bird can ascend to great altitude, but their size usually prevents them from sneaking past a lookout unnoticed.
Peregrines escape notice not due to hazy sky conditions, but because they pass by so quickly.  They’re being seen at local hawk watches now through October.

These hawk watches in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed are currently staffed by official counters and all welcome visitors:

    • Rocky Ridge County Park Hawk Watch—3699 Deininger Road off Mount Zion Road (Route 24) northeast of York, Pennsylvania.
    • Second Mountain Hawk Watch—off Cold Spring Road on the grounds of Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.
    • Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch—where Route 74 crosses Blue Mountain north of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

—or you can just keep an eye on the sky from wherever you happen to be.  And don’t forget to check the trees and shrubs because warbler numbers are peaking too!  During recent days…

Northern Parula at Chiques Rock County Park in Lancaster County.
Black-and-white Warbler at Rocky Ridge County Park in York County.
Cape May Warbler at Chiques Rock County Park in Lancaster County.
Bay-breasted Warbler at Rocky Ridge County Park in York County.
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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

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A Visit to Waggoner’s Gap

Nothing beats spending a day at a hawk watch lookout—except of course spending a day at a hawk watch lookout when the birds are parading through nonstop for hours on end.

Check out Waggoner’s Gap, a hawk count site located on the border of Cumberland and Perry Counties atop Blue Mountain just north of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  It is by far the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed’s best location for observing large numbers of migrating raptors during the October and November flights.

Waggoner’s Gap is located where Route 74 crosses Blue Mountain north of Carlisle.
The entrance to a parking area for hawk watch visitors is designated by this sign located along Route 74 several hundred yards north of the summit of Blue Mountain.
Since acquiring the site in 2000, Audubon Pennsylvania has added improvements to expand the function of Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch to include education for both formal students and the public at large.
The site is named in honor of the late conservationist Clifford L. Jones, a business leader, a former Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, a cabinet secretary for six Pennsylvania governors (both major parties), a director on the boards of numerous conservation organizations, and an active birder.
Orange falcon silhouettes function as blazes for the trails that lead from the parking area to the lookout.  The trail and the lookout consist entirely of boulders.  Some of these move when stepped upon.  Others may be slick.  Use caution at all times.
The lookout at Waggoner’s Gap is staffed by official counters from August through December each year.  They are tasked with enumerating every migratory raptor’s passage during that period.
Sure-footed observers climb into a comfortable position among the Tuscarora quartzite boulders and begin watching the flight.
The view from the lookout is spectacular.  To the east, downtown Harrisburg can be seen in the distance.
During a recent afternoon with breezes from the “southwesterlies”, a steady stream of  migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks, including this juvenile, passed by the lookout.
Sharp-shinned Hawks were ready subjects for photography as they sailed on updrafts along the south side of the ridge.
An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk.
A second-year Sharp-shinned Hawk.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk below eye level.  Over 400 Sharp-shinned Hawks migrated past Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch on this particular early October day.
The local Turkey Vultures at Waggoner’s Gap seem ubiquitous at times.  They’re on the radio towers, they’re flying overhead, and a few are cruising the slopes below the crest.  But on the day of our recent visit, their numbers were eclipsed by the more than 300 “T.V.s” that migrated down the ridge.
Black Vultures, both migrants and local birds, are seen from the lookout.
Northern Harriers are a hawk watch favorite.  Their long uptilted wings, long tail, and white rump make them easy to identify, even for beginners.  Their plummeting numbers make them a treasured sighting for everyone.
A Red-tailed Hawk on a close approach.
A distant Red-shouldered Hawk.  Numbers of these migrants peak later in the season.
A Peregrine Falcon darts past the lookout.  Note the white forehead, throat, and breast.  This bird is probably a “Tundra Peregrine” (Falco peregrinus tundrius).  In the lower Susquehanna valley, this subspecies is strictly migratory, a transient in spring and fall.  “Tundra Peregrines” breed in the arctic and winter as far south as South America.
An immature Bald Eagle.  Waggoner’s Gap is a superb place for sighting eagles, especially on a breezy day.
Hundreds of Blue Jays filtered through as their southbound exodus continues.  Other songbirds of interest included Blue-headed Vireos (Vireo solitarius), Winter Wrens, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Pine Siskins, and both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets.

Waggoner’s Gap is a hardy birder’s paradise.  During the latter portion of the season, excellent flights often occur on days that follow the passage of a cold front and have strong northwest winds.  But be prepared, it can be brutal on those rocks during a gusty late-October or early-November day after the leaves fall—so dress appropriately.

To see the daily totals for the raptor count at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch and other hawk watches in North America, and to learn more about each site, be sure to visit hawkcount.org

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