[MASSBIRD] Wachusett Mountain (27 Oct 2023) 106 Migrating Raptors

[Barbara M Volkle]

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2023 22:36:56 +0000
From: rep...@hawkcount.org
Subject: Wachusett Mountain (27 Oct 2023) 106 Migrating Raptors


Wachusett Mountain
Princeton, Massachusetts, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 27, 2023
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 1 3
Turkey Vulture 95 608 642
Osprey 0 24 155
Bald Eagle 3 85 225
Northern Harrier 1 17 36
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 145 319
Cooper's Hawk 2 76 130
American Goshawk 0 0 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 21 34
Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 15073
Red-tailed Hawk 0 37 46
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 0 35 96
Merlin 1 18 35
Peregrine Falcon 0 10 17
Unknown Accipiter 0 12 32
Unknown Buteo 0 8 18
Unknown Falcon 1 7 8
Unknown Eagle 0 1 1
Unknown Raptor 0 64 146

Total: 106 1171 17017
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Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total
observation time: 8 hours

Official Counter: Eric Mueller

Observers: Chris Eddy, JoAnne Hart, John Edmondson, Ted Purcell

Visitors:
Several hundred sightseers including a class from a Warren RI high
school. People were again disappointed by the haze that obscured so many
landmarks.


Weather:
Mostly sunny with temps from 61 to 75 F - another very warm day for late
October. Winds from the W and occasionally SW at 8-10 mph, although they
eased off for two hours starting at noon. Moderate haze all day which
hid
Mt Greylock and the VT mountains all day, and made Boston and NH
mountains
from Joe English Hill and east quite difficult to see. Birds seemed to
be
able to rise quickly, either via the wind or by thermal activity.
Raptor Observations:
Some days you just get lucky - after a long day without a lot to show
for
it, John and I were tired and left at 2:00 pm EST (3:00 pm EDT.) On her
way back from an appointment, Chris decided to drop by and between 2:30
and
4:30, she counted 80 TVs, a Bald Eagle and a falcon! This put us over
the
17,000 bird mark for the season. Plus Chris noted a big flight of TVs
the
flew in and appeared to roost down below, which may give us a great
start
in the morning. Thanks to everyone on both "shifts" today!
As with the last 2 days, the day started slowly with the first migrating
bird appearing around 10:53. The biggest sighting before Chris arrived
was
a group of 10 TVs in the around 1:50 (we should have taken that as a
hint
of what was yet to come.)
Non-migrating raptors:
Turkey Vulture - 4 (minimum number), plus a large flight that settled
down
to roost as Chris was leaving.
Bald Eagle - 1 (juvenile)
Cooper's Hawk - 1 (it flew hard to the east)
Red-tailed Hawk - 1


Non-raptor Observations:
Snow Bunting - 1 (the same very tame one we saw 2 days ago)
Blue Jay - 2
Comm Raven - 3
DE Junco - 6
seagull sp - 1 (fly-by)

Predictions:
Yet another unseasonably warm day with a high of 75 F, mostly sunny
skies
and solid (10-15 mph) W winds. Hopefully the flight of TVs that came in
to
roost this afternoon will wait until we arrive before taking off.
========================================================================
Report submitted by ERIC MUELLER (ericmue...@gmail.com)
Wachusett Mountain information may be found at:
http://www.massbird.org/emhw


More site information at hawkcount.org:
https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=228