[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (30 Apr 2017) 55 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 30, 2017
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	1	1
Turkey Vulture	0	251	511
Osprey	2	312	312
Bald Eagle	0	35	70
Northern Harrier	2	168	172
Sharp-shinned Hawk	15	487	499
Cooper's Hawk	0	52	60
Northern Goshawk	0	5	7
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	76	124
Broad-winged Hawk	30	1303	1303
Red-tailed Hawk	1	99	161
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	417	418
Merlin	2	43	44
Peregrine Falcon	0	5	6
Unknown Accipiter	0	5	5
Unknown Buteo	1	5	6
Unknown Falcon	0	2	2
Unknown Eagle	0	1	1
Unknown Raptor	1	24	28
Total:	55	3291	3730

Observation start time:	07:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8.25 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Julie Krasne, Mathew Gilbert, Sea Mckeon

Visitors:
45 people stopped to visit the hawkwatch at the summit today. Many more were seen having picnics, walking dogs or exercising. Bradbury seemed like the popular place to be. Thanks to Sea and Julie for talking with people and sharing their personal optics with other people.

Weather:
Today was much cooler than yesterday with highs barely reaching 50. Wind remained light for most of the day from the northwest and west. For the last two hours the winds shifted to southeast and increased in intensity making it feel much more like late March or early April. A few drops of rain fell from time to time as some precipitation could be seen to the west. Visibility this morning was disrupted by a lot of heat distortion which subsided in the afternoon.

Raptor Observations:
Having been spoiled by such high numbers yesterday, I needed to be reminded that today is still considered a good day of counting. Proportionally it sure felt slow compared to yesterday, but we did see birds consistently; each hour of the count saw at least a few migrants. This was better than single-digit March days. Birds were scattered across the sky but remained relatively low.

Non-raptor Observations:
In the first hour of the count when the sun was still shining 3 Evening Grosbeaks screamed past the summit low. Their flight call alerted me where to look as I caught a fleeting glimpse of yellow, black, and white. The first "footless" bird showed up at the mountain today, a Chimney Swift, which is a member of the Apodidae family. Apodidae is derived from the Greek (apous) meaning "footless" and is a reference to the birds small often hard to see legs and feet.

Predictions:
Tomorrow probably won't be very warm, with temps predicted to be in the mid 40s. Rain showers are likely throughout the day. Winds should be from the east and southeast, maybe at 10-15mph. A bit of a toss-up tomorrow. I honestly don't really know what to expect for migrants if the predicted conditions hold true. Osprey, Harrier?

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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