Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch State College, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Feb 25, 2026 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Thomas Filip
Observers:
Weather: The first day of the season started off with some light snow and SSW winds at 2.8mph and the Allegheny Front was concealed by haze. Fortunately by 10 the snow had subsided and the haze started to improve. The winds shifted to WSW for most of the morning. At 12 the cloud cover started to break slowly and by 1 the winds started to shift to W at 4.7mph. By 2 the cloud cover decreased significantly and the winds shifted WNW at 5.8mph until around 4 when cloud cover started to increase again and the winds started to die down.
The first GOEA�of the season was an adult on the N side of the ridge, close enough to get a great view of it with just bins as it headed NE. The second, spotted by Ken, was on the S side of the ridge and a bit further out than the last one. The last migrating raptor of the day was a BAEA heading NE on the S side of the ridge.
Our resident RTHA was seen soaring and diving throughout the afternoon, mostly on the S side before switching to the N. A resident BAEA was seen flying SW on the S side and 4 TUVU and 3 BLVU were seen soaring on both sides of the ridge
A pair of ravens appear to be building a nest somewhere south of the ridge. Twice I observed a pair flying south over the ridge, one carrying nesting material both times, the other flying and performing barrel rolls alongside its partner. Later a single raven was seen several times flying on both sides of the ridge.
Predictions: Tomorrow will hopefully bring in some more Golden Eagles with W and WNW winds at 6mph and a sunny day with some cloud cover. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Thomas Filip () Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch information may be found at: tusseymountainspringhawkwatch.org/
