[Maine-birds] MACHIAS SEAL ISLAND REPORT

Today brought us an exceptional movement of SHARP SHINNED HAWKS.

I counted 166 actually touching down or over-flying the island and there were many more passing within un-assisted sight.
Sharpies are one of our regular raptors but they have been virtually unseen this season prior to today.

It's been definitely one of our largest days for this species.

 All of the birds were at low level and I had dozens of them set down briefly near where I was working on a blind.

Coincidently, the blind is used exclusively for raptor photography.

At one point there were 9 Sharpies perched within 50 feet, all of them well aware of my presence. One individual watched me for over 15 minutes as I worked around as close as 12 feet.
Another perched about 5 feet above my head as I knelt down, digging out some stones.

I wondered if that one was just curious or if he hoped I might flush some prey.

I saw very few other raptors: "our"  EAGLE, 2 PEREGRINES, 1 MERLIN and, predictably at sunset, a hunting HARRIER.

Moderate North East wind to 25 knots persisted throughout the day and this trend is forecast to continue well into the weekend. It will be interesting to see if there is continued strong raptor movement.

The only other movement of note was several large (250+) skeins of presumed DC CORMORANTS.

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