Observation start time: 08:45:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5.25 hours
Official Counter: Eric Mueller
Observers: Laura de la Flor, Mark Burns, Tom Gottschang
Visitors: Dave Shattuck stopped by to say hello, and our friend-of-the-watch Frannie spent some time with us. Plenty of sightseers came up to enjoy the good visbility. The track and field teams from Fitchburg State and the Holy Cross men's rugby team all ran up the mountain.
Weather: A very pleasant warm and sunny day, with moderate winds straight out of the north. Some clouds appeared mid-morning which helped with locating some of the birds. Humidity was quite low and there was just mild haze in the air, so visibility was very good. The only regular landmarks that we couldn't see reasonably well were Mt. Passaconaway and Whiteface Mt far into NH.
Raptor Observations: Thanks to Tom Gottschang, Laura de la Flor and Mark Burns for helping out on our first official day of the Fall hawk watch. We were hoping that today's north winds would bring some early migrating birds, but we didn't have any luck that way. We did get a nice sampling of the local raptor population. 3 local juvenile Broad-wings kept us entertained with their interactions with each other. The 2 Black Vultures were a pleasant surprise - we don't see many here.
Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptors: Chimney Swift - 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 Red-eyed Vireo - 1 Blue Jay - 1 Comm Raven - 2 Barn Swallow - 4 swallow sp - 2 Gray Catbird - 1 E Towhee - 1
Predictions: Another warm and sunny day, but with winds from the SW. Clarry Hill in ME reported Bald Eagles and Ospreys moving through today, so maybe those birds can deal with the headwinds and pass our way. ======================================================================== Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (<ericmueller1912...>) Wachusett Mountain information may be found at: http://www.massbird.org/emhw
