[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (21 Apr 2024) 413 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 21, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	355	628
Osprey	17	349	350
Bald Eagle	3	17	39
Northern Harrier	1	120	132
Sharp-shinned Hawk	22	308	326
Cooper's Hawk	1	13	25
American Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	8	30
Broad-winged Hawk	350	1077	1077
Red-tailed Hawk	1	19	49
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	8	273	273
Merlin	8	23	29
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	2
Unknown Accipiter	0	7	7
Unknown Buteo	0	4	4
Unknown Falcon	1	9	10
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	14	14
Total:	413	2598	2996

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

Visitors:
It was a busy day at the park, with 40 people stopping by the site to chat and ask questions.

Weather:
Today started with mostly clear skies and a light breeze from the NW. Clouds slowly started to fill in throughout the morning, becoming mostly cloudy by the early afternoon. The winds weren't exactly what was predicted or what we had hoped for. Winds shifted through a westerly direction in the morning and moved to mostly SSE for most of the day with limited periods of our beloved SW. During the midday hours we did experience some gusting and chilly temps. The afternoon was a mix of calm followed by light winds with an onshore flow. Temps just barely reached 50. Visibility was good.

Raptor Observations:
It was good day of hawkwatching with many birds passing directly overhead. The action started very abruptly at the end of the first hour. We went from no birds moving, to a sudden kettle of 14 BW's and then more kept flowing through for the next few hours. Birds were coming at us form the W and SW mostly. Birds were finding plenty of lift today as well, with many appearing as small specks when viewed through binoculars overhead. Birds passed through in smaller numbers, often 3-6 at a time and often solo. I apologize to everyone for my quick-on-the-trigger mistaken ID. Sorry for the disappointment.

Non-raptor Observations:
a Blue-headed Vireo and a couple Pine Warblers were active at the summit this morning, but things got quiet fairly early with the addition of the wind. There were not many song birds moving today. 67 Cormorants and 12 Tree Swallows were counted moving N. The highlight was a pair of Sandhill Cranes Derek had spotted moving WSW mid morning.

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like a blue sky day through and through. Temps will likely be in the low 50's but the winds might pose a small challenge. NW winds are predicted to be blowing around 10mph but gusting into the 20mph range which may slow migration. It is April though, so it's hard to say for sure.

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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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