[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (16 Mar 2022) 71 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 16, 2022
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	10	41	41
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	6	29	29
Northern Harrier	3	3	3
Sharp-shinned Hawk	4	5	5
Cooper's Hawk	2	6	6
Northern Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	19	26	26
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	27	35	35
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	1
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	1
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	71	148	148

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:
9 people stopped by the hawckwatch today including a couple of newer birders. Thanks for the help

Weather:
The day started out damp and chilly. The remnants of the overnight precipitation was melting and dripping from the trees, making the footing a little slick. Dense fog and clouds shrouded the summit for the first hour and a half, reducing visibility to less than a quarter mile. The fog cleared by mid morning but the clouds took a while longer than I had hoped. Temps started out just above freezing and finished out in the low forties. The Sun eventually shined bright by mid afternoon and the wind picked up a bit from the south. Visibility was good with the exception of the early hours.

Raptor Observations:
A very slow start to the count period. No birds were tallied for the first two hours, after which a few things trickled through. Around 2pm birds started coming through pretty steadily. A good day for Red-shoulders and Red-tails. We saw our first kettle of eight 'tails. Some great looks at shoulders in the afternoon light flying in unison. We saw our first Harriers of the season today which is always a favorite.

Non-raptor Observations:
There was not a lot of passerine movement today. Some blackbirds moved through in a couple of large groups along with Crows and a handful of Robins. The highlight today was a pair of Sandhill Cranes which showed up later in the day, to our west. They were fairly close but backlit. They circled a couple times before disappearing behind the trees. There were 27 species seen or heard today including: 251 Common Grackles 146 American crows 122 Red-winged Blackbirds 101 Canada Geese 41 American Robins 2 Sandhill Cranes

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks similar to todays weather. There could be some fog in the morning to contend with. Temps may be in the mid 30's to start, warming into the mid 40's by the end of the count. Winds should be light from the south and southwest. Likely a mix of clouds and sun. Good conditions for day 3 of the season.

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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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