Sometimes raptors read the books - and the weather reports - and sometime they don't. While we expected birds to push through on mediocre conditions today, we most definitely did not expect a record-breaking flight! But clearly, raptors are as anxious and impatient for spring as the rest of us. New single-day records were smashed for Osprey and Northern Harrier, and our first Broad-wing of the season.
-Derek
Sent from my iPhone
>
>
> Bradbury Mountain State Park
> Pownal, Maine, USA
> Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 10, 2013
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
> ------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
> Black Vulture 0 0 0
> Turkey Vulture 3 115 305
> Osprey 139 182 184
> Bald Eagle 2 9 43
> Northern Harrier 46 64 70
> Sharp-shinned Hawk 102 151 180
> Cooper's Hawk 6 28 47
> Northern Goshawk 0 2 15
> Red-shouldered Hawk 8 25 100
> Broad-winged Hawk 1 1 1
> Red-tailed Hawk 8 75 252
> Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 2
> Golden Eagle 0 0 1
> American Kestrel 102 133 135
> Merlin 5 8 11
> Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
> Unknown Accipiter 0 0 4
> Unknown Buteo 0 2 5
> Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
> Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
> Unknown Raptor 5 10 21
>
> Total: 427 806 1377
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Observation start time: 08:00:00
> Observation end time: 16:00:00
> Total observation time: 8 hours
>
> Official Counter: Katrina Fenton
>
> Observers: Dave Gulick, Don Thompson, Jeannette Lovitch, Ken Klapper
>
> Visitors:
> 5. There were few witnesses to today's flight, but many thanks to those who
> ignored the weather and came out to help cover the sky.
>
>
> Weather:
> The morning dawned with the mountain swaddled in a sheath of fog. Familiar
> landmarks slowly emerged over the next few hours, and with them, passing
> migrants were revealed. The cloud cover rose, but remained all day, a
> marbled mix of charcoal, snow, and steel with lazuli glimmers. A faint,
> southern breeze was all the encouragement the feathered world needed to
> wing their way northward.
>
> Raptor Observations:
> For several hours, it seemed like wherever you turned your binoculars in
> the sky, there were birds. Scan on either side of an Osprey, and you'd find
> another, with five or more simultaniously visible at several points. Small
> bands of Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels swarmed in their midst,
> rounded winges matching pointed in a rather remarkable small raptor draw.
> Northern Harriers came through in a steady prossession, a platnum array of
> "gray ghost" males far outnumbering the earth-toned females and young. A
> single small, chunky buteo compounded the excitement, the first
> Broad-winged Hawk returning from its South American winter vacation.
> Records were set, then shattered for daily highs for Ospreys and Northern
> Harriers, and a new season record was reached with every passing
> Red-shouldered Hawk.
>
> Non-raptor Observations:
> 41 species were seen or heard at the hawkwatch today. Flocks of passerines
> drifted in and out of the morning fog, visible one moment, gone the next.
> Waterbirds of various forms trecked in single file across the sky. The
> flight deminished as the day progressed, then picked up again shortly after
> raptor numbers tapered off, ending the day as it began with smoky drifts of
> robins and blackbirds crossing the horizon.
>
>
> Non-raptor Migrants:
> Canada Goose- 26 Mallard- 4 American Black Duck- 6
> Common Merganser- 21 duck sp.- 1 waterfowl sp.- 17
> Great Blue Heron- 18 Double-crested Cormorant- 2
> Belted Kingfisher-2 Killdeer- 4 European Starling- 9
> Tree Swallow- 70 American Robin- 856
> Eastern Bluebird- 5 Common Grackle- 92
> Red-winged Blackbird- 99 Brown-headed Cowbird- 38
> blackbird sp.- 513 American Goldfinch- 3
> passerine sp.- 44
>
> Predictions:
> Winds from the north may call for a day of regrouping for raptors to our
> south after today's big push. The wind will be light, 5-10 mph, but it may
> develop an easterly component, which doesn't bode well for much of a
> flight. Skies will be nearly completely overcast, with a 40% chance of rain
> showers. Temperatures will be in the mid-40s. A few birds will be moving,
> especially if we stay dry, but it looks like the weather will be
> questionable until the weekend.
> ========================================================================
> Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
> Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at:
> www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/hawkwatch.asp
>
>
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