Hawk Watching SLUMP!

This past week has been another bust if you've been trying to hawk watch in PA.  Our persistent south winds couldn't keep us away from Jo Hays Vista, so on Sunday, Drew, Alex, and I headed up around mid-day.  In town, we found a juvenile Bald Eagle circling the highway, so we thought things might be active up on the mountain. Alex and Drew walked the 1/2 mile to the powerline cut, while I stayed at the road overlook.  We wanted to see what was happening on the ridge during a south wind, and if we had a better chance of seeing raptors at the cut versus the road.  A black Vulture soared around me when I first got there, but the guys didn't get him until about an hour later! He had headed out over the valley, and not surprisingly took his time before heading back to the ridge.  While I saw the Black Vulture, Alex and Drew had an adult Bald Eagle that I never saw, flying low and hugging the ridge, as we suspected.  They also got two Sharp-shinned Hawks that I missed.  However, I got 2 Osprey, one each on the south and north side of the ridge, but both far out over the valleys, that they never saw at the powerline cut.  So, the only thing we really learned is that it would be best to have people stationed at multiple points on the ridge to get the best idea of what is happening on a particular day/wind. 

This week, any hawk watching attempt was literally a wash out.  Our area is plagued with flood warnings and any mountain road you attempt to drive at the moment has raging rivers coming down the sides.  Apparently over the next few days, rain is supposed to taper off, but that doesn't help us right now! I guess the only good thing to come out of this will be a good push of waiting migrants; today, soaking wet raptors dotted the highways, and I found a sharpie that had been recently hit on a foggy road.  Alex found 7 Caspian Terns at Bald Eagle State Park yesterday, and I found 7 Caspian Terns at Shawnee State Park today (maybe the same 7?!), along with a Least Sandpiper and 3 adult Bald Eagles with nothing to do but steal eachothers fish.  Birds really don't have anywhere to go when the rain is this persistent and the fog is this heavy, so keep your eyes open over the next few days at your state park beaches and reservoirs.  Rare birds are out there, just looking for somewhere to sit down.

Pictures soon!