[Maine-birds] Fw: Bradbury Mountain State Park (23 Apr 2022) 174 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 23, 2022
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	1	1
Turkey Vulture	0	285	470
Osprey	8	193	194
Bald Eagle	1	19	79
Northern Harrier	1	58	73
Sharp-shinned Hawk	18	379	409
Cooper's Hawk	2	21	38
Northern Goshawk	0	1	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	1	26	120
Broad-winged Hawk	127	856	856
Red-tailed Hawk	0	29	130
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	10	217	227
Merlin	4	18	22
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	3
Unknown Accipiter	0	5	6
Unknown Buteo	0	4	5
Unknown Falcon	1	2	2
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	8	9
Total:	174	2122	2647

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Biz Houghton, Dave Fensore, Dave Gulick, Derek Lovitch, Don Thompson, Jim Pinfold

Visitors:
23 visitors today. The park was pretty crowded today but not the crowded public beach vibe we often experience.

Weather:
Certainly not inclement weather but not what I had envisioned given the reports. There was far less sun than anticipated with a very high and thin layer of clouds which moved in early and stayed around for almost the entire day. The morning hours had some stronger northerly winds as well which had me reaching for an extra layer of clothing. Winds continued to come from the north northwest all day with a little variability at the end of the count. Slowly, the skies became brighter and the temps eventually climbed into the upper 50's. Visibility was good but the monochromatic sky made for a bright day with a lot of squinting. Birds also appeared dark from all angles and distances until the late day sun poked out.

Raptor Observations:
The morning was pretty slow until we got a slight thinning of the clouds. Immediately it felt warmer and possibly improved thermal production because it wasn't long after that we started seeing more activity. Unfortunately the birds were extremely far or high today. Identifications couldn't be cinched by plumage on close birds and were based on shape and behavior, even the red on a Red-tail was tough to see in today's light. That's the majority of hawkwatching anyway but it is fun to admire some of these birds up close. There was some speculation this afternoon as to weather the winds aloft were more favorable to allow these birds to gain so much elevation and fast speeds despite the winds we were feeling at the summit, which made us think birds should have been a little lower. I suspect we missed some today. It was a good day overall but there was something odd about it. It felt like we should have seen more. We were getting fits and starts of birds. As soon as it looked like the floodgates were cracking open the flight would die down again. I was happy to see birds and not be listening to the wind all day.

Non-raptor Observations:
24 species were seen or heard today. A slightly early first of year Cliff Swallow came by in the afternoon.

Predictions:
Winds should remain light, from the north in the morning and southwest in the afternoon. Will it hold true? Cloud cover should be minimal and temps in the 50's again.

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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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