Observation start time: 12:00:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Visitors: Not a lot of people while I was there - maybe 25 in total. Morning seems to be the preferred time to climb the mountain.
Weather: Thick, low-hanging clouds covered the summit until close to 11 am EST. The clouds rose slowly, so even at the delayed time that I started the watch, the clouds still covered the top 300-400 ft of Mt Monadnock, and never cleared it entirely before I left. The high humidity caused hazy air and limited the view to about 25 miles to the north and west. The Boston skyline faded from view after the first hour. Temps rose from 71 to 75 F, and there was a very weak westerly wind.
Raptor Observations: I conducted a very foreshortened watch due both to the lingering clouds at the summit this morning, and to the rainstorm that began at 2:30 pm EST. I did manage to spot 2 Ospreys that passed southeast of the mountain about 2 minutes apart.
Only a few local raptors appeared while I was present. Non-migrating raptors: TV-3 (possibly more), Broad-wing-1 (Juv), Red-tail-1 (Adult)
In celebration of our 50th anniversary year on Wachusett, here's a look back to this date in 2019. Rod Chase wrote: 10am hour started with SS high on east side who went to the S side of hill and peeled SW. Minutes later a ML (Merlin) appeared high in the NE and came close to us on N side. Three Common Ravens decided to team up and the ML nonchalantly rebuffed them all. One raven attempted payback from below and above just to our west. We didn't see any feathers fall but raven exited flapping for cover. The magician rose on thermal to SW and winged away without looking back. Non-raptor Observations: I didn't see a lot of bird activity on the summit while I was there, likely due in part to my late arrival. Non-raptors: Cedar WW-2, Blue Jay-1, Gr Catbird-1, Amer Goldfinch-1, D-E Junco-6, E Towhee-2. There was a massive swarm of breeding flying ants on the tower, necessitating repeated moving of my equipment.
Predictions: A much better forecast for Friday with sunny skies changing over to partly cloudy by noon, temps from the high 60's to high 70's, moderate humidity, and WNW to NW winds at 7-9 mph. These are typically excellent conditions for a good flight here. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
