[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (12 May 2023) 22 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 12, 2023
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	2
Turkey Vulture	0	0	500
Osprey	4	26	277
Bald Eagle	2	15	68
Northern Harrier	1	6	82
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	72	383
Cooper's Hawk	1	5	37
Northern Goshawk	0	0	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	4	54
Broad-winged Hawk	8	129	2016
Red-tailed Hawk	1	10	76
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	1	1
American Kestrel	2	16	267
Merlin	1	15	67
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	4
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	8
Unknown Buteo	0	3	4
Unknown Falcon	0	0	4
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	5	21
Total:	22	308	3873

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Amanda Petry, Biz Houghton, Caroline Fensore, Dave Fensore, Dick Baker, Jen Baker

Visitors:
11 visitors.

Weather:
At the start of the second hour some rain which I was not expecting showed up and soaked the summit for about 30 minutes. The showers passed and the remaining clouds pushed off the the ESE, leaving plentiful sun and creating some nice humidity. Patchy clouds increased again in the afternoon. Temps reached into the mid 70's. Visibility was decent. Winds in the morning seemed to be coming from the N and eventually came around to the W. Not quite the forecast I was expecting.

Raptor Observations:
We never saw the WSW winds which had been predicted which was a bummer. There were still birds moving but they were few and far between. I was hoping for a sudden influx of birds after the morning rain as the sun was starting to produce thermals. Birds certainly found thermals but no kettles of immature Broad-wings. A couple of late day Osprey found a nice ride into the upper atmosphere, almost disappearing to the naked eye.

Non-raptor Observations:
Another first-of-year bird for the list was a Common Yellowthroat hopping around the base of the Juniper bushes. Not a bird we see much of from the summit. Before the rain came I got to watch and listen to a couple male Scarlet Tanagers at the summit. I trained my scope on one to get an up close and personal look. As I dialed in the focus wheel a Blackburnian joined the Tanager on an adjacent perch in the same field of view. It would have made for a cool photo but I only had a pico second before they moved.

Predictions:
Sunny, in the 60's with NW and WNW winds blowing 10-15, or so they say.

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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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