[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (05 May 2019) 35 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 05, 2019
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	573
Osprey	3	16	400
Bald Eagle	0	3	75
Northern Harrier	0	4	143
Sharp-shinned Hawk	8	33	551
Cooper's Hawk	2	4	66
Northern Goshawk	0	0	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	97
Broad-winged Hawk	14	57	2941
Red-tailed Hawk	1	3	188
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	2
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	2	9	447
Merlin	2	11	72
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	3
Unknown Accipiter	1	2	5
Unknown Buteo	0	0	6
Unknown Falcon	1	1	7
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	2	16
Total:	35	146	5595

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:
The Cousin's Island Power Plant Iv'e stared at for years may in fact be Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory according to a young source at the summit. They seemed trustworthy. Another first for the site occurred this morning with a gathering of people from the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a living history group who study and recreate the way in which Medieval cultures may have lived. They arrived in period garments, many of which were hand made by these folks in the traditional methods of the time. I learned some interesting historical facts, but the best part was the fencing they were practicing. An actual sword fight on the summit. How many hawkwatches have that!

Weather:
Today was similar to yesterday but slightly warmer. Winds were fairly calm throughout the morning with a breeze shifting between ESE to N and everything in between. By 2pm the winds increased and came around from the SSE which is where it stayed for the rest of the day. Skies were mostly cloudy for the day with a few breaks of blue sky in the afternoon hours. The sun was able to penetrate the thin clouds easily and temps warmed into the low 60s. Visibility was good all day long.

Raptor Observations:
Almost a repeat of yesterday's totals and somewhat similar rate of birds per hour. More Broadwings continue to be seen displaying all over the area. It's difficult to determine just how many there are on territory locally. Iv'e seen a couple displaying birds cover a lot of ground in the areas they display above, overlapping with other birds. The migrant BW's spotted today were mostly adults from what I could tell, and I was able to age most of them. We had one immature. No flightlines seemed to develop today, and northbound progress was slow due to a light headwind. A few birds made use of thermals and passed high above us. It might have been more comfortable to spot and track them had we been lying on our backs.

Non-raptor Observations:
The woods surrounding the summit seemed more lively this morning but I only had one new species for the season, an Oven bird. A total of 33 species were detected from the summit. Non raptor migrants were laying low, with only a couple Yellow-rumped Warblers, Tree Swallows and a single Cormorant moving through.

Predictions:
Tomorrow is looking strikingly similar to today with a few minor adjustments. There should be a little more sun as some high pressure passes through but temps may be slightly cooler, around the mid 50s. Winds should be relatively light but starting out from the NE and slowly shifting to the SE by days end. Mor elow pressure is approaching, with a little rain in the forecast for Tuesday. Maybe some birds will try to move tomorrow but I think the wacky weather patterns were stuck in may have birds dammed up to our south until things really shift around. Hard to tell for certain, but either way, I'll be back 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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