Episode Details
Back to EpisodesGrab your binoculars for Pennsylvania’s raptor migration at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch
Description
Since the 1930s, generations of birders have made their way to Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch, a 125-acre rocky outcrop perched atop the Kittatinny Ridge. Waggoner’s Gap is the second-oldest hawk watch in the United States and one of the premier places on the East Coast to spot these magnificent birds.
With binoculars in hand and eyes turned toward the sky, they gather to witness one of nature’s great migrations. Sixteen species of hawks, eagles, falcons and vultures, along with more than 150 species of songbirds, pass through these skies as they journey south for the winter.
Straddling Cumberland and Perry Counties, Waggoner’s Gap is managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
At Waggoner’s Gap, the landscape itself becomes a guide. Rising warm air creates invisible currents called thermals, allowing birds of prey to catch the wind and soar across the ridges with barely a flap of their wings.
Each autumn, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 raptors pass over Waggoner’s Gap. Sharp-shinned, Broad-winged, Cooper’s and Red-tailed hawks sweep overhead. Northern Harriers skim the landscape, while Turkey vultures ride the rising air. And Bald Eagles, symbols of strength and freedom, trace their paths across the horizon.
But among the many birds that travel this ancient corridor, few inspire quite the same sense of wonder as the Golden Eagle.
With dark plumage touched by golden-brown feathers and wingspans reaching six feet, Golden Eagles possess a presence that can stop a conversation in its tracks.
Yet Waggoner’s Gap is about more than the birds. It’s also about the people who return, season after season, to witness their passage.
Spend a day on these rocks, and you’ll discover a community bound together by a shared fascination. For five months each year, volunteers gather on the ridge to identify, count and record the birds moving south. Between sightings, they catch up on the lives unfolding around them. They talk about recent trips, weddings, births and deaths. They celebrate graduations, admire a new camera and share the little milestones that make up a life.
Some have been doing this for decades. They return not only because the birds are extraordinary, but because the people beside them have become friends.
For more than 30 years, my guest has returned to Waggoner’s Gap to be part of that effort. And when asked why he continues to do it, his answer was beautifully simple: “the birds.”
On this episode, I speak with David Grove. Dave is the site coordinator at Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch.
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Hosting, production and editing: Christian Alexandersen
Music: Jon Sauer
Graphics: Matt Davis