Observation start time: 08:15:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5.75 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Dave Small, Fay Baird, John Edmondson, Lena Ficco, Paul Vanderhoof, Scott Carlson, Tom Gottschang
Visitors: Thanks to our crew today who coordinated so well with me despite the crowds of sightseers on the platform. We had much appreciated help most of the day from Liv and Ken - you're both welcome back any time. Dallas and his friend Ken, and Chris and Kendra stopped by to check the skies for a while. A group from MA Audubon's Wachusett Meadow wildlife sanctuary came up just in time to see the Broad-wing push. Hundreds of hikers and sightseers and lots of dogs on the summit.
Weather: A hazy day where it was sometimes hard to figure out where the horizon was. Coupled with a mostly clear sky in the morning, it was often difficult to describe to others where the bird that you were looking at was located. It also resulted in several Unidentified raptors. That improved a bit as more clouds appeared in the afternoon. Landmarks like Boston, Mt Greylock, the VT mountains and the Pawtuckaways in NH remained ghosts at best all day. The wind was 4-7 mph from the SE to S all day. Temps rose from 57 to 75 F.
Raptor Observations: A bit of any odd day. A few birds rose soon after we arrived, but the fun started just before 9:00 AM EST when small kettle after small kettle of Broad-wings rose up on the southeastern side of the mountain. We had 3 double-digit kettles (18, 27 & 10) which helped raise the hour's total count to 116 (114 BWs). The action was non-stop until 10:00 am when the flight cut back suddenly to onesy-twosey counts per sighting, and stayed that way to the end of the session. Mt Watatic's heavy flight continued for another hour after ours, but then dropped off as well. The southerly winds weren't strong and birds were getting good height on the afternoon thermals. Puzzling...
Non-migrating raptors: Black Vulture-3 (single group, included in the migrating count per hawkcount.org data supervisor's request) TV-4 (maybe more), Bald Eagle-3 (2 Ad, 1 Imm), Red-shoulder-2, Red-tail-4 (all in one kettle).
Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: Blue Jay-1, Comm Raven-12, Cedar WW-2, E Towhee-2.
Predictions: Sunday looks to be a washout with substantial rain predicted until mid-afternoon. We won't conduct a watch unless the forecast changes radically. A day of rest for the weary. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
