Observation start time: 08:15:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 7.25 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Carole Powers, Chris Eddy, Conrad Glagowski, Deb Gustafson, Gail Cormier, George Russell, Jack Miano, Janet Kovner, Jay Cormier, Jean Hampel, Jenifer Glagowski, Joanne Hart, Joe Luongo, Julie Roberts, Ken Cormier, Lena Ficco, Lillie Luongo, Lisa Burwell, Marilyn Cugini, Megan Gately, Melissa Aldrich, Paul Roberts, Paul Vanderhoof, Scott Carlson, Soheil Zendeh, Steve Farrell, Steve Smith, Tom Gottschang
Visitors: We had an excellent turnout of observers today. In addition to those listed above, we got help from Josh and Kate Pendleton, Celia from Boston, Susan Trantafillou, Jim Gallipeau and Jen, Dave Cowell, Elizabeth Broughton, Jeff Paster, Karen Keefe and Janice Strong, as well as several others whose names I didn't get - my apologies. Thanks to all of you for contributing to a very good day.
The summit was crowded with hundreds of sightseers, including a Mazda Miata club. We got to talk to a lot of folks about our work, including Cody whose favorite bird is the Bald Eagle.
Thanks to Gail for the wonderful baked goodies, to George for the donuts, and to Joanna for the primo chocolate and other goodies.
Weather: Weak easterly winds all day, with temps from 50 to 66 F. High thin clouds that let plenty of sunshine through in the morning, then thickened mid-afternoon to darken the landscape. The milkiness of the clouds in the afternoon gave the impression of hazy air, but all of the mid-state NH mountains, including Mt Washington, could be seen easily.
Raptor Observations: The birds were moving right from the opening. Double-digit kettles of Broad-wings started showing up around 8:45 am EST and peaked at 9:55 am with a kettle of 393 birds. Broad-wings kept going until about 10:30 am when the kettles reduced to single digits, and then to single bird counts after 11 am. Josh and Kate Pendleton found one last good-sized kettle of 50 at 2:20 pm. Other than that, we missed the big afternoon movements seen by Pack Mondanock and Mt Watatic. We had 20+ counts of both Sharp-shins and Kestrels. Thermal activity was strong, with many of the birds were reaching great heights.
Non-migrating raptors: Black Vulture-4, TV-6(maybe more), Bald Eagle-9(minimum number, including one group of 7 birds that played tail-tag for at least 15 minutes), Red-shoulder-2, Red-tail-4 Peregrine Falcon-1, Merlin-1
In celebration of our 50th anniversary year on Wachusett, here's a look back at events on this date: In 1976, Eastern Mass Hawk Watch conducted its first official hawk watch at Wachusett Mountain, with Richard (Dick) Butler as the only observer. Over the course of 3 separate days in September and October, he recorded a total of 733 migrating raptors � 691 Broad-wings, 11 Kestrels, 9 Sharp-shins, 6 Red-tails, 5 Ospreys, 1 Goshawk and 10 unidentified raptors.
In 1996, the 10th largest Broad-wing flight (8,533) and the 10th largest total raptor flight (8,610) at Wachusett Mt.
In 2002, Jane Stein wrote: "On reflection, observers who had been on the site for yesterday's blow-out recalled a large sucking noise throughout the day, no doubt the vacuum that hoovered up every hawk in the region and sent it south. Either that, or aliens came down and whisked them all away." (Eric�s note: only 16 raptors were counted that day) Other observers: Bill LaFleche, Steve Olson, Ted Mara
In 2005, Jane Stein wrote: "Our biggest burst came at 12:15 bird time with a far distant kettle of approximately 400 birds to the West spotted by Ira Morganstern and visible only by him and our two other eagle-eyes through scopes, Bill La Fleche and Kevin Ryan. Another 500 slightly more visible birds in smaller kettles passed through over the next two hours. Then a lull, and shortly after 3:00 PM bird time we had another burst of 250. Birds were mostly getting good lift throughout the day, and there may well have been many that went overhead too high to see against the blue sky." (Eric�s note: 1,533 total raptors, including 1,472 Broad-wings) "We had an absolutely terrific crew today contributing to the count. Special thanks to Ira Morganstern and Jack Miano, Steve Olson and Mark Suomala (visting from NH), plus Al Hynde, Larry Berk, Chris Floyd, Bob Montgomery, Greg Stone, Kathryn Chihowski, Mark Molineaux and others. Very special thanks to Rod Chase, who outdid himself in keeping us laughing during the gaps in birds." "A few bewildered tourists wondered what we could possibly be jumping up and down and ooh-ahhing about." Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: Wilson's Snipe - 1 (fly-over ID'ed by Paul Roberts, who described its flying motion as disorganized) D-C Cormorant - 1 Blue Jay - 1 Comm Raven - 8 (minimum number) E Towhee - 2
Predictions: Showers are expected to start around 11 am. I may go up for a couple of hours in the morning to see if anything is moving. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
