[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (15 Apr 2016) 54 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 15, 2016
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	38	260
Osprey	18	85	87
Bald Eagle	0	7	53
Northern Harrier	2	15	32
Sharp-shinned Hawk	12	84	123
Cooper's Hawk	0	9	53
Northern Goshawk	0	0	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	2	16	65
Broad-winged Hawk	12	36	37
Red-tailed Hawk	1	23	206
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	6	50	85
Merlin	0	6	10
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	2	7
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	2	8
Total:	54	374	1032

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Anna Stunkel
Observers:	Bob Huber, Rick Hartzell, Tom Downing

Visitors:
38 people visited the hawkwatch.

Weather:
It was quite blustery today, with some periods of relative calm interspersed with strong gusts. In general, winds came from the north and calmed as the day progressed. Skies were clear and temperatures were mostly in the low fifties.

Raptor Observations:
Species diversity and numbers were similar to yesterday, with decent numbers of Osprey, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and Broad-winged Hawks. Many of today's birds were distant specks along the horizon, although the number of close birds increased during the afternoon. Again, raptors were following low flight paths, probably because of the gusts and poor thermal development. A local Cooper's Hawk was displaying near Eagle Island this morning, and the local Red-tailed Hawk pair was hunting in the gap.

Non-raptor Observations:
One Sandhill Crane was seen near the Brunswick communication tower. The bird allowed excellent views, circling around for a bit before heading northwards. Six Cedar Waxwings flew by, perhaps the same group from yesterday.

Species deemed migrating:

22 Tree Swallows

14 Double-crested Cormorants

10 American Robins

4 finch sp.

3 Common Mergansers

3 duck sp.

3 Purple Finches

1 Sandhill Crane

Predictions:
Tomorrow should be a good day of hawkwatching, with clear skies and temperatures in the low fifties. Moderate winds should be mostly north northeasterly. Winds may be gusty in the morning, but calming as the day progresses. This calming should encourage birds to move through, and we could get a nice afternoon flurry of migration.

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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