Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Katrina Fenton
Observers: Chuck Carlson, Nick Landers, Nora Hanke, Quinn Nial
Visitors: The hawk watch was visited by 64 humans and many canine companions enjoying the day.
Weather: A mix of sun and clouds all day, with more sun than cloud until the last two hours of the count. The thermometer rose from freezing to the low 40s, nice and mild but not quite warm enough for hikers in shorts and t-shirts to linger long. The 10-15mph southwest wind was likely just strong enough to keep our numbers down, but it was nice to have a break from the stronger gusts of the last two days.
Raptor Observations: It's hard to go wrong when the day begins with a 9:35am Golden Eagle! This first bird was an adult or sub-adult, all dark save for its burnished nape and the oak-hued bars on the topside of its wings. It came low across the valley in one long, effortless glide, leaving the skies behind it empty for another hour. Fast forward to 12:10, and the day's second golden was spotted rising to the west, much closer than the first. This bird was a younger bird, old enough to have earned its own tawny wing bars, but still sporting a black-and-white tail and bright white splotches at the base of its primaries.
Non-raptor Observations: Not a goose to be found anywhere in the sky today. A Hermit Thrush put in a very brief appearance, but otherwise it was just the usual suspects around the platform. One of the local Blue Jays kept us entertained with its red-shouldered and broad-winged impressions.
Non-raptor Migrants: Common Merganser- 5 Purple Finch- 7
Predictions: Tonight's rain should end before daybreak, leaving Pack with partly cloudy skies, temps reaching for 50F, and a brisk, 15-25 mph wind that could gust into the 30mph range. TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY THE AUTO ROAD WILL BE OPEN THIS SEASON. Of course, the park will remain open for hiking, and it looks like there's some perfect migration weather coming midweek.....
On this day in Pack history: 2015: Henry Walters on a record-setting day: "The record-breaking 12th Golden Eagle of the season didn't take long to show, rising up from the Lyndeborough hills at 9:45 this morning and remaining in view for most of the next 15 minutes. A juvenile bird, it dilly-dallied trying to find some lift, finally rising up to eye-level and setting its course directly at us. Getting caught in those close-set eyes, set against golden hackles and getting steadily larger, was like looking down a one-way chute into the throat of danger. Hard to know whether to feel relief or regret when it turned to skirt the observatory to the east at the last moment. When darkness was settling in this afternoon, and it looked like all hopes were lost, a second season record fell: the 123rd Northern Harrier, a gray ghost, came up off the shoulder of Pack and crossed directly in front of us to the south-west, all but his dark wingtips blending into the overcast." ======================================================================== Report submitted by Katrina Fenton (<gosknits...>) Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory information may be found at: www.harriscenter.org
