Date: 11/23/25 5:24 pm From: Hawkcount.Org Reports <reports...> Subject: Waggoner's Gap (23 Nov 2025) 70 Raptors
Waggoner's Gap 40 km W of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 23, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- BV 0 0 11 TV 0 365 1620 OS 0 0 149 BE 10 286 729 NH 1 22 151 SS 2 93 2710 CH 2 38 239 AG 0 1 4 RS 8 59 116 BW 0 0 10265 RT 38 786 1247 RL 0 0 0 GE 7 146 190 AK 0 0 165 ML 0 9 60 PG 0 7 61 UA 0 1 41 UB 1 11 36 UF 0 0 6 UE 0 3 3 UR 1 8 61 SK 0 0 1
Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Jess Cosentino
Observers: Dave Grove, Gene Wagner, Jeff Thompson , Laura Minnich
Visitors: 30, three dogs (Forrest, Jenny, and Lieutenant Dan)
Weather: A few degrees above freezing in the first hours of daylight, with a light southern breeze persisting all morning, while gray-white overcast kept a dreary early sky. By noon, the clouds began to break with sun, and the wind direction dramatically shifted to west and northwest within a one-hour period. Northwest wind remained sturdy for the early afternoon hours, eventually tapering into a light north breeze in the hours before sunset, High
Raptor Observations: The morning sky was quiet as a light gray overcast blanketed overhead while a soft south breeze lingered. No raptors moving in the early hours, until a dark silhouette suddenly flashed low and very close on the southern side of the ridge. Flapping a few times and folding over on itself in athletic flight, the large dark bird almost resembled a Common Raven at a distance before it revealed white feathers at the base of its tail. The immature Golden Eagle appeared to lift off directly from the treeline along the southern side of the ridge in the late morning, spending some time kiting into the light southern headwind a bit before stooping back down into the forest in acrobatic fashion. The Golden wasn't migrating down the ridge, but rather seemed to be lifting off from the nearby forest and getting its bearings before tucking into a below eye-level glide, taking it directly over the road below the overlook until it disappeared southward.
The remainder of the morning would be uneventful, despite this close morning eagle pass to begin the count. However, as the noon hour struck, the winds pivoted in a near 180 degree momentum and swung to the northwest with force, and the raptors appeared to waste little time jumping on the opportunity for movement.
The first hour following noon saw six migratory raptor species moving southward in response to the abrupt shift to northwest winds. Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks pushed down the ridge quickly, as a female-type Northern Harrier cut distant to the north in a quick flap-assisted pass. A pair of adult Red-Shouldered Hawks followed south on the leeward side of the ridge, distancing themselves from the blustery north winds a bit, while the second Golden Eagle of the day hopped on the winds as the subadult bird moved quickly down the north side.
The Red-tailed Hawk flight gained momentum in the early afternoon, with good movement each hour as the bulk of the day's flight passed - large buteos shooting down the north side of the ridge on similar flight lines, appearing up the ridge and continuing to ride the updrafts southward on steady glides.
Goldens continued to pass each hour as the northwest wind remained strong, and in the 3 PM hour a pair of young Goldens appeared at one point circling very high to the north of the ridge as a Red-tailed Hawk joined in the thermal lift of the ridge updrafts. The eagle duo offered an extended look at both birds for several minutes as they casually rotated while gaining more and more lift until both birds had bumped into the ceiling of the late afternoon sky. By this time of the year, the 3 PM hour offers some of the best sunlight for viewing raptors passing down the ridge, as the low angle illuminates each passing large bird with a wash of golden light and hawkwatchers below shared opportune timing as the Goldens made their extended southbound pass during this ephemeral time window.
As the glow of day diminished, the final Golden Eagle of the count appeared distant up the ridge. A juvenile bird on a steady glide along the north side, as the north winds had diminished to a light breeze. The large bird rode the winds low over the tree line with little effort. Despite many late evening Goldens moving quickly south, this Golden took its time to slowly float low over the treeline, pointing its head directly down towards the ground as if in search of something.
For the next minute, the large eagle lingered north of the ridge without passing, pausing at times to sit into the headwind and briefly kite as if it were an oversized Red-tailed Hawk. Until it finally tucked its large wings inward and began a descent directly towards the rockpile and overlook. Hawkwatchers below locked in on the bird as it extended both of its legs outward while dropping in descent, lower with each passing second. The final drops of sunlight illuminated the young Golden's head and bright white plumage as it dropped from the sky, before it fully extended its legs in the final seconds until landing in the upper pine directly up the ridge!
A collective gasp from hawkwatchers below shuffled the silence, as the Golden took a few seconds to find its footing deep in its new confier roost for the evening. The large pine tree appeared to swallow the large eagle in a sudden moment, as it tucked itself deep under the blanket of green needles. Only a few more moments passed before the bird launched itself back skyward, out of the pine tree and back down the north side of the ridge below the tree-level. Cutting low, the young Golden continued to drop along the north side until it continued steadily southward below eye-level and out of view.
This would be the final migratory raptor seen on the day; however, the final thirty minutes of the count was spent sharing in the collective awe of the shared moment that had just passed. The young Golden Eagle may have drifted just a bit farther down the ridge to find a more suitable roosting tree for the evening, absent of the chatter of excited hawkwatchers below, preparing to resume its long journey south tomorrow at the break of first light.
The count today appeared to be bookended by roosting young Golden Eagles on the ridge: The first bird lifting off just a few hundred meters from the overlook in the early morning hours, as the final bird of the day landed in nearby trees in the final moments of fading sunlight.
Who knows how many Goldens are roosting in darkness along the Kittitany Ridge on this cold evening, a brief respite in their long journeys. Leaving the remote northern forests of Quebec not long ago, each stretch of this southward fall migration - including this ridge - is foreign and unfamiliar to these young birds as they pass over vast human-made landscapes, navigating for their first time to unfamiliar wintering grounds deep in the remote Appalachian Mountains somewhere along the next distant southern horizon.
It's moments like this while hawkwatching that illicit a deep appreciation to be able to witness, even for a glimpse, these incredible annual migrations.
First bird GE 09:25 Last bird GE 15:58
Non-raptor Observations: Cedar Waxwing 16, Tufted Titmouse 3, Horned Lark 2, European Starling 9, American Goldfinch 2, Dark-eyed Junco 5, White-throated Sparrow 2, Common Grackle 13
Predictions: Overcast, High 53 F, Early west wind shifting light northwest ======================================================================== Report submitted by WG Counter ()
