[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (13 May 2017) 21 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 13, 2017
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	1	1	2
Turkey Vulture	0	0	511
Osprey	4	29	341
Bald Eagle	0	5	75
Northern Harrier	2	8	180
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	97	596
Cooper's Hawk	0	6	66
Northern Goshawk	0	0	7
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	3	127
Broad-winged Hawk	4	60	1363
Red-tailed Hawk	2	10	171
Rough-legged Hawk	0	1	1
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	4	15	433
Merlin	2	16	60
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	7
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	6
Unknown Buteo	0	0	6
Unknown Falcon	0	0	2
Unknown Eagle	0	0	1
Unknown Raptor	0	5	33
Total:	21	258	3988

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Gulick, Derek Lovitch

Visitors:
53 people came by today, including some of the regulars who said goodbye and wished me luck for the final days of the count.

Weather:
The start of today's count was pleasant with mild temperatures and mostly sunny skies. High thin clouds made for a pale blue sky. Around mid morning a sun halo was present, indicating moisture and the formation of ice crystals in the atmosphere. By the afternoon more dense clouds arrived and obscured any direct sunlight. Winds were fairly mild but remained steady from the southeast for the day. With increasing clouds in the afternoon plus the onshore breeze temperatures began to fall from the high 50s to low 50s.

Raptor Observations:
If today is the unofficial end of the season due to coming weather, it was a good one. I got to see a few more of my personal favorites today; Kestrels and Harriers, plus another rarity. At 12:50 I watched two Broad-wings escort a third Broad-wing out of the area. While watching the bird glide off to the northeast I caught a glimpse of a dark bird which flashed a light patch as it dipped its wings. I switched out my binoculars for my Leica spotting scope and immediately recognized our second Black Vulture of the 2017 season. With the sun at my back and the bird relatively close, I could easily see the silvery white stars under the wingtips. I watched the bird for over a minute as it slowly drifted in a semicircle around the mountain. I was hoping to witness the spastic wing-beats but the bird remained in a soar until it disappeared from view.

Non-raptor Observations:
Well, I tried to get another first of year bird for my season's species list, but I came up short. There were birds singing for the first few hours this morning,quieting down midday and picking up slightly again in the afternoon. I ended the day with a total of 37 species.

Predictions:
Unless you're Aquaman tomorrow doesn't look great for feathered creatures. The following was copied directly from Wunderground's Scientific Forecaster Discussion. "Not a very nice day Sunday, with low pressure just off to our east. Rain is expected throughout the day, but at least the heaviest rainfall will be pushing off to the east during the afternoon hours. Even so, rain, drizzle, cold temps, and stiff northerly winds will make it a not so nice mother's day." There you have it; stay in and call your mom.

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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