Date: 11/22/24 6:20 am From: Nick Bolgiano <nickbolgiano...> Subject: Golden Eagle update for BE Mt
The attached chart shows how I have been monitoring the Golden Eagles through the Allegheny Front-Bald Eagle Mt migration corridor.
The Franklin Mt, NY, watch site is near Oneota in the Catskills of eastern NY. It is 186 miles from the BE Mt HW. Often, but not always, if they see a good GE flight, those birds show up here 2-3 good flying days later. That happened recently, where there was a pulse of what I estimate as about 200 or more GEs over about 6 days. During Nov 7-12, this site recorded 70 GEs.
The Bald Eagle Mt site recorded 102 GEs Nov 11-16. The AF-Sandy Ridge site recorded 88 GEs Nov 13-20 and the Allegheny Front site near Johnstown recorded 75 GEs Nov 13-20. Thus, not every site records most of the birds during these multi-day pulses.
On winds between E and S, I am watching at the AF-Sandy Ridge site 10 miles SW of the BE Mt site. The goal of having 2 nearby sites is to gain an idea of how many total GEs move through. This site is in a heavily-hunted SGL 33 accessible via a rough road that requires 4WD or AWD. I wish to keep my presence there to a minimum and there isn't much room, so I don't want visitors; one additional hawk watcher is the ideal. I wish that it was otherwise, but that is the deal.
So far, at the BE Mt and AF-Sandy Ridge site, we have recorded 255 GEs for the season. So a good result so far. GEs tend to come in pulses; the next pulse should follow today's storm, but I cannot predict when the next good day is until we see the initial birds.
Saturday-Tuesday, including Sunday, is bear-hunting season. Starting Saturday after Thanksgiving is deer-hunting season, including the first Sunday, and lasts for 2 weeks. Visitors to the BE Mt hawk watch should wear orange to and from the watch during these two hunting seasons.
