Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller, Paul Roberts
Observers: Christine Restell, Cindy Rost, David Brown, David Goodine, Deb Gustafson, Ed Bogle, Jack Miano, Janet Kovner, Joanne Hart, Judy Davis, Julie Roberts, Katie Durham, Lisa Burwell, Mark Milnamow, Marty McNamara, Megan Gately, Paul Roberts, Paul Vanderhoof, Rick Quimby, Scott Wahlstrom, Susan Moses, Ted Purcell, Tom Gottschang, Ursula Goodine
Visitors: Hundreds of sightseers, including classes from several schools in the region.
Weather: A day made for raptor migration here - mostly to partly sunny, temps from 63F to 74F, and most importantly moderate NW winds! The day started with moderate to almost heavy haze in the air, but by early afternoon,the humidity dropped and we could see Mt Greylock, the VT mountains, the mid-NH mountains and Boston quite easily. The mostly sunny skies at the beginning and end of the day made spotting the high birds a challenge.
Raptor Observations: We had a great turnout of observers today. Along with those listed above, we got help from Marcus Rhodes, Chris Floyd, Soheil Zendeh, Kirk and Lois Moulton, Michael Carter, Judith Willison, Tom Jacobson, Tim Brown and Don Singleman (plus Don's sweet dog, Ellie.) My sincere thanks to everyone who came up today. Your efforts were greatly appreciated. If I missed listing you, please accept my apologies.
We finally had a good Broad-wing flight for the first time this season...'bout time! The northwest winds and good thermal activity brought the kettles to us, most of them east of the mountain. We had more than 10 kettles of 20 birds or more, including counts of 50, 65 and 140 Broad-wings. Many of the birds were getting great lift and height, and we probably missed some of them when the cloud cover faded. Sharp-shins, Ospreys and Kestrels came through in double-digit numbers. Non-migrating raptors: Black Vulture - 3 (making their weekly pass by the mountain) TV - 6 (minimum number) Bald Eagle - 4 (minimum number, 2 Ad, 2 Imm) Sharp-shin - 1 Broad-wing - 2 (Juv) Red-tail - 3 (1 Ad, 2 Juv)
Non-raptor Observations: DC Cormorant - 13 (4 + 9) RT Hummingbird - 1 Chim Swift - 2 Blue Jay - 2 Comm Raven - 3 (minimum number) E Towhee - 1
Predictions: We're expecting another big flight on Saturday. Temperatures will drop with the passing cold front, ranging from 53 to 66 F here. Overnight lows down into the 30's are forecasted for northern New England. We're expecting sunny to mostly sunny skies, low humidity and 5-6 mph winds beginning from the NNE and shifting to due N by early afternoon. Winds coming from the NW all day today and tomorrow in northern New England should keep pushing the birds in our direction again. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
