Bradbury Mountain State ParkPownal, Maine, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: May 09, 2017 |
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 511 |
| Osprey | 1 | 22 | 334 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 5 | 75 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 6 | 178 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 5 | 93 | 592 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 4 | 64 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 1 | 125 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | 52 | 1355 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 8 | 169 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 9 | 427 |
| Merlin | 0 | 9 | 53 |
| 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 | 1 | 5 | 33 |
| Total: | 9 | 217 | 3947 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Zane Baker |
| Observers: | Dave Gulick, Sea Mckeon |
Visitors:27 people came to the hawkwatch.
Weather:Today was raw and chilly at the summit of Bradbury Mountain. Temps remained in the low 40s for most of the count. The last hour of the day was by far the warmest, when temps reached the high 40s. Winds were very light early on and dropped to zero by early afternoon. Clouds remained mostly stationary for the day. One half moon chunk of clear blue sky to the southeast did not move or change shape for most of the day. A few drops of rain plus some sleet fell on the mountain for a very short duration. Visibility was unbelievably good by late afternoon. I should make a correction to yesterday's reference to hail. Hail forms under different atmospheric conditions than we had yesterday, so what I referenced was technically not hail, and more likely sleet or graupel.
Raptor Observations:I arrived at the mountain just in time to see a local block party dispersing. Buteos, Eagles, Vultures, and Accipiters were all packing up and heading home for the day, not to be seen again. There was not much happening after the first hour. The birds counted were really the only birds in the sky, with the exception of a couple of Turkey Vultures. One migrant here, one there.
Non-raptor Observations:Again, there was not much happening today. The 32 species counted from the summit were mostly collected during the first hour of the count. Bird song was almost non existent for the day. It felt very strange to be looking at trees leafing out in early May, with no wind or rain and not be hearing anything but your own pulse. In the last few minutes of the count Dave Gulick and I watched Hawkwatch Junco and his new Blackburnian friend forage for food throughout the Juniper bushes.
Predictions:Tomorrow is forecast to be partly cloudy in the morning with increasing clouds in the afternoon. Showers are a possibility in the afternoon. Temps should be in the mid 50s and winds appear to be light from the northwest at 5-10mph. Maybe something will move ahead of the showers predicted for later in the day.
Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (
freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at:
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/hawkwatch.asp 
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