Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 3 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Visitors: For such a funky weather day, there were plenty of visitors on the summit. Most of that was due to the annual Mass Water Works Association's Summer Expo down at the ski area. Around 150 people there took advantage of the free ski lift ride to the summit. I spent the majority of my time identifying the few mountains that they could see, and disabusing a few folks of the notion that they could see Mt Washington today. My favorite t-shirt of the day was "No Water? No Beer." Fortunately, there was no repeat of the scene several years ago when about 15 rather portly "gentlemen" took off their shirts and posed for pictures together. My eyeballs still burn...
Weather: The morning started with the mountain covered in fog, so I delayed the start of the watch until 9 am EST. Even then, the clouds were just a few hundred feet over the summit. The air was murky and I could only see as far as Gardner. The wind blew from the SW to SSW, averaging 7-10 mph with gusts at 14+. Visibility improved somewhat with time, but Mt Monadnock and Boston were just dark outlines when I left.
Raptor Observations: With the thick air, low cloud ceiling and gusty southerly winds, my expectations were low, and as it turned out, accurate. I only spotted 1 very determined Broad-wing passing by at 10:35 EST, and seeing no other raptors in the sky for 90 minutes after that, I packed it in for the day.
The non-migrating raptor count was also sparse: TV-3, Red-tail-2. Non-raptor Observations: Other than the one migrating BW, the highlight of the morning was the 18-count "conspiracy" of Ravens that kettled up to the northeast with the 3 TVs, and flew around the mountain for about 5 minutes. Othe non-raptors: Chimney Swift-4, B-C Chickadee-2, Barn Swallow-1, Cedar WW-4, D-E Junco-8, E Towhee-2.
Predictions: Friday's weather will hopefully be better. The wind should turn westerly at a more gentle 5-7 mph. Skies are expected to be cloudy to mostly cloudy, with temps again in the upper 60's to upper 70's and high-ish humidity. There is a possibility of fog overnight which might linger at the summit again, so check the Wachusett ski area web cams at https://www.wachusett.com/the-mountain/media-center/webcams/. The Base Lodge cam has a good view towards the summit. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
