Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Caroline Fegley
Observers: Cameron Johnson, Glen Chretien, Hillary Siener, Julie and Alden Brown, Katrina Fenton, Levi Burford, Mike Gebo, Nancy Moreau, Nora Hanke, Phil and Laurel Brown, with many more...
Visitors: The Big Soup! The annual soup contest was held today and six soups were voted upon. In the end, Katrina Fenton's "Marsh Hawk Massaman Curry" reigned supreme.
We had 102 visitors for the day including another visit from Austin Gelinas
Weather: Light W/NW winds. Sunny all day with a few cirrus clouds. -3-3 C (27-37 F)
Raptor Observations: Wow! Another brilliant day at the hawkwatch. What this season has lacked in broadwings has been made up by all the other amazing species. We had two golden eagles, two goshawks (a long-awaited lifer for Cameron Johnson), and the second ever short-eared owl! Other than these especially saught after species, we had good numbers of buteos, harriers, and other accipiters. Two days of owls! At 3pm, someone yelled to look overhead- a short-eared owl! The light colored bird circled gracefully above the hawkwatch platform, showing off its dark wing-tips and "commas", its round face, and its majestic aura in the afternoon sunlight.
Non-raptor Observations: Phil Brown: "Where did those sandhill cranes go?" Everyone: "I don't know, we got off them to look at the short-eared owl!"
Special birds flew in one after another! Everyone moved their optics from a harrier spotted by Glen Chretian to a group of 8 sandhill cranes identified by Katrina Fenton. Moments later, the cranes were overshadowed by the shortie.
Another season milestone is the surpassing of the broad-winged hawk total by the canada goose! 3042 broadwings to the current total of 3130 geese.
Predictions: Clouds and SSE winds
On this day in Pack history... "2013: At the time, a record setting day with 81 birds counted. Phil Brown: ""The west wind blew straight out of Idaho today and with it a record-tying THREE golden eagles. All subadults, arriving at 12:20, 3:05, and 3:23, and all excellent looks. Mike Gebo and I spent a total of 20 minutes today admiring this majestic and regal species. But how many goldens would you trade for a record-breaking red-tailed hawk day? (Or, more appropriately, anywhere else in NH, how many red-tails would you trade for just one golden?) We had 68 - breaking the Pack record by 15! - all of them with places to be, getting out of town before their meals freeze like gingerbread cookies in the cold wind.""" ======================================================================== Report submitted by Caroline Fegley (<cgfegley...>) Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory information may be found at: www.harriscenter.org
