Date: 11/3/25 5:48 pm From: Hawkcount.Org Reports <reports...> Subject: Waggoner's Gap (03 Nov 2025) 98 Raptors
Waggoner's Gap 40 km W of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 03, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- BV 0 0 11 TV 7 51 1306 OS 0 0 149 BE 8 43 486 NH 7 9 138 SS 21 33 2650 CH 2 6 207 AG 0 0 3 RS 7 20 77 BW 0 0 10265 RT 40 98 559 RL 0 0 0 GE 3 10 54 AK 0 0 165 ML 0 1 52 PG 2 3 57 UA 0 0 40 UB 0 4 29 UF 0 0 6 UE 0 1 1 UR 1 4 57 SK 0 0 1
Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 7.75 hours
Official Counter: Jess Cosentino
Observers: Bob Verdon, Dave Grove, Gene Wagner, Jeff Thompson , Joe Sabo, Pat Freed, Ron Freed
Visitors: 18, Dickinson Geoscience Course (22), One dog
Weather: High 62 F, No clouds all morning with cloud cover moving in by afternoon, Heavy overcast moving in as front shifting towards the ridge, with light cloud cover all afternoon, Light to moderate SW winds for count period after noon
Raptor Observations: For another day, the morning hours saw minimal to no raptor movement down the ridge. By afternoon, the southwest wind picked up velocity and cloud cover moved in as a front shifted in from the southwest. Raptor movement increased as the day progressed
A trio of Northern Harriers passed together in unison down the south side of the ridge, shooting out over the valley. Lots of great looks at Red-shouldered Hawks moving down the ridge as well. A couple young Peregrine Falcons made quick but close passes directly down the spine of the ridge
The 1 PM hour brought a duo of Golden Eagles down the south side of the ridge, passing approximately 40 minutes between one another. Both birds appeared distant to the northeast, circling up over the horizon and passing parallel to the ridge while working southwest
Around 3:15 PM, a third subadult Golden Eagle appeared circling in a thermal very distant to the north of the ridge, taking its time to find lift in the hefty southwest winds of the afternoon. The Golden spent several minutes rotating as the late day sun cast a nice golden wash over its chocolate brown and pearl white plumage, before it tucked into a glide and tried to make some southbound progress. It took a while but the eagle continued steadily over the valley to the north of the ridge, by the time it passed out of the view to the south the bird has spent well over ten minutes providing an excellent afternoon view of the day's third Golden Eagle - the 54th for fall so far
