Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter: Phil Brown
Observers: Alan Bostick, Chuck Carlson, David Wiedner, Howard Mansfield, Jason Ruckdeshel, Jim McCoy, Julie Brown, Katrina Fenton, Kevin O'Neill, Lillian Stokes, Mark Timmerman, Meade Cadot, Mike Gebo, Miki Foley, Nan O\'Neill, Sy Montgomery, Tom Delaney, Tom Momeyer, Tony Troppito, with many more...
Visitors: 78. Good to see so many hawk watching friends and new raptor enthusiasts, especially young birders, Isaiah, Claire, and family. Thanks to the WMUR film crew, who witnessed a fantastic flight with us today while filming an episode of NH Chronicle and capturing the magic of migration with us.
Big shout out to volunteer (and former staff counter) Katrina Fenton, who found innumerable distant kettles, helped manage the broad-winged and monarch counts, and shared lots of knowledge and enthusiasm with visitors all day. And thanks to the so many other dedicated members of our team for doing the same!
Weather: Relatively calm day with abundant thermals and blue skies. Cool start, but a hot sun that gave birds plenty of lift, which continued well into the late afternoon. 43-61 F. Winds light and variable, which even when southerly, were not enough to impede migration.
Raptor Observations: The day we all hoped it would be - at least in number - with 2,626 Broad-winged Hawks, more than doubling the season's tally. Biggest day since 9/14/25, when 3,160 broad-wings were counted. A steady push with big kettles of several dozen to a few hundred, with the biggest push in the afternoon, especially the noon and 3 pm hours. Many kettles were quite distant ('scope specks'), but most notably, a group of 494 birds split off in two directions around 330 pm and astounded viewers, kettling up several times during their slow movements across the sky.
Another THREE Black Vultures were seen drifting off to the east and not determined to be migrants.
Ospreys totaled 31, including 24 seen between 4-6 pm alone. This was the biggest osprey day since the same date in 2024, when 52 sailed past.
Predictions: This is likely just the beginning of the Broad-winged peak, and conditions look favorable with light southwest winds and continued sunny conditions, generating thermals across the landscape. Will it come close to today's total is anyone's guess, so come out to help Nate and our volunteers find hawks! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Phil Brown (<brown...>) Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory information may be found at: www.harriscenter.org
