[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (06 Apr 2018) 23 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 06, 2018
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	9	341	545
Osprey	5	10	10
Bald Eagle	1	5	60
Northern Harrier	3	8	11
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	32	53
Cooper's Hawk	0	5	26
Northern Goshawk	0	0	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	13	59
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	2	42	145
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	4	13
Merlin	0	3	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	1
Unknown Buteo	0	0	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	2
Total:	23	463	935

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	15:00:00
Total observation time:	6.75 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Jeannette Lovitch

Visitors:
20 people visited the hawkwatch, though extended stays were short lived.

Weather:
Another cold and windy day at the summit. Winds quickly shifted from the W to SSE. Wind speeds remained high at about 20-25 mph, with occasional gusts of around 30 mph. Blue skies slowly succumbed to full cloud cover by early afternoon. Temps climbed to a high of around 38 degrees. By 3pm EST I could see the city of Portland, 18 miles to the SW, slowly disappear in the snowfall. 45 minutes later, the snow had reached the summit, and reduced visibility enough to end the count period.

Raptor Observations:
Not a bad day at all, considering the high winds. Three local, adult Bald Eagles put on a good show, directly over the summit. The birds were vocalizing and chasing one another. The two Red-tails which were counted, had gained substantial lift on this cloudy day, almost passing by without notice. The last bird of the day was an Osprey, at close range, mixing in with the edge of heavy snowfall.

Non-raptor Observations:
Another, or possibly the same Glossy Ibis was seen again today. This time the bird was following the same route, only in reverse order, headed to the NE.

Predictions:
Winds may remain high, at around 15-20 mph tomorrow, coming from the W. Temperatures could climb into the low to mid 40's. Cloud cover should remain minimal for the day. The summit trail is mostly free of ice, but the wet weather tonight, could make for slippery rocks and roots tomorrow.

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Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at: www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/bradbury-mountain-hawkwatch
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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