Log In

Reset Password

It’s In Your Nature: All is not well for some species as hawk migration begins in earnest

Published September 12. 2026 09:00AM

In my younger days, beginning in September 1975, I spent nearly every Saturday and Sunday atop the Blue Mountain sitting on the rocks of Bake Oven Knob.

I was one of the official hawk counters during that time. The mountaintop hasn’t changed much, trees have grown taller to obscure some of the view, and the trail there has gotten steeper. Well, my ailing knees tell me that. My involvement there continued for about seven or eight years.

But some other things really have changed regarding the raptor migrations. Let me be more specific.

I remember seeing my first adult bald eagle fly past the lookout that first autumn. Eagle numbers were dangerously low at that time. The pesticide DDT was just banned in 1972, and the effects were not immediate. In fact, in 1975, Hawk Mountain, just 20 miles down ridge from the knob, recorded only 19 bald eagles migrating that year.

I just checked Hawk Mountain’s hawk reports, and on this past Sept. 4, 64 bald eagles passed by the Hawk Mountain summit on one day. (It was their all-time daily record.)

Peregrine falcon numbers were also depleted, and the yearly count in 1975 was nine. Last year (2025), 35 were recorded there. The bald eagle, osprey and peregrine at one time were on the endangered species list. That designation afforded them nest area and other special protections.

These are two success stories. You should also know that migration data alone does not conclude that the populations have increased, but it is almost a certainty.

It is comforting to know that at least these two species have been doing much better. However, there is disappointing news regarding a few other raptor species; specifically, the Northern harrier, red-shouldered hawk, American goshawk and American kestrel.

The harrier nests and feeds in marshy areas, wetlands and field areas that are not regularly cultivated. Our rapidly growing population keeps draining wetlands to make more land available for our “all-important” strip malls, warehouses, data centers and housing developments. Habitat loss seems to be their bane.

In 1975, the fall migration count of harriers at Hawk Mountain was 267. Last year, only 113 were sighted by the hawk counters.

Kestrels (once named sparrow hawks) are our smallest falcons. They historically thrived, nesting in dead tree cavities in the fence rows bordering the old farm fields. Today, to feed our populace amid modern farming practices, fence rows and fallow fields are few and far between.

Many kestrels even used knotholes in the old wooden sheathed barns to nest safely. Today, metal farm buildings have replaced the historic barns, while pesticides and herbicides have reduced the numbers of mice, grasshoppers and cicadas that once fed these small raptors.

The worst decline is seen in the American goshawk. This deep forest accipiter, about the size of our red-tailed hawk, is now on our state’s endangered species list. I haven’t seen one in 30 years. In 1975, 136 goshawks were recorded migrating past lookout on the Hawk Mountain. Last year there was one.

Good news is that within a half-hour drive from most of the Times News area you can reach the parking lot at Bake Oven Knob, pull out a folding chair and watch some of the raptors without making the steep walk to the knob itself. If you head up there between the date of this publication and about Sept 19 or 20 you could see thousands of broad-winged hawks, hummingbirds zipping just above the canopy, and if lucky, see a few of the dwindling numbers of migrating monarchs.

Increasing awareness on our part may eventually get some of these imperiled raptors better protections. Note: I have seen fewer monarchs drifting southward again this autumn. However, on Labor Day morning in my milkweed area I found six monarch caterpillars in a range of sizes. I’m hoping all six pupate and most make the long trip south.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: True/False — Bald eagles and golden eagles both nest in Pennsylvania.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: It may surprise you that not only do monarch butterflies, but E. black swallowtail butterflies and many dragonflies also migrate considerable distances. The mourning cloak butterfly does not.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com

Bald eagles, brown pelicans, peregrine falcons and the osprey, shown here, have all reaped the benefits of the ban on the use of the pesticide DDT. Osprey numbers have increased enough that they too have been removed from the endangered species list. Look for them migrating along the ridge at Bake Oven Knob often intermingled in a kettle of broad-winged hawks. BARRY REED/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Peregrine falcon numbers have increased, and they also are no longer listed as endangered. I snapped this photo of a juvenile peregrine resting at Cape May, New Jersey, a few years ago after an unsuccessful stoop on a flock of shorebirds.
Cooper’s hawks, shown here, closely related to the now-rare goshawk, have been recorded in much larger numbers today than 50 years ago. The “coops” are about 15 inches in size compared to the goshawk’s 25-inch size. Has their smaller size enabled them to more efficiently catch smaller bird prey than the bulkier goshawk? Has the dropping ruffed grouse population have an affect on the goshawks numbers? Hopefully research will provide some answers.
Almost every day in my travels I get to see a bald eagle. What a terrific success story. Let’s hope we can commit to restoring harrier, kestrel or other threatened raptors as well.
I remember one spring morning in the 1980s when on a 2- or 3-mile stretch of Pohopoco Drive along Beltzville Dam I counted six different kestrels perched on utility lines. Today, I search likely spots just to see one. The kestrel is not much larger than a robin.
In the ’80s every spring and fall migration time I would watch Northern harriers coursing across the meadows near my home. Today, homes occupy those meadows, and elsewhere across our state and the U.S., less and less habitat is available. With fewer places to nest and feed, their numbers have dropped considerably. Same old story; we need to protect habitat loss to data centers, malls, warehouses and unplanned communities. We need this biodiversity.
I found this broad-winged hawk feeding on a road-killed rabbit. The picture gives you a perspective of the hawk’s size, about the same as a crow’s. Their migration has begun.
Probably the only hawk that migrates in numbers so large they form huge kettles on the rising air currents are broad-winged hawks. This photo shows only a few broad-wings out of a kettle that had more than 50 birds. Last year between Sept. 12 and 21 more than 8,000 of the season’s total 9,000 “broadies” passed along the ridge top. Now is the time to see them.
Tags:
Barry Reed, Environment