[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (14 May 2016) 35 Raptors

And a special guest appearance by the 2015 Official Counter, Andrew Wolfgang...

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 14, 2016
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	1	1
Turkey Vulture	0	0	260
Osprey	3	59	509
Bald Eagle	0	6	65
Northern Harrier	2	8	131
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	75	743
Cooper's Hawk	1	5	69
Northern Goshawk	0	0	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	1	75
Broad-winged Hawk	18	270	2112
Red-tailed Hawk	2	7	245
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	3	16	429
Merlin	2	14	76
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	6
Unknown Buteo	1	1	13
Unknown Falcon	0	0	4
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	3	24
Total:	35	466	4765

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Anna Stunkel
Observers:	Andrew Wolfgang, Derek Lovitch, Don Thompson, Zane Baker

Visitors:
22 people visited the hawk watch

Weather:
Winds started out light and mostly from the northwest. In the afternoon, wind speed picked up a bit and became southerly. Temperatures were mostly in the sixties and seventies, with clear skies in the morning and cloud cover increasing as the day progressed. There was haze along the horizon again, caused by the fires in western Canada.

Raptor Observations:
There was a slow but steady movement of raptors today, with nice species diversity. Broad-winged Hawks were most active in the morning and early afternoon, and many birds were distant. A beautiful second year male Northern Harrier flying close to the summit was a nice highlight at the end of the day.

Non-raptor Observations:
The first Wood Thrush of the season was heard singing its flutelike, ethereal song this morning, and the first Least Flycatcher of the season was calling. A beautiful male Blackburnian Warbler hopped into the junipers, providing a nice and close view. 50 bird species were observed.

Species deemed migrating:

33 Tree Swallows

21 Barn Swallows

17 Double-crested Cormorants

12 swallow sp.

10 Chimney Swifts

3 Blue Jays

2 American Goldfinches

2 Cliff Swallows

1 Bobolink

1 Canada Goose

1 Common Loon

Predictions:
Tomorrow is expected to be mostly cloudy, with moderate to strong westerly winds. Wind speed should increase as the day goes on, with temperatures in the mid to high fifties. Although it may be a slow and steady day, the wind could bring birds in low and close and allow some nice views. Tomorrow is the last day of the hawkwatch season, and we hope to see you at the summit!

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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