[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (21 Mar 2019) 41 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 21, 2019
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	14	125	125
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	4	34	34
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	2	2
Cooper's Hawk	4	11	11
Northern Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	6	35	35
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	12	52	52
Rough-legged Hawk	1	2	2
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	0	4	4
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	2	2
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	1	1
Total:	41	269	269

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Derek Lovitch, Tom Downing

Visitors:
I expected to see a few more people than the 12 who stopped by.

Weather:
Skies were mostly cloudy, with brief periods of sun. By early afternoon the the skies became fully overcast with the approaching front. Air temps were mild, in the low 40s. A strong and gusty wind buffeted the summit for much of the day.The strongest winds occurred a little after midday. Visibility was good throughout the day.

Raptor Observations:
Today was pretty epic. It seemed more like a good day in April than the end of the first count-week in March. Birds were on the move early, out ahead of the approaching low pressure system. Compared to yesterday, birds seemed to be moving with more purpose. A highlight for the day and season, was a flyover by a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk, which came in just over the treetops at the summit. The bird rolled in the wind,onto its left side, displaying its beautiful two-toned underside. It was a quick look, but up close and personal. I had turned around at the right time, otherwise it would have been missed. A couple hikers/birders got to enjoy it as well.

Non-raptor Observations:
Passerines were moving early as well today. Geese, Blackbirds and Robins made up the bulk of the movement. At about 10:55 EST Derek identified the first Northern Shrike to be seen from this count site. Not long after, 25 Bohemian Waxwings landed in the trees at the summit. Shortly after noon 3 Sandhill Cranes were spotted circling high to the east southeast. I couldn't enjoy them for long, as the wind decided to distribute my paperwork across the mountain just after spotting the them. I never picked them up again. There were 28 species of birds and one deer identified for the day list. Some of the birds moving north included: 259 Blackbird Spp. 203 Canada Geese 200 Common Grackles 120 American Robins 79 Red-winged Blackbirds 25 Bohemian Waxwings 12 European Starlings 4 Hooded Mergansers 4 American Black Ducks 3 Killdeer 1 Common Merganser 1 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 House Finch

Predictions:
Tomorrows count may be postponed or canceled due to the predicted rain. Rain may be steady in the morning hours, possibly becoming intermittent by the afternoon. Winds may be stiff, at 10-15mph from the east northeast, shifting to more east southeast by the afternoon. Temps should be a rather comfortable 40F or so.

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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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