[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (10 May 2024) 66 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 10, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	628
Osprey	1	26	419
Bald Eagle	3	14	61
Northern Harrier	3	13	151
Sharp-shinned Hawk	12	102	489
Cooper's Hawk	1	9	39
American Goshawk	0	0	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	30
Broad-winged Hawk	42	198	1409
Red-tailed Hawk	1	1	51
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	15	309
Merlin	2	13	58
Peregrine Falcon	1	2	4
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	9
Unknown Buteo	0	0	4
Unknown Falcon	0	0	11
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	3	17
Total:	66	396	3690

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Amanda Petry, Dave Fensore, Dick Baker, Jim Pinfold

Visitors:
18 visitors today

Weather:
Today was nice albeit a little cool. The sky was great for spotting, with some beautiful cumulus clouds moving through in the morning hours, which also created some shade and chilly conditions. When the sun was shining it was quite nice. Winds, gusty at times helped keep temps from climbing much into the 50's. NNE breezes became onshore and strong from the SSE. Visibility was good today.

Raptor Observations:
The first couple of hours today were a repeat of yesterday with very empty airspace. About half an hour after the first breaks of sun a couple of circling Broad-wings turned into a few Broad-wings, then a nice little kettle of about a dozen birds which was the beginning of what turned into a decent two hours of migration. Higher winds seemed to settle things down and birds were passing by less frequently from there on out. Birds were high and often scattered about the sky. In the afternoon a few birds were coming at us from the W, quartering into the wind, almost moving sideways to keep their intended heading.

Non-raptor Observations:
Another uneventful morning for songbirds. Trees were mostly empty and by mid morning it was as though someone hit the mute button and bird song ceased to exist for a bit. I didn't see any predators in the area to cause such silence, and it was wide spread for a few minutes. Eventually a couple Pine Warblers spoke up and a couple other species followed suit. Two male Scarlet Tanagers made a brief stop at the summit but took off when I grabbed the camera. Later in the day I stumbled upon a Magnolia Warbler, due to the crinkling leaves it was picking through under some low hemlock bows. Not the bird I expected to find under there.

Predictions:
More of the same tomorrow it looks like. Temps will struggle to get into the mid 50's but the mostly cloudy skies may give us some breaks of sun and help with thermals. Winds will likely be light but from NNE and switching to more E as the day progresses.

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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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