Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Caroline Fegley
Observers:
Visitors: 36 including young raptor and herptile enthusiasts James Teitgen and Allison Sonner
Weather: Heavy SW/W winds, increasing throughout the day. The last two hours we fought to hold our optics steady and keep ourselves and belongings from blowing over. Once again, incredible clouds being windswept across the sky and some moments with a rainbow. 14-17 C (57-63 F)
Raptor Observations: Too windy for many migrants. We had one adult goshawk fly north, a lifer for James Teitgen. Turkey vultures fought hard to migrate slowly in the strong wind.
Non-raptor Observations: A great black backed gull was spotted heading south over the western valley. Small birds enjoyed the suet placed in front of the platform until a ferocious red-breasted nuthatch moved in and tackled a chickadee.
Predictions: A little colder, partly cloudy skies, NNW winds
On this day in Pack history... "2010 was 2 seasons before the count was officially extended into November, and the first time 50 or more hours were put in after the ""regular season"". Henry Walters: ""The fifth straight day with a Golden at Pack, this one an immature bird low down, flapping hard, then stopping to circle up above Powder Mill Pond. And a new record for raptors counted in a single season here--just before the noonday hour, the previous high was tied by a gray ghost waffling in from the east, then broken by a Red-tail. High-fives and dancing ensued--a shivery sort of shimmy. One merlin in the afternoon, going hell-for-leather, made the buteos in his wake look like slow-motion zombies."" ======================================================================== Report submitted by Caroline Fegley (<cgfegley...>) Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory information may be found at: www.harriscenter.org
