[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (14 Apr 2024) 90 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 14, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	10	338	611
Osprey	19	253	254
Bald Eagle	0	11	33
Northern Harrier	3	85	97
Sharp-shinned Hawk	19	179	197
Cooper's Hawk	1	8	20
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	8	30
Broad-winged Hawk	22	171	171
Red-tailed Hawk	1	13	43
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	8	133	133
Merlin	0	9	15
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	2
Unknown Accipiter	2	5	5
Unknown Buteo	0	2	2
Unknown Falcon	1	5	6
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	6	6
Total:	90	1227	1625

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore, Don Thompson, Ed Hess, Jim Pinfold, Rich Fortin

Visitors:
29 visitors today.

Weather:
It was a fair-weather day at the summit. Temps were a comfortable 55 degree F for a high. Visibility was good and improved as the clouds rolled in. Skies were blue to start the day but slowly filled in as the day progressed. We had a very cool mix of cloud species which had me wishing I had brought my cloud atlas. Some very nice dark grey Lenticular clouds formed off to the W in the later afternoon. Winds were from the W and gusting at times but not severe. The afternoon had many more calm periods.

Raptor Observations:
A much lighter day of migration today, maybe due to the weather conditions, an emptying of the pipeline so to speak, or some other factors we're not aware of. Birds were scattered about, high and far without any singular flight paths developing. There were a few more thermals which lifted birds much higher than yesterday and with the blue sky this morning it was tough to find some of them. A few birds were found by assist of a lower obvious bird, only to be noticed cruising by much higher and further away in the background. Local birds were very active, displaying and hunting. We now have two pairs of local Coops which have all been flying together, and doing their moth-like wing beats.

Non-raptor Observations:
A single Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was a new arrival for the season and greeted my when I arrived. Also a calling Hermit Thrush was new from the summit. The surrounding woods remained mostly and there weren't many passerines moving through. Late in the afternoon we started to see the beginnings of a greater push of Cormorants with a skein of 61 birds.

Predictions:
Tomorrow should be another warm day around here with temps in the 50's and relatively clear skies. Winds may start out from the NW and switch to more W at around 8-10mph. Weather in the greater Hopkinton area of Massachusetts looks decent too, for Marathon Monday, with temps maybe a little warmer than ideal, but still good, in the 60's. There should be a light tailwind from the W, helping push large numbers of runners to the Boston finish. Visibility should be good so nobody strays from the course. Go Jeannette!

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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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