Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Levi Burford
Observers: Alan Chretien, Andre Moraes, Brian Rusnica, Chuck Carlson, Glen Chretien, Glen and Alan Chretien, Katrina Fenton, Mike Gebo
Visitors: We had 248 visitors to the watch on a warm foliage weekend. It was great to have Brian and Lizzie show up from Watatic. It's really nice connecting!
Weather: The weather was pretty stable through the day, with only the temperature changing by the hour. Starting at about 62 degrees (F), the temperature at the summit of Pack Monadnock rose to a balmy 77 degrees.The wind remained light from the WSW and nary a cloud could be seen in the sky at any point today.
Raptor Observations: Right off the bat a tiercel Peregrine was observed sliding from North Pack by the watch and that one bird started a rather nice day of hawk watching. While the temps rose and wind remained light, the morning remained steady with approximately 10 birds an hour. Things slowed in the afternoon and hawk watchers fought off warm sun-induced naps between birds. The thought occurred to me that we might need random blasts from an air horn to liven the watch up enough to stay awake but really there was enough vigilence at any one point to maintain reasonable data.
Interesting notes for the day included 12 Northern Harriers (all aged/sexed: eight Juveniles, three males, one female), one straggler Broad-winged Hawk, and two Black Vultures heading south.
Non-migrants today included at least five Red-tailed Hawks, and one Red-shouldered Hawk, one Bald Eagle.
The area around the watch was busy when we arrived this morning with many White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. The sound of White-throateds could be heard throughout the day.
Notable for the count was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that flew through in front of the watch.
Predictions: Looks like more similar weather with a little more wind from the Southwest. It's not the most inspiring weather forecast for watching migrant raptors but if you throw your margarita in a blender and scurry it up to Pack, you might have a good time keeping Nate company anyway! I bet there will be a few birds to see at least! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Levi Burford (<lbburford...>) Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory information may be found at: www.harriscenter.org