Date: 10/2/25 3:11 pm From: Hawkcount.Org Reports <reports...> Subject: Waggoner's Gap (02 Oct 2025) 111 Raptors
Waggoner's Gap 40 km W of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 02, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- BV 0 0 0 TV 18 24 24 OS 3 6 135 BE 9 14 245 NH 1 2 81 SS 48 85 1400 CH 3 5 67 AG 0 0 0 RS 0 0 4 BW 8 12 10259 RT 4 9 142 RL 0 0 0 GE 2 3 5 AK 2 4 123 ML 1 2 23 PG 4 5 26 UA 1 1 15 UB 0 0 12 UF 1 1 3 UE 0 0 0 UR 6 6 26 SK 0 0 1
Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Jess Cosentino, Ron Freed
Observers: Abby Sentz, Bill King, Dave Grove, Gene Wagner, Pat Freed, Ron Freed
Visitors: 18
Weather: Variable south winds throughout the count period, Beginning SW and shifting to SE for the remainder of the afternoon, High 70 F, Only a bit of cloud cover throughout the morning but increasing more as the day progressed
Raptor Observations: The early morning hours began with several Osprey moving down the ridge, mixed with the first Sharp-shinned Hawks of the day. A few minutes after 10 AM, a subadult Golden Eagle appeared up the ridge, rose for a minute in a thermal, and took a long glide directly overhead while passing south down the ridge.
An hour later, a pair of Peregrine Falcons passed along the south side of the ridge in succession, just a few minutes after one another while first harassing the local Red-tailed Hawk.
The raptor momentum did not pick up dramatically, but seemed steady until noon. A few minutes after the noon hour, a juvenile Golden Eagle lifted from the south side of the ridge and spent several minutes rising high in a thermal, before taking a long glide along the entire south side of the ridge.
Several single Broad-winged Hawks passed along the ridge throughout the day. These are surely some of the last southbound migrants we expect to see passing here, as peak Broad-winged Hawk migration is already underway in Veracruz, Mexico by now.
The mid/late afternoon hours lulled into a slow trickle of Sharp-shinned Hawks, as well as a pair of adult Peregrine Falcons passing quickly along the south side of the ridge.
