Date: 4/28/26 2:53 am From: Constanza Ehrenhaus <cxe1169...> Subject: Re: Last day of the hawk watch season
My highlight was seeing a Golden Eagle. I've been going every season and I
always miss them by minutes. Bonus points because the sun made it shine.
You now need a well deserved rest!
On Mon, Apr 27, 2026 at 9:41 PM Thomas Filip <thomasfilip0660...>
wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> It’s the last day of the Tussey Hawk Watch season so I just wanted to say
> thank you to John, Nick, Matt for letting me stay at his place the past
> couple of months, everyone who came up to the mountain, everyone I met at
> the bird club, and anyone else who helps make this hawk watch possible. I
> really enjoyed meeting and talking to everyone, it made my experience here
> a lot more enjoyable. I don’t think I could have asked for a better season
> here.
>
> Our big record 80 Golden Eagle day was obviously the highlight of the
> season, that will always stick with me, but I wanted to share some of the
> other birds and fun experiences that stuck with me as well.
>
> -
>
> The Mute Swan that flew over, its wingbeats sounding like a chuchu
> train as it went. This was probably my favorite just because it was so
> bizarre. https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fchecklist%2FS310797879&data=05%7C02%<7CSCBIRDCL...>%7Cf8f4411b781a4d01bc5c08dea50be7e9%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C639129667895672916%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Le9Ze6PHx3A2RrRfzSYt6HHZ%2BcqEHrmFjnbVXFBu334%3D&reserved=0 > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Febird.org%2Fchecklist%2FS310797879&data=05%7C02%<7CSCBIRDCL...>%7Cf8f4411b781a4d01bc5c08dea50be7e9%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C639129667895706593%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=mOJNVoNxXXK5TPOT%2BBK%2FARVbsHsxqsvVzjUabJWIH%2Bw%3D&reserved=0> >
> -
>
> The Tundra Swans that flew over on our big Golden Eagle day at just
> the right place to be perfectly illuminated by the sun, which made them
> shine a really beautiful bright white like I’ve never seen before.
> -
>
> Seeing the Turkey Vultures freak out and hightail it out of the area
> whenever they saw a Golden Eagle coming was always funny to me.
> -
>
> The pair of ravens that I saw carrying nest material on day one in
> February and then eventually carrying food in April almost every day. The
> first time we saw it carrying food it had a flying squirrel in its mouth,
> which was bizarre but kinda fun to see.
> -
>
> Ken spotting a Golden Eagle because I called out a Turkey Vulture, and
> I ended up missing the eagle because I was on the vulture.
> -
>
> Ken spotting a Peregrine Falcon because Nick called out an Osprey,
> thankfully I did not miss this one. I would have been pretty upset as this
> was our first of the season and I had been complaining to Nick all April
> about not seeing one.
> -
>
> Joe Sabo coming all the way from Pittsburg, waiting the whole day to
> see a Golden Eagle, and then when his chance came, struggling to get on it
> and almost missing it. Nick had to let him use his scope and Joe had to
> stand on his tippy toes just to see through it, but he finally got on the
> bird before it left. Nick and I were both at our wits end trying to get him
> on this bird for what felt like minutes, but we both laughed at the end.
> -
>
> Julian’s class coming up one morning, one of the students half
> heartedly mumbling “oh there’s some loons”, and I look up to see 20+ loons
> flying low directly over us. That kid might not have been excited, but I
> sure was.
> -
>
> The tour group coming up from the Bald Eagle State Park Nature Inn and
> getting to see a Golden Eagle right away. I was about a couple minutes into
> my talk when Nick spotted it and all eyes were on the eagle after that, and
> no one was interested in my talk after that. Nick got a kick out of this
> one for a while.
>
>
> I’m sure there’s more that will come to me later, but these were the best
> birds and moments off the top of my head. I’ll undoubtedly be in central PA
> for some reason or another, either for birding or maybe even to do another
> season at Tussey here, so I hope I get to run into some of you again.
>
> Thanks again for a great season,
>
> Tom
>
>
