Observation start time: 08:15:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 6.25 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Lena Ficco, Melissa Aldrich, Tom Gottschang
Visitors: Many thanks to Melissa, Tom and Lena for dealing with the weekend crowds on the platform while waiting for the birds to finally show up.
Over a thousand sightseers visited the summit on the last day to drive up to the summit until next Memorial Day weekend. The ski lift delivered hundreds of folks from the AppleFest down at the ski area, some dressed up in Halloween costumes, some others taking duck-lip selfies (not sure which were scarier.)
Weather: Like yesterday, today started with a temperature inversion that combined with low wind speeds to delay any kind of lift for the birds until noon EST when the sunny skies finally started to establish thermals. Also, despite radically low humidity, there a light haze in the air that never totally dissipated. I'm guessing that smoke from wood-burning stoves may have been held down in the morning by the inversion. Still, all normal landmarks were easily seen. Temperatures rose from 52 to 63 F.
Raptor Observations: The temperature inversion pretty much killed the morning flight, with only 7 migrating birds before noon EST. Finally, at 12:30 EST groups of 5-10 TVs began to move through, bringing that hour's total to 40 birds. The rest of the day consisted of even smaller groups of TVs and a mix of a few other birds. The bird of the day was our 2nd Golden Eagle of the season, another adult that flew by at 1:25 pm. Tom and Lena alerted me to it, and we began checking off the field marks until we were pretty sure of our ID. About 30 minutes later, Dave Shattuck came up from the North Rd overlook and asked if we had seen a Golden Eagle, and the timing matched. Bingo!
Non-migrating raptors: TV-4, Bald Eagle-2 (Ad & Imm, maybe more), Sharp-shin-1, Red-shoulder-1, Red-tail-2 (maybe more).
In celebration of our 50th anniversary year on Wachusett, here's a look back at events on this date in previous years: In 2014, Rod Chase wrote: Golden Eagle was at 12:30, mature and fairly close. NH was also close to summit at 1:50 pm. Other observers - Bill Rasku, Julie Roberts, Paul Roberts, Ted Mara.
In 2019, Rod Chase wrote: "Wind speed? Essentially zero today on the summit; ok, noon hour maybe 0-2mph. Even the clouds above were morphing but not moving. Direction? Well, when some molecules did move they were from the SW in AM and W in the afternoon."� Other observers: Bill Rasku, Eric Mueller, Joanne Hart. In 2020, the largest ever daily count of Turkey Vultures (263), the 3rd largest Red-tailed Hawk count (46), and the 14th largest Cooper's Hawk count (15, tied with one other date) in Wachusett Mt history. Rod Chase wrote: "Thanks to 263 TVs our total for this late October day was an astounding 376!" "Non-raptors: Now let's blow your minds with 3,550 migrants which we counted in our spare time. Canada Geese 2,289; American Crows 1,203; Common Ravens 30; Blue Jays 25 and 3 very distant gulls." "A great crew today: Ted Mara,Janet Kovner, Tom Gottschang, Bill Rasku, Eric Mueller, Chris Eddy, competent first-time visitors Neil Dowling and Nick Tepper and Nicole Neigel. Marty McNamara also dropped by for a short visit." In 2024, the 12th largest Merlin count (5, tied with 16 other dates), and the 20th largest Turkey Vulture count (98) in Wachusett Mt history.
In 2025, the 8th largest Red-shouldered Hawk count (18) in Wachusett Mt history.
Non-raptor Observations: Amer Herring Gull-6, Blue Jay-2, Amer Crow-6, Comm Raven-18, Snow Bunting-2 (hopping around the rocks on the summit in the first hour and very tolerant of nearby people.)
Predictions: The auto road to the summit is now closed until Memorial Day weekend 2027. Visitors can still park at the Visitor Center lots, and hike up the trails or bicycle up the road until the ski area starts making snow.
Monday will be yet another cloudless day with W to WNW winds at 7-9 mph. Temps are expected to rise from 44 F in the morning to 66 F by 3 pm EDT, with moderate humidity dropping to low (36%) over that same time period. Hopefully the stronger winds will break up any early morning temperature inversions. Eric plans on arriving at the summit somewhere between 10:00 and 10:30 am EDT. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
