Observation start time: 10:30:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 3.5 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Christine Restell, Cindy Rost, Lisa Burwell, Tom Gottschang
Visitors: A very nice turnout of observers today - my thanks to Tom Gottschang, Cindy Rost, Christine Restell and Lisa Burwell for coming out today! We enjoyed talking to Christine's husband Alan.
Many more hikers going by today than Friday (it is the weekend after all) - probably 40 to 50. We also had two women on horseback stop to take in the view. Christine took their pictures for them, and we got to pet the horses. The next largest visiting animal was a Great Dane/St Bernard cross - one dang big dog!
Weather: Sunny, temps from 48-53 F, NW winds at 4-7 mph with gusts to 12 mph. Mild haze, very good visbility although Tom said that when he went up to the summit on his hike, he couldn't see any of the 2nd tier NH mountains like Passaconaway or Whiteface. VT mountains and Mt Greylock were easily visible.
Raptor Observations: We observed from the North Rd overlook. Only 4 migrating raptors today. The local Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks were active most of the session.
Non-migrating raptors: Bald Eagle - 4 (minimum number. 2 adults and one non-aged bird were seen flying together) Red-tailed Hawk - 4 (at least 3 adults, probably 4)
Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: Snow Bunting - 3 (seen by Tom at the summit) Red-bellied WP - 1 Blue Jay - 1 Amer Crow - 9 (two groups headed East around 1 pm) Comm Raven - 2 T Titmouse - 1 WB Nuthatch - 1
Predictions: I don't expect to conduct another watch until Wednesday. The wind speeds for the next 2 days will be in the teens, and our sightings in those conditions haven't been high enough lately to entice us to continue hiking up just to endure the wind and cold. ======================================================================== 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
