[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (02 Apr 2016) Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 02, 2016
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	14	236
Osprey	0	6	8
Bald Eagle	0	0	46
Northern Harrier	0	2	19
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	7	46
Cooper's Hawk	0	1	45
Northern Goshawk	0	0	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	1	50
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	1
Red-tailed Hawk	0	6	189
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	12	47
Merlin	0	1	5
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	3
Unknown Buteo	0	0	5
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	6
Total:	0	50	708

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	11:00:00
Total observation time:	3 hours
Official Counter	Anna Stunkel
Observers:

Visitors:
23 people visited the hawkwatch.

Weather:
It was an overcast morning, with very good visibility and a light northwest breeze but a lack of raptors in the air. This was likely a result of the approaching rain, which arrived at around 10:30 am EST, ending the count early. Scattered showers continued throughout the day.

Raptor Observations:
There were no observations of local or migrant raptors.

Non-raptor Observations:
Despite the lack of raptors this morning, there was a small flight of some other migrants. Two distant loons flew over Freeport. 21 bird species were observed. Species deemed migrating:

21 American Robins

7 blackbird sp.

4 finch sp.

3 Pine Siskins

2 Common Grackles

2 Common Loons

1 American Goldfinch

1 Eastern Bluebird

1 Purple Finch

1 Red-winged Blackbird

1 Tree Swallow

Predictions:
Snow showers are expected in the morning tomorrow, with cloudy skies in the afternoon. Strong northwest winds are expected to reach speeds of 25-35 mph, with gusts over 50 mph possible (a wind advisory has been issued). Counting protocol states that the hawkwatch does not occur during a wind advisory, but at least a few hours of counting may be possible if this advisory is cancelled. Migration will probably be slow given the conditions. Hopefully things will pick up nicely when calmer weather arrives.

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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