Date: 12/3/25 2:39 pm From: Hawkcount.Org Reports <reports...> Subject: Waggoner's Gap (03 Dec 2025) 23 Raptors
Waggoner's Gap 40 km W of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Dec 03, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- BV 0 0 11 TV 1 1 1634 OS 0 0 149 BE 8 13 814 NH 0 0 153 SS 0 1 2714 CH 0 0 242 AG 0 0 4 RS 1 5 124 BW 0 0 10265 RT 9 17 1309 RL 0 0 0 GE 3 4 214 AK 0 0 165 ML 0 0 60 PG 0 0 61 UA 0 0 42 UB 0 0 37 UF 0 0 6 UE 0 0 3 UR 1 1 64 SK 0 0 1
Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Jess Cosentino, Ron Freed
Observers: Dave Grove, Debbie Spinelli, Gene Wagner, Ron Freed
Visitors: 1
Weather: Following yesterday's snowfall, a little over 4" of light snow blanketed the ridge by sunrise this morning. Cloudy start to the morning with the strongest northwest winds of the day, while sun began to break through closer to noon. Despite a high of 36 F, the sun shining down on the rocks made for one of the more pleasant days of late season hawkwatching. Winds shifted to west > southwest by afternoon, decreasing in velocity
Raptor Observations: A similar trend as recent days as northwest winds were strongest early in the count period, resulting in most of the raptor flight pushing south during this time window. The afternoon hours were slow by comparison. Bald Eagles were moving south early in the morning, while almost all of the Red-tailed Hawks on the day were passing along the south side of the ridge despite the northwest winds. Many Red-tailed Hawks were spotted distant out to the south, cutting high over the valley on direct north-south flight lines rather than following the ridge.
The first Golden Eagle of the morning was an adult that appeared gliding down the ridge behind a leading pair of Bald Eagles. The Golden paused for a few moments directly north of the ridge to circle twice, providing the closest look of the day before continuing on. The next two Golden Eagles would appear much more distant to the northeast of the ridge, cutting directly south towards the ridge while passing high over the valley and snow-covered farmfields below. Once the two subadult birds reached the north side of the ridge, they veered southwest and continued southward.
By the early afternoon lull, the momentum of the day's flight had declined dramatically. However, a very distant young Golden Eagle was spotted rising up out over the valley to the north once again. Once again, the flightline for this Golden was cutting high over the valley to the north without reaching the ridge before it continued southwest.
first BE 8:45 last BE 14:19
Non-raptor Observations: Pileated Woodpecker 1, Common Raven 2, Tufted Titmouse 3, Eastern Bluebird 1, American Goldfinch 37, Dark-eyed Junco 5
Predictions: Thursday: Cloudy with moderate northwest winds throughout late morning into early afternoon, High in mid 30s F
Friday: Temps are going to drop considerably, High upper 20s F, Southeast wind, ======================================================================== Report submitted by WG Counter ()
