Observation start time: 08:15:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6.75 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Bryan DiFabio, Fay Baird, Jack Miano, Jean Hampel, John Liller, Lena Ficco, Lisa Burwell, Ryan Doherty, Scott Carlson, Steve Farrell, Tom Gottschang
Visitors: Thanks to all of the observers above who put spent long hours looking for just a few birds. We also got help from long-time area birder David, Mary and Dave from Reading, and Susan Trantafillou.
Probably 60-80 hikers and sightseers today.
Weather: A strange day - instead of the 7-9 mph winds that were predicted, we started the day with 10-12 mph winds with regular gusts in the 16-22 mph range. Then at 11 am EST, the winds abruptly dropped to 3 mph, and rarely got higher than 5 mph the rest of the day. The cloud cover was high and relatively thin, so there was likely decent thermal uplift. The humidity was higher than the last few days, which yielded light to moderate haze. Temps rose from 57 to 77 F.
Raptor Observations: We could understand birds being reluctant to fly up into the strong gusty winds at the beginning of the day, but we were puzzled and disappointed that more birds didn't come up after the winds dropped down around midday. We even stayed an extra hour to 3 pm EST just in case birds might come through late, but got almost nothing. Then to find out that Mt Watatic and Pack Monadnock both got big flights in the hour after we left...sigh!!!
In celebration of our 50th anniversary year on Wachusett, here's a look back at events on this date: In 1980, the 5th largest Sharp-shinned Hawk flight (159) at Wachusett Mt
In 1984, the 19th largest Broad-wing flight (4,979) and the 19th largest total raptor flight (5,083) at Wachusett Mt
In 1987, the 16th largest Broad-wing flight (5,368) and the 17th largest total raptor flight (5,455) at Wachusett Mt
Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: Comm Raven-4 (maybe more), Gr Catbird-1, Amer Goldfinch-1, E Towhee-2
Predictions: Thursday's forecast calls for more clouds, high humidity and temps in the low 70's, with light winds starting the day from the ENE and swinging around to the SSW by 1:00 pm EST. Rain is expected to start by 3:00 PM, but we should be able to get in a nearly full day of observation. Hopefully some of today's late flight up north lingered overnight for us to see. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
