[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (21 Apr 2019) 12 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 21, 2019
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	233	573
Osprey	2	283	284
Bald Eagle	0	24	69
Northern Harrier	0	106	112
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	311	326
Cooper's Hawk	0	29	48
Northern Goshawk	0	2	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	38	91
Broad-winged Hawk	10	1260	1260
Red-tailed Hawk	0	74	168
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	2
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	336	362
Merlin	0	31	36
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	2
Unknown Accipiter	0	2	3
Unknown Buteo	0	3	5
Unknown Falcon	0	3	5
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	8	9
Total:	12	2744	3358

Observation start time:	11:00:00
Observation end time:	14:00:00
Total observation time:	3 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:

Visitors:
Despite being Easter Sunday, which often brings families out to the park for a hike, today was pretty quiet maybe due to the weather. Most people who stopped by mostly commented on the poor view rather than inquiring about the birds.

Weather:
I was monitoring the conditions surrounding the mountain from a couple different vantage points in Pownal this morning. The fog was so thick you wouldn't have known there was a mountain protruding above the trees if you weren't familiar with the area. Around 11:30 am the skies started to clear and I could see the summit as I approached on route 9. Rain showers popped up as I prepared to hit the trail, so I waited another few minutes. By the time I hit the top the fog had returned, so I waited until high noon to start data collection. Visibility briefly improved as the fog pushed back to the SE about 1 mile, but only stayed there for about 15 minutes before returning to the edge of the mountain. A few more light showers passed as I waited for the fog to lift, which a few weather stations had been suggesting would happen.But the passing showers, the temperature, relative humidity, the light SSE wind and proximity to the coast allowed the fog to stay put and I eventually closed 2 hours early.

Raptor Observations:
83.33333 percent of the birds counted today were found during the fifteen minutes of time when the fog had retreated back towards the Pownal fields. Like some overzealous sports fans trying to start "the wave", a few Broad-wings came together and tried to rally a kettle. It wasn't happening. They quickly dispersed. The other birds I found were right in close to the mountain, but even being a stones throw away you couldn't see color or plumage patterns. It was purely birding by gestalt. One of the only thing that really stood out as different today was the silhouette of a fish, being transported by an Osprey, head first.

Non-raptor Observations:
Chickadees were riled up today for a good fifteen to twenty minutes. I never did see what might have caused the ruckus, but it sure sounded like something bad was about to go down. Evening Grosbeak flight calls were a nice change-up from the usual suspects. They were right in front of me but I never saw them.

Predictions:
An approaching low pressure system is headed towards the Gulf of Maine for Monday which will bring in some more rain showers. The good news is that it may be confined more towards the coast. Oh, wait, that's us. The morning looks like it could be the better half of the day as long as some of this fog disappears. Precipitation potential increases throughout the day, so expect more rain in the afternoon. Winds may be from the NE around 8mph, and temps should be scraping 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Let's hope this is inaccurate and we get in at least a few hours tomorrow.

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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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