Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Mark Morris
Observers: Bob Michaud, Chris Eddy, Dave Small, Eric Mueller, Jack Miano, Jeff Johnstone, Joanne Hart
Visitors: It was great to see Chris Eddy on the hill for the first time this season, if only for an hour or so, but she pitched right in with multiple sightings. Thanks to her sister June for bringing her up and for helping out with the count. Dave Small also came up with Jeff Johnstone to lend a hand. We're happy to see everyone's medical recoveries proceeding well.
It was nice to meet and talk to birder/photographers Elizabeth and Michael Cassinari, and to Claire Green (apologies for any misspellings.)
Weather: The day started with sunny skies but the entire Athol valley below us was covered in fog...an impressive sight. As the fog rose, it turned into scattered fair-weather cumulus clouds. As the day went on, the clouds thickened noticeably and became quite dark, although we had no precipitation. Cloud base was 6,000 to 8,500 ft. Temps rose from 40 to 61 F. The wind went from almost dead calm to 3-7 mph from WSW through the late morning, and then increasing to 10-12 mph from the West just after noon, and then 12-15 mph with 30 mph gusts by the end of the session.
Raptor Observations: Our first big flight of the season, with 220 Broad-wings, and double-digit numbers for Ospreys, Sharpies and Kestrels. This came 3 days earlier than the first big Broad-wing flight in April of last year.
The birds were taking advantage of the steady WSW winds in the late morning, and the numbers really took off as the wind increased substantially around noon, even with a shift to the W and WNW. Many of the birds, especially the Broad-wings were flying at very high altitudes, and we were lucky to have the clouds as a viewing background, although we undoubtedly missed a number of birds. We had a few groups of Broad-wings in low double-digit amounts, but most of them were seen singly or in 4-6 bird groups.
The most unusual sighting of the day was probably the 3 Osprey that we saw flying in a tight group - normally these birds fly solo. Mark also had a Gray Ghost male Northern Harrier early in the day that wasn't phased by the fog bank below us.
Local raptors - Black Vulture-2 (continuing local pair), TV-25, OS-1, BE-3 (2 ad, 1 imm), SS-1, CH-3, BW-1, RS-1, RT-5, AK-1.
Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: D-C Cormorant-7, Comm Loon-1, Gr Blue Heron-4, N. Flicker-2, Hairy WP-1, Red-bellied WP-1, E. Phoebe-2, Blue Jay-4, Amer Crow-10, Fish Crow-2, Comm Raven-2, Tree Swallow-10, WB Nuthatch-1, E. Starling-30, Amer Robin-2, House Sparr-16, Field Sparr-3, Song Sparr-4, Wht-Thr Sparr-2, E. Towhee-2, Amer Goldfinch-1, Purple Finch-1, Pine Siskin-4, N. Cardinal-2
Predictions: Should be another strong migration day, with mostly sunny skies, and temps up to 60F. Winds predicted to be 10-15 mph from WNW, but that birds didn't seem to mind it when the wind shifted in that direction late today. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Adams Farm - Athol MA information may be found at: https://massbird.org/emhw/
