Observation start time: 07:45:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.25 hours
Official Counter: Bill Rasku, Eric Mueller
Observers: Bill Rasku, Eric Mueller, Marty McNamara
Visitors: Approximately 50 hikers and a variety of dogs at the summit.
Weather: What was supposed to be a mostly sunny morning actually started with a solid low overcast that almost completely blotted out views of Mt Monadnock, and spit out light snow flurries from time to time. The cloud base rose to 3,000 ft at 9:30 EST with patches of blue here and there, and then mostly dissipated by 10:30, leaving only very high patchy cloud cover and filtered light at ground level. Temperatures started at 32 F and rose to 46 F by the end of our session. Winds were a bit brisk at first with gusts to 10-12 mph from NE to NW, but tailed off around noon to less than 4 mph from varying directions.
Raptor Observations: Bill arrived at the North Rd overlook at 7:45 am and stayed until 3:00 pm. Marty helped Bill at North Rd from 12:50 to 3:00. Eric hiked up to the summit, arriving at 9:30 am and departing at 2:00 pm.
Sightings are assumed to be from North Rd unless noted otherwise. Duplicate sightings were assigned to the summit location, but there was relatively little overlap. Bill sighted a nice variety of species including an adult Golden Eagle, while the 18 birds that Eric sighted from higher up were primarily Bald Eagles, Red-tails and Red-shoulders. The filtered sunlight washed out a lot of color and details of the birds which resulted in a high number of Unidentifieds.
Canada Goose - 14 gull sp - 13 (North Rd) Blue Jay - 4 (both locations) Amer Crow - 705 (701 counted by Bill as they streamed past all day, including one group of 260. Eric saw 4) Comm Raven - 5 (both locations) BC Chickadee - 4 (both locations) T Titmouse - 3 (both locations) WB Nuthatch - 2 (both locations) Snow Bunting - 1 (foraging on the ground at the summit. FOY) DE Junco - 17 (both locations) Brown Creeper - 1 (North Rd) Downy WP - 1 (North Rd) Wht-thr Sparrow - 1 (North Rd) Amer Goldfinch -1 (North Rd)
Predictions: Now that the auto road is closed until Memorial Day and we have to hike up, we will pick and choose the days that we go up. No watch is planned at this point for either Tuesday or Wednesday due to southerly winds. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
More site information at hawkcount.org:https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=228
