Waggoner's Gap 40 km W of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 11, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- BV 0 0 0 TV 0 0 0 OS 4 18 50 BE 7 47 114 NH 0 7 15 SS 6 17 33 CH 0 14 22 AG 0 0 0 RS 0 2 3 BW 471 632 778 RT 4 21 85 RL 0 0 0 GE 0 0 0 AK 5 9 18 ML 0 5 5 PG 0 1 5 UA 1 3 4 UB 0 1 6 UF 0 0 0 UE 0 0 0 UR 0 2 4 SK 0 0 1
Observation start time: 05:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter: Ian Hess, Jess Cosentino, Ron Freed
Observers: Abby Sentz, Brandon Brogle, Dave Grove, Gary LaBelle, Gene Wagner, Ian Hess, Pat Freed, Pete Biasucci , Ron Freed, Steve Espamer
Visitors: 22; A great sunny day to be on the rocks before the arrival of the weekend
Weather: A cool morning (57 F) warming up to 78 F by afternoon, Lots of sun and a great mix of cloud cover for spotting high and distant birds, Winds were consistent at NW/NNW throughout the entire count period
Raptor Observations: Today was the first triple digit day total of the fall 2025 season, as a fantastic early Broad-winged Hawk flight passed southward throughout the late morning into the early afternoon hours
A nice late morning Broad-winged Hawk liftoff from the ridge brought the first sizeable groups of raptors of the day. Lift off began around 09:07 with a few Broad-winged Hawks appearing up the ridge, and gradually passing directly overhead once they achieved enough lift to glide southward. The northwest winds were consistent all morning, and eventually the first large group of Broad-winged Hawks was spotted very distant to the south of the ridge.
Distant specks of darkened buteo silhouettes spiraled higher into the atmospheric ceiling as the late morning sun warmed the matrix of farm fields in the valley, providing the thermals and lift to get birds moving in earnest. Another large group of 80+ Broad-winged Hawks cut distant to the south, passing high over the valley towards the adjacent ridges.
Shortly after, Broad-winged Hawk kettles began to appear closer to the ridge - passing almost overhead or just barely to the north, cutting quickly as tiny darkened avian pepper flecks against the blue and white cloud- and sky-scapes. Spotting kettles was a bit of a struggle due to the altitude that the birds were achieving by noon, but the movement was consistent and for a while it seemed that a steady trickle of Broad-winged Hawks was cutting southward overhead for several hours until early afternoon.
By mid-afternoon, we were spotting small groups of Broad-winged Hawks passing high overhead on quick, long glides with many cutting directly south while passing over the ridge from the north.
Overall raptor diversity on the day was also good, with six different migratory species passing southward. This included a male American Kestrel (one of five on the day) repeatedly dive bombing the decoy owl for well over one minute, while releasing a caucousphous slew of angry raptor chatter before continuing on its way. Most kestrels on the way were spotted moving quick and direct from the north, passing low over the ridge just to the north of the lookout, and contining south without much hesitation
With several hawkwatches across New England to the north recording good Broad-winged Hawk numbers in the past two days, as well as a fantastic day recorded along the Great Lakes today at Detroit River Hawk Watch with 7000+ Broad-winged Hawks, we should expect some good number arriving here in the coming days.
Make your way up to the rocks this weekend, and enjoy peak Broad-winged Hawk migration along the Kittatinny Ridge!
