Mike scoping the skies for hawks from Raccoon Ridge.
The Raccoon Ridge Hawk Watch, located at the top of a ridge on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border, embodies a much more rugged style of hawkwatching than you would find at my regular spot, Quaker Ridge. Raccoon Ridge, or “Coon,” as it’s affectionately called by some, has none of the amenities that Greenwich offers – no multi-million dollar heated facility, no easy step-out-your-car-and-start-watching access, not even any wooden lawn chairs! 🙂 Still, it has its advantages. Up on the ridge, a large percentage of migrating hawks fly by around eye-level, and on good days can come within dozens of feet of observers. Not to mention the breathtaking view from which four states are visible.
Two young Bald Eagles interacting.
On Sunday I caught a ride with long time hawkwatcher, Mike, who was making the trek out to the ridge with his son (it’s two hours from his house and about 1.5 from mine). Despite rain early on, we decided to go for it, as the skies to the north and west were clear. After arriving a bit after 8 am, we embarked on the hike up to the ridgetop. It was tough, but bird-wise, uneventful. We set up at “Mid Coon,” a spot a couple hundred feet downridge from the actual hawk watch site, from which one can get better views of birds sticking close to the ridge. Unfortunately, the winds, even though out of the north west, were a tad light, meaning hawks were not forced close to the ridge. As a result, most of our hawks were overhead.
A large flock of Brant.
Although by no means a banner day, we saw a sizable number of hawks (around 150), mostly migrating Red-taileds, but also consisting of a large number of Red-shouldered Hawks and many Bald Eagles. The best raptors we saw were a young Northern Goshawk and Golden Eagle.
A close-in juvenile Northern Goshawk.
With the sun getting low in the sky and a long hike back ahead of us, we started heading down around 4 pm; good timing, too, as the sun disappeared behind the horizon as we neared the car. In the fading light I did spot a light-colored Ruffed Grouse, but since my binoculars were buried in my pack l wasn’t able to get any good looks. Still, a fun and exciting second trip to Raccoon Ridge.
Warblings 