[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (12 May 2024) 11 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 12, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	628
Osprey	3	31	424
Bald Eagle	0	14	61
Northern Harrier	0	13	151
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	105	492
Cooper's Hawk	0	9	39
American Goshawk	0	0	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	30
Broad-winged Hawk	4	202	1413
Red-tailed Hawk	0	2	52
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	17	311
Merlin	2	15	60
Peregrine Falcon	0	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:	11	413	3707

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

Visitors:
A sunny and warm Mother's Day brought 46 visitors to the site and many more to the park.

Weather:
Today was pretty nice, finally. It was a great sky for spotting birds, if they had been up there. A nice mix of different cloud species with breaks of blue sky. Winds were light but variable. Rain showers could be seen falling all around throughout the day. It was fun to see the twisted path downward the rains took, pushed and pulled by the wind. On a plumbline, the rain looked to be hitting the ground a mile from where it exited the clouds, making large wavy S-curves. Drizzle finally hit the mountain with 3 minutes to go.

Raptor Observations:
One more day picking up scraps. Maybe that's not fair but it was slim pickings. Local birds don't seem to be spending as much time displaying or actively hunting in the past few days. Birds, including Osprey were coming by the mountain solo today. Skies remained empty for the majority of the day with locals becoming more active in the afternoon.

Non-raptor Observations:
A fleeting glimpse of one male American Redstart was the only new species for the season today. This morning I was doing my best to be polite and not stare but I kept catching myself eyeballing a Blackburnian Warbler who was right out in the open for the world to see.

Predictions:
Clouds may diminish before returning again in the afternoon. Temps should be in the mid to upper 50's. Winds look to be from a familiar SE direction and possibly gusty in the afternoon. With more rain in the forecast, tomorrow could be our last hope.

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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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