Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Brian Rusnica
Observers: Dan Lounsbury, Jon Skinner, Tom Pirro
Visitors: My sincere thanks to our observers today, who each played a role in our great count, especially former site coordinator Tom Pirro. Thank you Dan Lounsbury, Jon Skinner, Kim Hewitt, Billy Hickey, Alex Hickey, Jason Forbes, Randy M.
Weather: Winds lighter than advertised, dancing from the NE to NW and back, but never very strong. Felt much warmer than forecasted. Mostly cloudless with the except of some well-placed cirrus strands and plenty of broken contrails to help us. Raptor Observations: Our best Broad-winged Hawk flight in almost exactly 2 years. We started our day off on a promising note, with Sharp-shinned Hawks skittering over the summit, and small groups of Broad-wings seen gaining altitude in the early thermal lift off. The highlight of our morning was absolutely a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, who came screaming out of the southwestern corner of the summit at the decoy owl. Just as it passed mere feet over our heads, the bird "dropped" something from its talons--it ended up being two spruce pinecones! While we loved the idea that this Red-tail might have literally tried to throw something at the hawkwatchers, we hypothesize that the pinecones might've been incidentally stuck in the hawk's talons, and were released as the bird lowered the gear towards the decoy owl. Anyhow - the fully-cropped up hawk made multiple passes, giving us a glorious opportunity to study their plumage and question their intent. Thrilling!
Around 11:45am EDT, our hearts picked up at the first sign of a really nice kettle this season - some 100 Broad-wings went high and slow over the summit in three separate groups of 25, 20 and 55. Over the next 2 hours, we found high kettle after high kettle tucked between contrails, and watched 1,600 Broad-wings make easy progress together in the light winds. It was classic peak Broad-wing migration as we'd pick up a stream of birds and follow them either backwards or forwards to towering thermals. We didn't struggle too much with distant kettles or streams; the birds were kind enough to use the thermals right above the East Summit for lift. The big numbers tapered off after 1:30pm, but all in all, it was a lovely flight and exactly what we hoped to find in today's skies. We had a terrific showing of both Osprey and Sharp-shinned Hawks in today's migration. Osprey were often found in the bottom or top of the Broad-wing columns, while Sharpies danced with each other or pestered larger birds in the thermals. Our last bird of the day was an adult Peregrine Falcon, seen well in afternoon light. Non-migrant Raptors: Turkey Vulture 23 Bald Eagle 7 Red-tailed Hawk 3 Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Non-raptor Observations: Common Raven 24
Notable Summit birds: Red Crossbill 1 Canada Goose 31 Cedar Waxwing 21 Blue Jay 86 Purple Finch 1 Barn Swallow 1 Chimney Swift 1 Cape May Warbler 1
Predictions: Clear and dry conditions again, with light winds from the SE. Generally these aren't ideal winds for a big flight, but as we get later into the peak Broad-wing calendar window, wind direction may matter less to these birds that need to get south. Promising reports from New Brunswick today indicate thousands of Broad-wings still remain north of us. We hope to capture some more of them tomorrow. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Brian Rusnica (<brian_rusnica...>) Mount Watatic information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
