[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (15 Mar 2019) 34 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 15, 2019
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	18	18	18
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	1	1	1
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	0	0
Cooper's Hawk	1	1	1
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	8	8	8
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	3	3	3
Rough-legged Hawk	1	1	1
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	2	2	2
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	34	34	34

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	4.83 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Jeannette Lovitch

Visitors:
There were 8 visitors to the watch today. For anyone planning to come up to the summit, please take note that the summit trail is almost entirely ice. Choose your footwear wisely, or consider a different trail such as the northern loop, which tends to have a little less runoff. I look forward to seeing some familiar faces and hopefully some new ones. Happy hawkwatching!

Weather:
The 2019 Hawkwatching season has officially begun, and thanks to the site sponsor, Freeport Wild Bird Supply, they have kindly offered me the position of hawkwatcher for my third straight year. I'm just as excited as ever for what the season has in store, and with day one in the books, it feels like I never left. Unfortunately the count ended as soon as it began, due to heavy rain. I reopened around 12:30 EST, but after the rain, the fog increased and visibility decreased. Visibility remained low for a couple more hours until the sun finally started to break through. Wind remained light but steady from the south. Temperatures climbed to an unseasonably warm 48 degrees Fahrenheit.

Raptor Observations:
Despite the wacky start to the first day of the season, today was pretty awesome. The first raptor to be counted for 2019 was a speedy Merlin flying low. Red-shoulders shared the same flight line, often pausing to circle in the afternoon light. By far and away the highlight of the day came during the final hour, when I picked up a distant bird tracking from the south to northeast. It appeared to be a Buteo from the general shape. The birds dihedral didn't seem quite right for a Red-tail, and it seemed fairly dark given the abundant sunshine. I mentally checked all the boxes for Red-tail and Red-shoulder and started becoming more confidant this was indeed a Rough-legged Hawk. I hinted to Jeannette what I was thinking before she took a look. It was indeed a dark morph Rough-legged. As the bird got closer you could see the contrasting light and dark under-wings, similar to a Turkey Vulture. I can't think of a much better way to kick off the season.

Non-raptor Observations:
Crows were out in force today. A couple hundred Crows camped out in the trees adjacent to the mountain for a few hours, at one point drowning out all other noise, including local traffic. A couple hundred more Crows continued to pass by throughout the final hours. A group of 15 Snow Buntings was a pleasant surprise today. Despite not having a full day, we had an okay species list for the day which included: American Crow Canada Goose Pileated Woodpecker Red-breasted Nuthatch Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Common Raven American Crow Eastern Bluebird Common Grackle Red-winged Blackbird Herring Gull European Starling Finch spp. Snow Bunting

Predictions:
Tomorrow's temps should stay above normal, around the mid 40s. Clouds may increase throughout the day and winds should be out of the west. Historically, we've had decent days with westerly winds at this site. The question will be the force of the wind. Speeds, in MPH are currently estimated to be in the mid teens, with some possible gusts.

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Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at: www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/bradbury-mountain-hawkwatch
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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