[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (03 Apr 2024) Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 03, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	34	307
Osprey	0	4	5
Bald Eagle	0	4	26
Northern Harrier	0	6	18
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	14	32
Cooper's Hawk	0	2	14
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	2	24
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	0	4	34
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	6	6
Merlin	0	0	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	1	2
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	0	77	475

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	13:00:00
Total observation time:	5 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore, Jim Pinfold

Visitors:
7 visitors today. One teenager climbed to the top of the tall pine at the summit and became the new leader of the tree, like a star on a Christmas tree. Given the brittle tree and the sizable kid, I was about to see if LifeFlight takes reservations.

Weather:
Today's weather was a little chillier than what we have been experiencing lately. Definitely not horrible for a hawkwatch but not the most comfortable. E winds were unobstructed as they swept over the summit. There were a few periods of calm but those became less frequent as the time passed. By midday the winds were accompanied by some drizzle and a few snowflakes. Skies were completely cloudy and temps were in the mid 30's. Visibility was very good but not quite excellent. With spitting drizzle and the winter storm warning being moved up and nothing flying, we closed shop at 2pm EDT.

Raptor Observations:
Even with the remarkable visibility we still had a hard time finding birds in the air. There were a few brief appearances by a couple of our local birds but they didn't stay up for long.

Non-raptor Observations:
It was very quiet at the summit. Hawkwatch Junco didn't even come out of hiding and only sang from cover. I did get a fleeting glimpse of about 5 Red Crossbills heading into the trees near the parking area and a couple Goldfinches. Other than that it seemed like Herring Gulls were the most active today. The only birds spotted heading N was our first-of-year Belted Kingfisher and a Goldfinch.

Predictions:
I am confident I will not be on the summit tomorrow. A mix of heavy snow and rain is heading our way which could accumulate substantially in the area. Wet snow and predicted wind gusts in the 50 mph range will likely take down more trees and create some outages. I think I will be laying low along with the birds. Whenever we get back up there we may be counting birds headed south, especially some of the insectivores.

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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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