[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (20 Mar 2019) 30 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 20, 2019
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	9	111	111
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	5	30	30
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	2	2
Cooper's Hawk	1	7	7
Northern Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	6	29	29
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	7	40	40
Rough-legged Hawk	0	1	1
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	1	4	4
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	1	2	2
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	1	1
Total:	30	228	228

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore, Dave Gulick

Visitors:
Hump day brought 14 visitors to the watch.

Weather:
Plentiful sunshine and brilliant blue skies gave the look of being warmer than it felt atop the summit. Air temps climbed into the high 30s, however, by midday an icy and stiff south southeast wind had increased, making for a cooler day than expected. An occasional cloud formed near the summit before quickly dissolving into nothing leaving nothing but the occasional plane contrail to give our eyes some contrast and a focal point. Visibility was good with the exception of a slight haze.

Raptor Observations:
Numbers remain high for this first week. Today proved to be rather frustrating. Eagles in particular were scattered all over the sky for much of the day, playing and harassing one another. Determining migrants from non migrants was a challenge. Eagles and other species counted today would disappear to the north and would seemingly reappear, now moving in a southerly direction. Birds were tallied mostly based on protocol standards. I remain skeptical of many birds tallied today. It was a bizarre, hard to describe day atop The Brad. Enjoyable nonetheless.

Non-raptor Observations:
Not only were raptors traveling in all directions, but some other birds seemed to be having troubles as well. Geese and Robins couldn't seem to find their correct heading today. One Common Merganser decided to cut through the Gordion Knot that was today and made a fast and decisive exit to the north.

Predictions:
High pressure will be moving out and we should see some increasing cloud cover tomorrow. Temps should climb to the low 40s, although a predicted south wind at about 8-10 mph will cool things down on the summit. Some rain appears to be on its way but may not get here before the day is done. I' hoping the next weather system encourages some birds to move out ahead of the rain.

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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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