[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (27 Mar 2016) 61 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 27, 2016
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	19	154	154
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	5	39	39
Northern Harrier	2	7	7
Sharp-shinned Hawk	6	15	15
Cooper's Hawk	7	33	33
Northern Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	4	40	40
Broad-winged Hawk	0	1	1
Red-tailed Hawk	17	152	152
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	3	3
Merlin	0	2	2
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	2	2
Unknown Buteo	0	4	4
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	3	3
Total:	61	456	456

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Anna Stunkel
Observers:	Dave Gulick, Derek Lovitch, Jeannette Lovitch, Tom Downing, Zane Baker

Visitors:
62 visitors came to enjoy the warm weather and the raptor migration.

Weather:
It was a beautiful day, with warm temperatures and mostly light east southeast winds. Skies were overcast in the morning, becoming mostly clear as the day went on. A few cirrus clouds filled in during the mid-afternoon, and more easterly winds picked up. The stronger winds slowed migration, but it was a great day overall.

Raptor Observations:
There were good numbers of red-tails and Turkey Vultures. Many of the red-tails followed flight paths directly overhead, with this species' numbers peaking in the middle of the day. Accipiter migration also picked up nicely today. Visitors had the chance to enjoy close sightings of some beautiful raptors, including Bald Eagles, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and a Northern Harrier.

Non-raptor Observations:
Robins and blackbirds were on the move early in the count today. We were happy to see several juncos hanging out nearby. Towards the end of the count, a flock of about 50 Bohemian Waxwings passed overhead (possibly the same flock that was seen yesterday). 28 bird species were observed.

Species deemed migrating:

67 blackbird sp.

39 American Robins

22 Common Grackles

20 Canada Geese

2 Common Mergansers

2 passerine sp.

1 Purple Finch

Predictions:
With a high chance of rain throughout most of the day, hawkwatching is unlikely to happen tomorrow. Showers may be light enough in the morning for a brief period of counting to occur, but rain will become heavier as the day progresses. Predicted easterly winds in the morning suggest that any counting will be slow.

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Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at: www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/hawkwatch.asp