[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (19 Mar 2023) 16 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 19, 2023
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	8	33	33
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	0	24	24
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	3	3
Cooper's Hawk	0	2	2
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	13	13
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	3	15	15
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	1	1
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	16	91	91

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Nate Johnson

Visitors:
32 visitors made brief visits to the summit today. The wind seemed to be a deterrent for loitering.

Weather:
Today was pretty blustery, as expected. Winds were coming straight out of the west all day with some strong gusts. Skies were partly to mostly cloudy. Temperatures stayed right at the freezing mark. Visibility was good with some heat shimmer.

Raptor Observations:
Not bad for early in the season and strong winds. Had the winds been more northerly or easterly I don't think we would have seen as many migrants. Birds that were moving north had a little assistance as they zipped by quartering into the wind. Local activity was light and mostly occurred in the first half of the day. A local pair of Red-tails had a pair of Ravens shadowing them for much of the time they were seen. The 'tails didn't appear to appreciate being tailed.

Non-raptor Observations:
Not much for passerines today. A handful of Grackles and a couple of Robins moving north. Hawkwatch Junco accompanied me in the morning chatting up a storm.

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like it could be just as windy as today but a more favorable SW direction. We should have more direct sun as well and some higher temps closer to 40. Tomorrow will be interesting if the forecast holds true. I don't recall experiencing a high and gusting SW wind this early in the count season. That is quite a strong tailwind for northbound birds.

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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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