[Maine-birds] Fw: Bradbury Mountain State Park (07 May 2023) 70 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 07, 2023
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	2
Turkey Vulture	0	0	500
Osprey	1	18	269
Bald Eagle	2	9	62
Northern Harrier	1	3	79
Sharp-shinned Hawk	28	55	366
Cooper's Hawk	1	3	35
Northern Goshawk	0	0	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	1	51
Broad-winged Hawk	27	83	1970
Red-tailed Hawk	3	5	71
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	1	1
American Kestrel	4	9	260
Merlin	0	12	64
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	4
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	8
Unknown Buteo	0	1	2
Unknown Falcon	0	0	4
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	3	5	21
Total:	70	206	3771

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Biz Houghton, Dick Baker, Jen Baker, Jim Pinfold, Lluis Gustamante, Mike Chace, Nate Johnson

Visitors:
42 visitors today

Weather:
Another stunning day of weather to be outside counting hawks. The air was warm, almost hot and in the low 70's. The sky was pretty clear this morning but some scattered clouds started to fill in mid to late morning, providing brief periods of shade and good spotting conditions. Winds at the summit were light for the most part but reports to our south were measuring strong gusts from the NW. Visibility was a little tricky with the heat distortion and a lot of blue sky for birds to get lost in.

Raptor Observations:
Another decent day for migration but still no immature BW's. Birds were finding plenty of thermals today and many were spotted thousands of feet above our heads. My neck has given a slight reminder of how much we all looked straight up today. Early on some birds were getting lost in the blue sky but the clouds which moved in provided some nice contrast for us. Unfortunately with such a great hawkwatching sky in the afternoon the flights started to slow. There was a lot of Eagle activity today, often groups of three at a time soaring way above us. Onlookers eager to see an Eagle were a little disappointed when they realized the big birds looked the same as the ants at their feet. We had a nice view of a dispute between a Broad-wing and a Red-tail which the 'tail didn't seem too bothered by but later on the tables turned and the 'tail brought in reinforcement. The two 'tails teamed up and put the BW in it's place which quickly turned tail and scooted out of dodge.

Non-raptor Observations:
Pretty quiet yet again. More Blue Jays were moving early but it was pretty slow for migrants or adding birds to the species list. Chimney Swifts were our only first-of-season bird today. Tree and Barn Swallows were quite active around the area for much of the day. The afternoon was exceedingly quiet.

Predictions:
Tomorrow should be mostly sunny but cooler and in the low to mid 60's. More blue sky could make spotting difficult but it's better than fog. Winds are still predicted to be in the 10-15mph range and from the NW 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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