Hi all,
Incredible day today at The Brad! Highlights included another great hawk flight, 2 Sandhill Cranes, our first BLACK VULTURE of the season...and a first site record TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE! Details with our extensive notes are posted on a blog, with the link embedded in the report below.
-Derek
Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA
Visitors:
15 people visited the Hawkwatch today, with dozens more recreators and picnicers stopping by to enjoy the fine weather.
Weather:
A lovely, warm, and downright summery day! A very light and variable wind became a light to light-moderate southeasterly seabreeze in the afternoon. The calm and warm conditions, with significant haze towards the horizon made for challenging scoping conditions and many birds were out in the distance, especially early in the day.
Raptor Observations:
Local Bald Eagles were unusually scarce today, but local Red-tailed Hawks and a displaying Cooper's Hawk were seen on occasion. Scattered Turkey Vultures all day, both near and far, demonstrated why we cease counting them on April 15th each year - it just becomes too hard to decipher migrants from locals and commuters. As for the migrants, it was another day with birds in all directions - from specks in the scope towards the coast, to kestrels shooting the gap and appearing overhead. Of course, the raptor (or honorary raptor, really) of the day was the BLACK VULTURE - our first of the season - that was over Hedgehog Mountain at 11:13 am, and observed for over five minutes as it soared - occasionally interrupted by its spastic panicked flapping - and disappeared off to the north-northeast. Katrina scored some "documentation" shots.
Non-raptor Observations:
An excellent 51 species were seen and/or heard from the summit today, including numerous first-of-years. However, the real excitement was the TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE that flew over us at 12:18pm. Unfortunately, photos were not obtained, but extensive notes were written, discussion ensued, and we carefully worked through every other possible species to confirm the identification. I (Derek) have posted our complete notes here: https://mebirdingfieldnotes.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/townsends-solitaire-at-bradbury-mountain/
Pownal, Maine, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 11, 2017 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 20 | 244 | 504 |
| Osprey | 56 | 153 | 153 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 22 | 57 |
| Northern Harrier | 40 | 125 | 129 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 61 | 235 | 247 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 6 | 32 | 40 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 15 | 66 | 114 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 52 | 86 | 86 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 70 | 132 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 100 | 274 | 275 |
| Merlin | 7 | 20 | 21 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| Total: | 361 | 1346 | 1785 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Derek Lovitch, Jeannette Lovitch |
| Observers: | Don Thompson, Katrina Fenton, Rick Hartzell, Sea Mckeon, Zane Baker |
Visitors:
15 people visited the Hawkwatch today, with dozens more recreators and picnicers stopping by to enjoy the fine weather.
Weather:
A lovely, warm, and downright summery day! A very light and variable wind became a light to light-moderate southeasterly seabreeze in the afternoon. The calm and warm conditions, with significant haze towards the horizon made for challenging scoping conditions and many birds were out in the distance, especially early in the day.
Raptor Observations:
Local Bald Eagles were unusually scarce today, but local Red-tailed Hawks and a displaying Cooper's Hawk were seen on occasion. Scattered Turkey Vultures all day, both near and far, demonstrated why we cease counting them on April 15th each year - it just becomes too hard to decipher migrants from locals and commuters. As for the migrants, it was another day with birds in all directions - from specks in the scope towards the coast, to kestrels shooting the gap and appearing overhead. Of course, the raptor (or honorary raptor, really) of the day was the BLACK VULTURE - our first of the season - that was over Hedgehog Mountain at 11:13 am, and observed for over five minutes as it soared - occasionally interrupted by its spastic panicked flapping - and disappeared off to the north-northeast. Katrina scored some "documentation" shots.
Non-raptor Observations:
An excellent 51 species were seen and/or heard from the summit today, including numerous first-of-years. However, the real excitement was the TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE that flew over us at 12:18pm. Unfortunately, photos were not obtained, but extensive notes were written, discussion ensued, and we carefully worked through every other possible species to confirm the identification. I (Derek) have posted our complete notes here: https://mebirdingfieldnotes.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/townsends-solitaire-at-bradbury-mountain/
Other species deemed migrating:
60 Double-crested Cormorants
59 Tree Swallows
13 European Starlings
12 Red-winged Blackbirds
11 unidentified blackbirds
8 Canada Geese
7 Northern Flickers
7 Brown-headed Cowbirds
4 Common Grackles
3 Common Mergansers
3 Great Blue Herons
3 Eastern Phoebes
3 Yellow-rumped Warblers (FOY)
2 SANDHILL CRANES
2 Barn Swallows
2 American Goldfinches
1 Killdeer
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (FOY)
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Purple Finch
Predictions:
A cold front will slowly sag southeast tonight, perhaps accompanied by embedded thunderstorms. The timing of the arrival of precipitation looks interesting, and passerine observers might want to consider getting out early in case there is a fallout! Unfortunately, this front is predicted to stall out, and a weak area of low pressure will travel along it tomorrow. Showers will be widespread throughout much of the day, but it doesn't look like a complete wash-out. Especially if rain clears the area in the afternoon, remnants of the big flights of the last two days might be on the move. And who knows what might show up tomorrow?
Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at: www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/hawkwatch.asp
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