Visitors: 36 visitors and hawk watch friends migrated up the mountain to catch raptor migration, enjoy stellar views, and share good company.
Weather: Cool, crisp, and clear with full to mostly sunny conditions. A steady, but light, west wind blew all day. Temps rose from 7-15 C. Visibility to Mount Washington.
Raptor Observations: Double-digit counts of sharpies and broad-wings (mainly moving in ones and twos) hinted at bigger movements to come this week. Cooper's and Kestrels posted their strongest days thus far of this young season. Local eagles, red-shouldered and red-tailed hawks, and turkey vultures spent considerable time in the sky today on this lovely day for flying.
Non-raptor Observations: A calling Common Loon was a surprise early in the morning as it flew south. Warblers included Tennessee (4), Blackpoll (3), Yellow-rumped (2), Magnolia (1), Nashville (1), and American Redstart (1). Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (8/38) and Monarchs (23/77) posted high tallies.
Predictions: Could remain strong with NE winds in the forecast. Broad-wings should continue to post steadily higher numbers on favorable days throughout the week, and other species should be on the uptick, too. Auto road reservations are still not available for weekdays due to planned (date tbd) road work in the coming weeks, but there's still plenty of room for all to come up and enjoy. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Phil Brown (<brown...>) Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory information may be found at: www.harriscenter.org
