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| A Red-Tailed hawk that posed for me on my first visit to the site. |
Let's make some... The Cumberland Gap Hawk Watch. To the best of my knowledge the site has never been recognized as a high potential hawk watch site. So here's what I can tell you. My watch began during the mid 2011 fall raptor migration. I was seeking out a watch site that would offer some comparison count data to the raptors that are migrating past my friends up at Allegheny Front Hawk Watch in Central City, PA. Allegheny Front is an official HMANA count site about 50 miles north and a ridge west of Cumberland Gap/Wills Mountain. Nearby Dan's Rock has been a point of informal hawk observation and study over the years and is located along the same ridge as Allegheny Front hawk watch site. Dan's Rock has a great view and potential as well, but again its along the same ridge as Allegheny Front and by bird standards not that far south. So instead of counting the same raptors, I decided to try my luck on top of "Lover's Leap". After some research on the local ridges, winds, etc. I concluded that Cumberland Gap was a place to count that may have potential. I had previous knowledge of Cumberland Gap as a long time rock/ice climber (my other blog). I've spent some time here over the years climbing the cliffs. I have a very memorable first ascent of a route named Richard's Roof - 5.8 The route is named after my late climbing friend Scott B. Richards. If you'd like to learn about the established rock climbing at Cumberland Gap and other MD areas, check INDY's page.
The start of CGHW (Cumberland Gap Hawk Watch)
I spent my first day observing here on September 22, 2011. It was during the tail end of Broad-Wing migration and they were the majority of birds flying through. I counted 197 raptors in 5 hours that day. Not bad. What impressed me the most was how incredibly low the birds flew and how long I had to look at each bird. I came back again on September 25, 2011 and counted 250 raptors in 5 hours. The views, the scenery, the raptors, the setting, This was it! Since the few days in September I've accumulated about 120 hours and over 3,000 raptors. Which is a good season by comparison. Most noteworthy is the Golden Eagle count have been very good. 67 Golden Eagles in the last month with a daily high count of 26. I've counted 21 migrating Bald Eagles as well. There are a lot of full time count sites that have much higher overall raptor counts, but they also have numerous observers that count close to 1,000 hours a season. I've been one man on a mission to count as often as possible, but still only scratched the surface. So the potential is here for a great hawk watch at Cumberland Gap. I need help from anyone that has an interest in raptors and would like to help make the site a success. All are welcome to come visit and enjoy the birds, nature and views with us. As time goes by and more people learn about the amazing migration point that Cumberland Gap is, the better the hawk watch will become. If you would like to volunteer and help please contact me at climbingpa@yahoo.com. The season will continue through December 15, 2011 and will resume on March 1, 2012 for a spring count. 2012 will start the first "official" season for Cumberland Gap Hawk Watch as an official HMANA count site. I hope to see you up at the Gap soon!
-Tim Anderson
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| The happy hawk watching couple. Laura and I on her first, my second day counting at Cumberland Gap. |
