[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (22 Apr 2016) 585 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 22, 2016
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	38	260
Osprey	30	366	368
Bald Eagle	0	11	57
Northern Harrier	22	100	117
Sharp-shinned Hawk	92	524	563
Cooper's Hawk	1	16	60
Northern Goshawk	0	0	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	24	73
Broad-winged Hawk	396	1288	1289
Red-tailed Hawk	4	51	234
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	32	354	389
Merlin	8	41	45
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	1
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	7	12
Unknown Falcon	0	3	3
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	13	19
Total:	585	2838	3496

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	17:00:00
Total observation time:	9 hours
Official Counter	Anna Stunkel
Observers:	Pat Moynahan

Visitors:
51 people visited the hawkwatch.

Weather:
It was mostly cloudy today, with a bit of sprinkling during the morning. However, this small burst of precipitation passed quickly. Winds were very light and variable, starting out westerly and becoming more southeasterly later in the day. Temperatures were mainly in the sixties.

Raptor Observations:
It was another great day, which started off slow but picked up late in the afternoon once again. Following the sprinkles, there was a flurry of migration during early afternoon. This was followed by a lull and a much larger push of birds as winds shifted to southeasterly. Broad-winged Hawks stole the show, with large kettles of up to 20 individuals forming. Counts of other species (Sharp-shinned Hawks in particular) picked up during the late afternoon rush. Birds did not get very high today in comparison to yesterday, and they were easier to spot against the cloud cover. There were large numbers of both close and distant birds.

Non-raptor Observations:
There was a little morning flight of warblers and other passerines today. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was seen flitting around in a nearby oak this morning, which was a new and exciting find. A flock of about 30 Bohemian Waxwings stopped by at the summit this afternoon. 44 bird species were observed.

Species deemed migrating:

298 Double-crested Cormorants

46 warbler sp.

35 Tree Swallows

26 American Robins

26 Common Grackles

20 blackbird sp.

18 Yellow-rumped Warblers

13 passerine sp.

8 Red-winged Blackbirds

6 Great Blue Herons

3 Mallards

1 Brown-headed Cowbird

1 Common Loon

1 Northern Flicker

1 Palm Warbler

Predictions:
Tomorrow's forecast predicts overcast skies in the morning, with cloud cover breaking up slightly during the afternoon. This clearing could cause a little wave of raptor activity. Moderate to strong winds from the northwest will probably slow things down, especially if conditions become gusty. Windspeed is likely to increase as the day progresses. However, given the excellent counts of the last few days, there should be a fair number of birds passing through.

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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