Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Kate McKay
Observers: Annamarie Saenger, Chuck Carlson, Mike Gebo, Nora Hanke
Visitors: 135. Nice number of visitors for a Thursday with lots of folks chatting with us about hawks.
Weather: Clear blue skies and sunshine with wind from the northeast. Temps ranging from low forties to low fifties. Visibility all the way to Mount Washington. Fog rising from the Connecticut and Merrimack River valleys in the morning.
Raptor Observations: The first bird was a male kestrel who flew straight in towards Gina, hovered right above her, and then landed in a spruce behind the platform. There were two main flurries of broad-wings today with one kettle of 13 birds near North Pack and a group of 33 birds flying by close, like leaves falling from a tree in a gust of wind. Kestrels and sharpies, the next two most abundant migrants after broad-wings, zipped by throughout the day. Fun raptor observations included two juvenile harriers traveling together (one larger than the other, suggesting male and female), a beautiful Red-tail flying low right above us, a distant Turkey Vulture landing on the cliffs of North Pack, and the local Peregrine performing flips and other antics with the ravens.
Non-raptor Observations: Other bird highlights included a close Blackpoll Warbler perching in the birch sapling next to the platform, a Black-throated Blue Warbler flying around, two species of kinglets foraging in the spruces, a chickadee singing "fee-bee," and the female towhee posing for pictures.
Monarchs: 5/815
Predictions: Cloudier and windier tomorrow. We'll see what birds might be moving before the storm this weekend. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kate McKay (<northernjay444...>) Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory information may be found at: www.harriscenter.org
