Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:15:00 Total observation time: 8.17 hours
Official Counter: Bill Rasku
Observers: Alicia Carrillo, Bill Enright, David Brown, Eric Mueller, Greg McGuane, Jack Miano, Janet Kovner, Jean Hampel, Joanne Hart, Julie Roberts, Mark Milnamow, Megan Gately, Nancy Given, Paul Roberts, Scott Carlson, Steve Farrell, Tom Gottschang
Visitors: We had a great group of veteran observers today (thank heavens!). In addition to the folks listed above, we got help from Jeff Paster, Karen Keefe, Teddy Doyle, as well as Sadie, Owen and Ben Misemer. Thanks to you all for a fabulous job today!
Along with the usual mix of hikers and sightseers, we saw the first wedding on the summit this year. Congratulations to the lucky couple!
Weather: Early morning rain left low-lying clouds scattered throughout the area that rose slowly and finally turned into fair-weather cumulus clouds that covered a good part of the sky. Strong upper level winds blew several other layers of thin stratus and cirrus clouds into interesting shapes and patterns all day. 8-12 mph NE winds lasted throughout the morning and midday, but eased off in the early afternoon. Clouds thickened at the end of the session and cut off the thermal activity. Temps were in the 50's and 60's, making for some chilly conditions on the summit. Once the low clouds rose, all of the regular landmarks could be seen well.
Raptor Observations: A spectacular day that began with a painfully low number of Broad-wings. Birds were passing through in ones and twos often enough to keep us on our toes, but few BWs. The solid NE winds were feeding them in good numbers to our sister site at Mt Watatic, so by 1:00 pm EST, Watatic had counted over 3200 birds to our measly 90. With these same NE winds in the forcast for the next 3 days, Eric began wondering if this was the death knell for our BW season. Then at 1:25 pm, after the wind had fallen off substantially, the first kettle of 90 BWs flew over to our Ease, followed by kettles of 113 and 90 at 1:45 pm. Maybe this day would be OK after all. Then at 2:15 pm, big kettles of 470, 150, 210 and 150 rose up to our East and South, culminating in a monster thermal of multiple kettles totaling 1470 birds, followed by yet more big kettles in the next hour including another monster 1550 bird combo. As the thickening clouds cut off the day's thermal activity, and with little wind to help them, the last 3 birds of the day were Ospreys that forged ahead on their own wingpower. Today's total raptor count and Broad-wing count are the 15th largest of each in Wachusett Mountain history, and the best since Sept 17, 2023. Non-migrating raptors: Black Vulture-2, TV-4, Bald Eagle-6 (minimum number), Red-shoulder-1, Red-tail-3
In celebration of our 50th anniversary year on Wachusett, here's a look back at events on this date:
In 2003, Jane Stein wrote: "Up until around 2:30 (EST), we thought we were in for an extension of the mystery, with only the same kind of slow stream of birds in ones and twos. But then a burst of birds showed up very high to the east, mostly scope dots. With several expert scope dot counters on hand, the burst resolved itself into two groups of 140 and 450. Most of our BWs were picked up very high, leading us to suspect the possibility a larger flight was passing overhead out of even our scope range." (Eric�s note � this sounds familiar, eh? 1,294 birds counted, with 1,215 Broad-wings) "Many, many, hawkwatchers and gawkers outnumbering the count until the 2:30 burst." Counter - Jane Stein. Observers - Bill LaFleche, Charlie Teahan, Paul Roberts, Steve Anderson , Ted Mara, Julie Roberts, Bobby Greene, Kathy Goldin, Don Crocket, Kathryn Chihowski, Betsy Kernan, Liz Moyer, Ann Howe, Rod Chase, Eliot Taylor, Joe Hogan, Bill Lambod, Job Dekker, Mike Beath, Dave & Ursula Goodine, Jackie Boucher, Eli Weiner, Dale Bryant, and many others. In 2004, Jane Stein wrote: "Our best day this season. If we could have definitively ID'd a probable Merlin, would have had a clean sweep for common species. The first couple hours were onesy-twosy, then an Osprey parade began, with the big birds seemingly strung out all across the sky. At around 11:45 bird time, Eastern Mass birder Steve Leonard strolled up to the count site, and almost immediately, Broadies started exploding out of the sky in good-sized kettles. This was after the last bit of sun got covered up by clouds and we were anticipating a total shutdown of the flight. Most of our birds came between 12:30 and 2:30 bird time. They shouldn't have been getting good lift, but they were." (Eric�s note � 1,237 total birds counted, including 1,135 Broad-wings, and 47 Ospreys, tied with 9/16/1988 for the 6th highest daily total of Ospreys in Wachusett history.) Counter - Jane Stein. Observers - Bill LaFleche, Steve Leonard, Tom Bosakowsky, Steve Olson, Mike Flaherty and Bob Scalzo.
Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: Canada Goose-9, D-C Cormorant-1, Blue Jay-2, Amer Crow-3, Comm Raven-10, Cedar WW-1, D-E Junco-2, E Towhee-2.
Predictions: For Tuesday, more solid 10-12 mph NE winds, temps in the 50's and low 60's, with partly cloudy skies and fairly low humidity. The birds should be moving strongly again, but we may need another lull in the afternoon winds to bring the birds back our way again. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
