[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (27 Mar 2018) 36 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 27, 2018
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	17	79	79
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	6	40	40
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	2	2
Cooper's Hawk	1	16	16
Northern Goshawk	0	3	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	4	14	14
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	7	47	47
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	1	2	2
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	1
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	1	1
Total:	36	205	205

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Derek Lovitch, Jeannette Lovitch
Observers:	Chuck Barnes, Rick Hartzell, Tom Downing

Visitors:
12 people visited the Hawkwatch today.

Weather:
A chilly start gave way to a temperate day. Light winds and clear skies to start, slowly gave way to light NE to E and cloudy skies. Winds dropped off around 3:00 EDT and with a few puffs from the south, a late afternoon pulse of birds, led by a kettle of 6 Turkey Vultures moved through.

Raptor Observations:
Local Bald Eagles were active again, but in the afternoon, an unexpected long-duration chase ensued as a very bothered 2nd cycle Bald spent over 15 minutes harassing, bombing, chasing, and otherwise pestering a 4th-cycle bird. The 4th-cycle bird would barrel roll for each dive, extending its talons in defense. After appearing well to the south over Yarmouth and continuing past the summit and disappearing beyond the Brunswick comm tower, the two individuals were counted as migrants - even if they were migrating about as inefficiently as possible.

Non-raptor Observations:
31 species were seen or heard from the summit today. Birds deemed migrating included: 56 Canada Geese 7 Purple Finches 6 American Goldfinches 3 Pine Siskins 2 Common Merganers 2 Eastern Bluebirds 2 Common Grackles 1 Horned Lark 1 American Robin

Predictions:
As we anxiously await the first "really good" day and the opening of the floodgates, we look at the next few days with optimism. While a few showers may still be an annoyance in the morning, the lights winds could turn south to southwest in the afternoon. If they do, and the day warms up enough, it could be a good day - finally. If clouds stay thick, number won't be too special, but I do expect a decent push as long as precipitation clears early enough.

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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
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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