Waggoner's Gap (1 Viewer)

I was chilly at the top of a hawk watching mountain in Pennylvania called Waggoner's Gap and I saw my first ever Golden Eagle up there.

Lucky you. I've been looking at the reports and they have had a tremendous amount of GE sightings at Wagoner's Gap this year. I haven't been able to get out there from NJ unfortunately. I think my time has past and most of the GEs have gone south...no reports over the past few days. However, I had my one and only GE at Forsythe WR in Brigintine, NJ last year. Stunning bird.

JohnJos said:

Lucky you. I've been looking at the reports and they have had a tremendous amount of GE sightings at Wagoner's Gap this year. I haven't been able to get out there from NJ unfortunately. I think my time has past and most of the GEs have gone south...no reports over the past few days. However, I had my one and only GE at Forsythe WR in Brigintine, NJ last year. Stunning bird.

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Have you ever been there though?

marcus said:

Have you ever been there though?

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Sorry, I read your message incorrectly. You 'said' that you have not had a chance to get there from NJ. I thought you meant that you have not had a chance to get there this year. But you probably mean that you have never been there, right?

You are correct. Actually, I've only been actively birding for about 15 months or so. Just found out about Waggoner's Gap this year when I subscribed to PABIRDS mailing listserv. I was amazed that each report recorded numerous Golden Eagles each day, sometimes approaching 20. Truely wanted to get there this year during migration but did not have the opportunity. I still may try to visit but may not see much at this time of year. I did visit Hawk Mountain earlier in the fall. No GEs but we did see 4 Bald Eagles fly over. But I see BEs in NJ fairly routinely now. I even saw a pair last January less than 5 miles from my house. Then I did go to Conawingo Dam last year and saw many BEs there. That was one amazing day.

John and Marcus,

If you haven't already, you should check out hawkcount.org

There probably is a hawk watch closer to your locations. It may not be the quality of Hawk Mountain or Waggoner's Gap, but it may be worth a quick trip on a "good" day. Although it seems like I am always a day early or a day late when it comes to picking good days.

Waggoner's Gap has had an exceptional year when it comes to Golden Eagles. On November 22 they had 27 birds.

John, you may have seen this on PABIRDS (a great resource by the way). They are currently seeing over 100 Bald Eagles below the Conowingo Dam. Some estimate the number of birds present to be over 150.

Mike

Thanks for the link Mike. I often go to Cape May hawk watch throughout the year and especially during fall migration. But Golden Eagles rarely head that direction and seem to prefer an inland route along the mountain ridges, especially the Appalachians along the East coast. Hawkwatch.org reports only 12 for the season this year at Cape May! Waggoner's Gap had a high of 27 in one day! So the ridges seem to be the place to be for GEs.

Now, I haven't been to Conowingo this year yet but plan on getting down there very soon, probably next weekend. My previous visit was my first and there were about 25 or more Bald Eagles plus a fair amount of other raptors, ospreys, etc. What is amazing at Conowingo is that there could be several BEs perched in the trees immediately around the parking lot. So you get exceptional views. Plus more superb views while be birds are fishing. Can't wait!

Eagles

Dont forget Holtwood PA, plenty of raptors there.

William