[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (30 Mar 2017) 22 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 30, 2017
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	5	39	39
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	3	33	33
Northern Harrier	0	2	2
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	10	10
Cooper's Hawk	0	6	6
Northern Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	23	23
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	9	35	35
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	1
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	1	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	3	3
Total:	22	154	154

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	17:00:00
Total observation time:	8.25 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Derek Lovitch, Tom Downing

Visitors:
11 people visited the count today, including some young and enthusiastic birders. It was nice to see some interest from younger generations.

Weather:
It was a beautiful morning to start the count today. However, winds were a little stronger than expected with stiff gusts at a times. Winds were primarily from the north most of the day. Cloud cover was very light and scattered. Temperatures reached into the forties by mid afternoon. Visibility was okay, except for excessive heat shimmer.

Raptor Observations:
Raptors were moving through the area today, but numbers are still seasonably low. Local birds were highly active again today. Bald Eagles were seen courting and displaying pair bonding behavior.

Non-raptor Observations:
Within the first hour of the count, I was greeted by about 80 Bohemian Waxwings. The birds perched in a nearby tree before flying directly at my head. I was momentarily part of their flock. Some birds landed near my feet, while others split off to search Juniper bushes for food. 71 American Crows were seen in a few separate groups headed north. 23 species were seen or heard from the summit today.

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like a cloudy day from start to finish. Temps gradually increase to the high 30's by early afternoon. Winds from the north may start the day and gradually become more easterly by the time things wrap up. It appears any precipitation should hold off until about 5:00pm. It's hard to say whether birds will try to move before the approaching storm. My guess is that the morning hours will have more movement than later in the day.

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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