Rocky Ridge Hawk Watch (September 2018)
N 40.0129, W -76.65439
Data Summaries:
This is an all-volunteer hawk watch between the city of York and the Susquehanna River, which is the border between York and Lancaster counties.
The site is set in a public park in a power line cut on a ridge line approximately 900 feet above sea level at the edge of suburban and rural York, PA on the township line. The North lookout looks towards Harrisburg, Three Mile Island, and Brunner's Island. The official count is done there. The South lookout looks over the York area.
There is a platform with informative plaques and is reached by a more or less flat gravel path from the parking area.
On a clear day you can see well into Lancaster and to the Kittatinny Ridge over 20 miles away. There's an approximate 120 degree span. Andrew Wolfgang, naturalist with York County Parks, states that birds are plentiful on north and sometimes easterly winds. The classic NW winds sometimes do not produce a lot of hawks at Rocky Ridge. Mid to late September is good for Broadwings. It's a great warbler spot spring and fall.
I visited on September 29, 2018, around mid-day on a clear day. Birds were a little slow but steady according to the day's report. Broadwings were moving - 37 for the day, less than some other days that week. Common Ravens are becoming common in the area.
— by Dallas DiLeo
