Observation start time: 06:15:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 8.75 hours
Official Counter: Chris Eddy
Observers: Dallas Wait, David Proietti, Dorothy Maese, Glenn Deyo, Jack Miano, Jean Hampel, Steve Farrell, Ted Purcell, Ursula Goodine
Visitors: Thanks to everyone who came out today in these cold, windy conditions. We're sorry that we couldn't come up with another spectacular flight like yesterday. In addition to those listed above, we got much appreciated help from new folks Rick Sullivan, Pat LeBau, David Scott, Jo Cannon and Jackie Sloan. We appreciated your enthusiasm and curiosity. We had some great conversations, and enjoyed another beautiful day watching migration unfold above us.
A special shout-out to Glenn Deyo, a birder that Chris had the pleasure of meeting for the first time today. Glenn has been birding since he was 14 years old and arrived at the mountain at 7:10 this morning�before Chris even got there�and managed to catch seven migrating raptors before the count officially got underway!
Weather: A beautiful, but chilly day on the mountain with temps between 48 and 59 F, and NE winds that averaged 10-12 mph with regular stronger gusts. A high pressure system over eastern Canada continued to keep the air pressure high here along with the strong NE winds. There was some haze to the East.
Raptor Observations: The birds came in a steady little dribble�one and two at a time�until 9:54, when we had 10 BE in view at once! After that, UNFORTUNATELY, things settled back down into a pretty consistent rhythm for the rest of the day. We waited all day for that river of BW but alas...the NE winds didn't let up like yesterday, so most of the Broad-wings moving today were likely pushed West before they could get down to us. However there were respectable numbers of other birds, with Ospreys, Bald Eagles, Sharpies and Kestrels all with double-figure counts. Highlights included a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk flying together on the north side, playing tag; the 3 Black Vultures; a Kestrel that came streaming over head, then stopped and landed on the back tower before continuing south. Non-migrating raptors: Black Vulture-3, TV-4, Bald Eagle-10, Broad-wing-1, Red-tail-1
In celebration of our 50th anniversary year on Wachusett, here's a look back at events on this date: In 1985, we had the 2nd largest Sharp-shinned Hawk flight (167) and the 5th largest Osprey flight (53) in Wachusett history.
In 2005, Jane Stein wrote: "Not long before 11 EST, the observers on the summit had two fairly close passes from an unmistakable immature Golden Eagle, who politely soared and banked and showed off his striking golden hackles and white tail patch in the sun." In 2018, we had the 5th largest American Kestrel flight (30 � tied with 9/10/95 & 9/29/21) and the 9th largest Bald Eagle flight (19 � tied with 9/03/12) in Wachusett history. The total flight that day was 2,905 migrating raptors including 2,782 Broad-wings, 37 Sharp-shins, 14 Cooper�s Hawks and 10 Ospreys. Rod Chase wrote: "With the stronger morning winds the raptors came by us at all heights from below us to high above with routes going around both sides of the hill as well as high overhead! 60 Monarchs! Largest number in quite a while. Blue Jays: 55!"�
In 2023, Eric Mueller wrote: "The highlight of the day was the sighting of the first Goshawk that we've seen here since 2017. Paul (Vanderhoof), Megan (Gately) and Bill Enright saw a buteo-like bird with a long accipiter tail fly over. Very little color, white undertail coverts that stood out against a dark tail. It was much larger than the Sharpie that was flying nearby. With the backlighting, they couldn't see more details, so they couldn't determine its age. It flew high overhead, heading SW."
In 2025, Eric Mueller wrote: "We only counted 13 migrating raptors, but one of them was our first American Goshawk of the season. They have become quite uncommon here, and we were lucky to have Bill (Rasku) and Gino (Ellison) here who are both familiar with its field marks. Bill described it as a very large accipitrine, with a bulky, buteo-like body but a long tail, and bulging trailing edges to its wings. It flew up with some ravens on the south side of tower, relatively close for about 2 minutes. The bird didn't fly like a Cooper's Hawk and was bigger. Bill said that it was helpful to have the similarly-sized ravens close by in order to compare the Goshawk's wing length and overall size. Bill said it didn't appear to have adult plumage, but it was backlit, so he couldn't be sure. Lisa Burwell, who first spotted the bird, remarked how "muscular" the wings looked even to a less experienced hawk watcher like herself." Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: Blue Jay, Amer Crow, Comm Raven (multiple), R-T Hummer, Wht-thr Sparrow, D-E Junco, E Towhee-2
Predictions: Another day with strong winds from the NE and temps barely reaching 60 F. Skies should be mostly sunny with moderate humidity. A big Broad-wing flight is not likely in these conditions, but good numbers of Osprey, Bald Eagles, accipiters and falcons will likely take advantage of the strong winds. If you come up, please dress extra warmly, including hats and gloves. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
