[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (11 May 2018) 6 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 11, 2018
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	564
Osprey	4	58	333
Bald Eagle	0	1	76
Northern Harrier	0	6	84
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	123	465
Cooper's Hawk	0	8	77
Northern Goshawk	0	2	8
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	2	78
Broad-winged Hawk	2	388	1616
Red-tailed Hawk	0	6	190
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	75	317
Merlin	0	18	54
Peregrine Falcon	0	4	6
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	8
Unknown Buteo	0	2	8
Unknown Falcon	0	0	1
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	10	25
Total:	6	704	3910

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore

Visitors:
20 visitors today.

Weather:
A local paving operation almost caused a delayed start today. Almost. I was forced to make a record setting attempt, at an ascent up the summit trail. I'm pleased to say it was a personal best, which left me with 20 seconds to spare before the hour. After the coughing fit and nausea subsided, I was able to realize just how nice of a day it was. The sky at the start of the day was perfect for hawkwatching, with high thin Cirrus clouds broken up by streaks of blue sky. Cloud cover diminished by midday, revealing a blanket of blue. Temperatures were nice, in the mid to high 60s. Winds remained relatively strong for most of the day, coming from the W and N, but often swirling around the summit.

Raptor Observations:
Migrant raptors are trying to make me nervous about reaching my goal of 4000 birds for the season, but there are still four days left in the count, so essentially we're just entering the first quarter of the final game. The wind was a likely culprit in keeping birds grounded today. There wasn't much in terms of local birds or migrants.

Non-raptor Observations:
The surrounding area was pretty quiet today. I was trying my best to pick out distant calls and songs, and scanning local fields, in order to increase my daily species count. I only came up with 27 birds. A Black-throated Blue Warbler, perched in the open was a nice treat earlier in the count period.

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like it could be a little cool, with high temps around 50 degrees. Clouds should be increasing throughout the day, with a slight chance of rain in the afternoon. Winds may start out light, from the SE, and shift around to the S and possibly a little SW before the count is over. Wind speeds are predicted to reach about 10 mph, which just means we'll have to count faster.

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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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