Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch State College, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 30, 2026 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Thomas Filip
Observers: Deb Rittlemann, Joe Sabo, Nick Bolgiano
Weather: Mostly cloudy for the first hour and half, after which it cleared up to partly cloudy for a few hours until 13:00 when it started to get mostly cloudy again. Wind direction started at SSW, shifted SW around 10:00, then briefly to WSW for an hour around 12:00, before shifting back to SW and then SSW by the end of the day. Wind speed was generally at 7-9mph throughout the day with a few brief periods at 4-5mph. It was a warm day with a low of 13.7℃ and a high of 21.2℃.
Unlike the rest of the raptors today flying high over the ridge, our GOEA caught us by surprise and came through low on the S side over the valley.We initially thought it was a TUVU until we took a closer look. Joe, who had come here from Pittsburgh and had been patiently waiting hours to see a GOEA, got up quickly when Nick called out that it might be a GOEA. It was already about half way past at this point and both Nick and I were frantically trying to get him on the bird, and for a few seconds it looked like it was going to slip by when it got past the last wire. Nick eventually told him to just come over to his scope to see it. Thankfully the eagle showed some mercy and decided to soar instead of rushing past like most GOEA, and Joe was able to get a good look at it for a short time before it moved on. Nick and I both let out sighs of relief when he finally got it.
Other migrating raptors include 1 OSPR, 2 NOHA, 6 RTHA, 1 SSHA, 1 COHA, and 27 TUVU. Most of these birds were very high up and looked like specks in the sky with binoculars. The NOHAs lived up to their name as "the great fooler" today as I had trouble identifying both initially.
We had a few passerine flyovers with 2 TRES, 2 AMRO, 1 AGOL, 1 BHCO, and 3 COGR. We also had 1 COLO flyover.
Predictions: Mostly cloudy with moderate WSW winds. Uncertain what the raptor migration will be like tomorrow. If there is a break in the clouds, we could see decent raptor movement like today. There is an approaching storm from the west which could push some raptors to fly through before it hits us that night, or it could hinder them. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Thomas Filip () Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch information may be found at: tusseymountainspringhawkwatch.org/
