Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Brian Rusnica
Observers: Visitors: Jason Forbes, Meyer and Cindy Franklin
Weather: Blue skies, dry air, and a light North breeze that sputter out towards mid-day.
Raptor Observations: The first hawkwatch of the 2026 Fall season is in the books at Mount Watatic! Just a few Broad-winged Hawks skittered by in singles or pairs this morning. Many local Bald Eagles made distant appearances but none could be counted as potential migrants. The lone highlight was two BLACK VULTURE appearing directly over the summit just after 10am EDT. These birds came out of the north on a high glide, but caught the summit thermal, turned and immediately returned from where they came. Hard to consider this birds as migrants; could they be locals that possibly nested at Joe English Hill in New Boston, NH this year? We'll see how regular the sightings are this upcoming month.
Non-migrant Raptors Bald Eagle 8 BLACK VULTURE 2 Broad-winged Hawk 2 Red-tailed Hawk 3 Turkey Vulture 8
Non-raptor Observations: Common Raven 22 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 6
Predictions: No formal watch planned tomorrow. If you count any raptors at Mount Watatic, please email your sightings at <14hawks8owls...> Thank you!!
Contiguous daily coverage at Mount Watatic for Eastern Mass Hawk Watch starts on September 12th and runs through September 27th. Please join us at the summit this Fall! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Brian Rusnica (<brian_rusnica...>) Mount Watatic information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
