[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (29 Apr 2019) 14 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 29, 2019
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	233	573
Osprey	2	380	381
Bald Eagle	0	27	72
Northern Harrier	0	133	139
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	503	518
Cooper's Hawk	0	42	61
Northern Goshawk	0	2	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	1	44	97
Broad-winged Hawk	8	2875	2875
Red-tailed Hawk	0	90	184
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	2
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	412	438
Merlin	1	56	61
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	2
Unknown Accipiter	0	2	3
Unknown Buteo	0	4	6
Unknown Falcon	0	4	6
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	13	14
Total:	14	4821	5435

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

Visitors:
34 visitors today.

Weather:
The day started out bright and sunny, but a persistent and relatively strong northerly wind kept things cool for a few hours. Temperatures were slow to climb but eventually hit the low 50s for a high. Cloud cover increased throughout the day, mostly in the form of high thin Cirrus. Visibility was unlimited but clarity was diminished from the heat distortion.

Raptor Observations:
The northerly winds, blowing a little harder than I expected based on the previous day's weather report may have been the biggest factor for birds not moving north. I was hoping that the sun and an approaching front would would push things along. I guess not. Trying to stay optimistic for the day I thought maybe I was missing birds going overhead during the morning hours when the sky was solid blue with nothing for my eyes to focus on. By late morning I was starting see the formation of a great hawkwatching sky, with more clouds starting to appear. Even with patchy clouds I wasn't seeing a sudden increase in my birds per hour ratio, in fact it started to decline. NW winds had most of the birds seen today further towards the coast, so maybe there were a few more birds out there but I was just to far inland to detect them. A close Merlin was a highlight today as it almost blew by undetected if it weren't for the watchful eyes of Dave Fensore. Late in the day it appeared as though our first Harrier of the day was arriving for roll call, but something about this mile high bird didn't seem quite right, even for The Great Deceiver. This was The Deceiver Deceiver. At first glance it appeared narrow tailed, rocking slightly, and a really nice looking dihedral. The problem is, if you're not a Harrier there is only so much you can do to make your wings and tail look really long relative to your body. This turned out to be a local Broadwing putting on a show, a very impressive show at that.

Non-raptor Observations:
Male Pine Warblers were getting into matrimonial fisticuffs this morning, chasing one another through the tree tops, occasionally the female being swept up into the tussle. It appeared to be clean fight that ended in a draw. Rematch pending. Northbound migrants included, drum roll please... 1 Double-crested Cormorant 1 Tree Swallow 1 Barn Swallow.

Predictions:
Tomorrow morning is looking like rain so far. Temps will have a hard time climbing out of the low 40s, and with SE winds it will be a very raw morning. Precip should start to dry up by early afternoon, hopefully, and winds may swing around to from the NNE.

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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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