[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (19 Apr 2019) 1550 Raptors

Epic. This is a new single-day record for Bradbury Mountain. Great job, Zane!

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 19, 2019
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	233	573
Osprey	84	281	282
Bald Eagle	2	24	69
Northern Harrier	22	106	112
Sharp-shinned Hawk	121	311	326
Cooper's Hawk	3	29	48
Northern Goshawk	0	2	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	2	38	91
Broad-winged Hawk	1117	1250	1250
Red-tailed Hawk	9	74	168
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	2
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	175	336	362
Merlin	12	31	36
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	2
Unknown Accipiter	0	2	3
Unknown Buteo	1	3	5
Unknown Falcon	1	3	5
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	8	9
Total:	1550	2732	3346

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	17:00:00
Total observation time:	8.25 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore, Dave Gulick, Derek Lovitch, Don Thompson, Joan Campbell, Mark Sprinkle, Mathew Gilbert

Visitors:
I was glad to see some people at the summit today who could be witness to part of this spectacular event which only occurs twice a year in spring and fall. I certainly would not have been able to attain the numbers I did without the additional help. Today went very smoothly and didn't feel hectic even though things were coming in so fast. Thank you to all who helped. Beyond birders we had 14 visitors and many others who seemed confused by our excitement as we watched distant kettles rise from the depths.

Weather:
Today's weather turned out much better than predicted. The morning was delayed slightly due to fog lingering in the area. The fog eventually started to burn off but some of it remained for the duration of the day as a light haze out towards the coast, obscuring our view of some of our landmarks. We didn't experience any of the pop-up showers or strong gusting winds predicted. The sun actually made an appearance for a while, heating things up nicely. Wind direction was spot on, from the SW for the whole day, becoming a little stronger in the afternoon. Visibility was pretty good and the mix of different cloud species and breaks of blue sky was a key factor in detecting many of the birds today.

Raptor Observations:
Today ended on a better note than it began. With the help of others, we set a new high day-count site record. The day started off on the slow side given the poor viewing conditions but suddenly and without warning there were kettles of Broadwings right over our heads. Poor thermals in the morning kept birds low and the southerly flow was pushing them directly over the mountain. We went from a dozen birds to over 250 in about an hour, and things only sped up from there. A few times today at the outset of the count, the local Chickadees and Juncos were sounding the alarm of incoming predators, often spotting birds seconds before any of the hawkwatchers. It was quite fascinating and impressive to be able to use the songbirds like radar devices in order to know where to set our gaze. Many Broadwings were moving through in kettles, often around fifteen to twenty-five birds in a group. Another great mix of bird species today with some terrific looks at all of them, especially some Merlins which actually paused to find a thermal instead of powering their way by. The Northern Harrier, AKA The Great Deceiver lived up to it's name, shape-shifting and taking on the appearance of many different species, like a Broadwing,Turkey Vulture, and a Peregrine. Luckily they couldn't hold their disguise for long and their true identity was revealed. Birds kept moving after the official end of the day and a few of us stayed to see the spectacle. It was a little surprising at how much altitude these birds were getting despite not have a lot of sun today. Things started to slow down around 6pm and that's when the local TV's took over and started to patrol the mountain.

Non-raptor Observations:
Counting and listening for passerines was a challenge today, for starters it was difficult to hear anything over the sounds of leaf blowers as the park staff prepares for spring and the upcoming Feathers Over Freeport event which takes place on the 27th and 28th of this month. Secondly, with the number of raptors moving today it was hard to shift my attention to song birds. We did however have a few first of season birds which included a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a Chimney Swift and a Slightly eaarly Blue-headed Vireo which was hopping around at the summit.

Predictions:
Im not sure if I should believe the forecast or not but it doesn't look great. Rain is predicted for much of the day with dense cloud cover. Temps should be in the high 50s and winds may be more due S at about 13mph with some gusting in the afternoon. Probably not a complete washout but maybe not a lot of steady, consistent birding.

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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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