[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (28 Mar 2016) Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 28, 2016
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	154	154
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	0	39	39
Northern Harrier	0	7	7
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	15	15
Cooper's Hawk	0	33	33
Northern Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	40	40
Broad-winged Hawk	0	1	1
Red-tailed Hawk	0	152	152
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	3	3
Merlin	0	2	2
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	2	2
Unknown Buteo	0	4	4
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	3	3
Total:	0	456	456

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	11:00:00
Total observation time:	3 hours
Official Counter	Anna Stunkel
Observers:

Visitors:
18 people visited the hawkwatch, including a class from Westbrook Middle School. Thank you for your interest on this chilly day! We hope to see you again when more birds are moving through.

Weather:
The morning started out overcast with a brisk east southeast wind, becoming more easterly later in the morning. The strength of this wind and the approaching rain kept raptor migrants at bay, although a few passerines were moving through. Drizzle began at around 10:45 am EST, and a slow-moving system of steady rain arrived. This ended the count for the day.

Raptor Observations:
No raptor migrants were observed. However, local Turkey Vultures were active along the horizon. A local Cooper's Hawk darted low around the mountain, curving behind the trees and then flying off towards Hedgehog Mountain. This bird appeared to be hunting.

Non-raptor Observations:
12 bird species were heard and/or seen. A pair of ravens flew close to the mountain with neck feathers fluffed, and seemed to be attempting a display flight. However, they were stalled by a gang of crows which began diving on them. Species deemed migrating:

28 American Robins

20 Common Grackles 2

duck sp.

1 American Goldfinch

1 finch sp.

Predictions:
Tomorrow should be a windy day, with winds northwesterly at 20 to 30 mph. Skies are predicted to be overcast. Despite the strong winds, there could be a push of migration following today's rain. The Hawk Migration Association of North America interviewed me recently, and posted the interview on their blog. Check it out, and take a look at some of their other cool blogposts. I look forward to getting to know you all up on the mountain! http://hmana.blogspot.com/2016/03/meet-hawkwatchers-anna-stunkel-bradbury.html

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Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at: www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/hawkwatch.asp