[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (28 Apr 2021) 117 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 28, 2021
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	2
Turkey Vulture	0	94	603
Osprey	5	277	280
Bald Eagle	1	59	105
Northern Harrier	0	58	72
Sharp-shinned Hawk	14	471	498
Cooper's Hawk	1	48	82
Northern Goshawk	0	1	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	56	123
Broad-winged Hawk	82	1400	1400
Red-tailed Hawk	1	64	157
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	6	258	278
Merlin	4	40	48
Peregrine Falcon	0	7	10
Unknown Accipiter	0	6	10
Unknown Buteo	0	5	8
Unknown Falcon	0	4	4
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	28	35
Total:	117	2876	3717

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Andrew Sharp
Observers:

Visitors:
15 visitors today. Bill, I forgot to write your last name down so I couldnt add you as a counter, my apologies!

Weather:
Winds were quite calm at the start of the day, and increased in small increments every few hours. Temps ranged from 52 to 63. The rain held off until about 3 minutes after the count ended. Bugs were obnoxious until the wind picked up enough to keep them at bay.

Raptor Observations:
Today was such a strange day. In the first 5 hours of the day I observed 3 migrating raptors. This was despite the weak but favorable southwest winds. Just before 3pm, as I was thinking about what a disappointing day it had been, I was scanning and picked up a kettle of about 15 Broad-wings. Over the next 2 hours I tallied 114 raptors, including 81 Broad-wings. I have no idea what accounted from the sudden uptick in migration, unless the birds were waiting for the wind to strengthen enough to make it worth their while. Overall, a good day!

Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors deemed migratory are as follows: -Tree Swallow: 15 -Double-crested Cormorant: 185 -Great Blue Heron: 4 -Common Grackle: 1 -Barn Swallow:1 -Passerine Spp.: 10 35 species were detected from the summit, including 4 Red Crossbills that were perched in an oak tree preening as I arrived this morning. 1 horse today.

Predictions:
Northeast winds in the morning, switching to southeast in the afternoon, brining with it more rain. Conditions aren't very favorable but you never know, birds may be anxious to migrate before the impending rainstorm.

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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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