Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA
Visitors:
21 visitors to the hawkwatch today.
Weather:
Today was quite warm if you you were solely looking at the air temps. At the summit of Bradbury we were experiencing some of the worst wind conditions I can remember in my official time counting. Winds were blowing in from the SSE for the entire count period with gusts strong enough to force you to take a couple steps to maintain balance. My poor hat managed to find one of the only puddles on the summit. Chase the hat or hold the scope? I held the scope. The first hour of high wind was fun and exciting, but we all grew tired of it quickly. By late morning a break in the clouds appeared overhead, which gave me a few minutes to roll up my sleeves for the first time. Clouds filled back in after noon and the impending rain could be seen approaching from the WSW. Visibility was pretty good for most of the day, with the real problem being scope shaking from the wind, causing birds to jump around erratically in your field of vision and making ID a little more difficult. With 90 minutes left to go, the rain finally arrived and the count official ended. Overall a pretty comfortable, entertaining day, with a tincture of annoyance.
Raptor Observations:
I was on the fence as to whether today would produce some good birds or if it was going to be a dud. Turns out today was really good, and fun. Birds were moving early, and continued to move throughout the day. A little bit of a surprise was the number of Kestrels that went by. The highest winds seemed to bring one of the smallest of raptors. The small birds were covering some ground but they were also getting a little battered. Around midday a large slaty-grey grey bird appeared to the SE. Long pointed candlestick shaped wings and a relatively shorter stockier tail, was our first Peregrine of the season. Our other first for the season came just ahead of the coming rain, in classic fashion, it was an Osprey.
Non-raptor Observations:
The species list was a little low, due in part to the noisy wind. Northbound birds included: 310 American Robins 153 Common Grackles 147 Canada Geese 65 Blackbird Spp. 36 American Black Ducks 28 Common Mergansers 25 Red-winged Blackbirds 23 Duck Spp. 8 Mallards 4 Killdeer 4 Tree Swallows 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Belted Kingfisher
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like it could be contending with today for the title of, Most Annoying Conditions. High winds, in the 25-30mph range are predicted to be coming in from the NW, along with some colder air. Windchill factor could make it feel like the mid to high twenties. Don't be fooled by the sunshine on the first day of April tomorrow, as the summit will likely be cooler than one might expect. I'll find something up there, and I hope it's a raptor.
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]
Pownal, Maine, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 31, 2019 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 21 | 340 | 340 |
| Osprey | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 45 | 45 |
| Northern Harrier | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 6 | 15 | 15 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 3 | 19 | 19 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 7 | 53 | 53 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 8 | 94 | 94 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 20 | 26 | 26 |
| Merlin | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: | 73 | 614 | 614 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 15:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.33 hours |
| Official Counter | Zane Baker |
| Observers: | Becky Marvil, Dave Fensore, Mathew Gilbert |
Visitors:
21 visitors to the hawkwatch today.
Weather:
Today was quite warm if you you were solely looking at the air temps. At the summit of Bradbury we were experiencing some of the worst wind conditions I can remember in my official time counting. Winds were blowing in from the SSE for the entire count period with gusts strong enough to force you to take a couple steps to maintain balance. My poor hat managed to find one of the only puddles on the summit. Chase the hat or hold the scope? I held the scope. The first hour of high wind was fun and exciting, but we all grew tired of it quickly. By late morning a break in the clouds appeared overhead, which gave me a few minutes to roll up my sleeves for the first time. Clouds filled back in after noon and the impending rain could be seen approaching from the WSW. Visibility was pretty good for most of the day, with the real problem being scope shaking from the wind, causing birds to jump around erratically in your field of vision and making ID a little more difficult. With 90 minutes left to go, the rain finally arrived and the count official ended. Overall a pretty comfortable, entertaining day, with a tincture of annoyance.
Raptor Observations:
I was on the fence as to whether today would produce some good birds or if it was going to be a dud. Turns out today was really good, and fun. Birds were moving early, and continued to move throughout the day. A little bit of a surprise was the number of Kestrels that went by. The highest winds seemed to bring one of the smallest of raptors. The small birds were covering some ground but they were also getting a little battered. Around midday a large slaty-grey grey bird appeared to the SE. Long pointed candlestick shaped wings and a relatively shorter stockier tail, was our first Peregrine of the season. Our other first for the season came just ahead of the coming rain, in classic fashion, it was an Osprey.
Non-raptor Observations:
The species list was a little low, due in part to the noisy wind. Northbound birds included: 310 American Robins 153 Common Grackles 147 Canada Geese 65 Blackbird Spp. 36 American Black Ducks 28 Common Mergansers 25 Red-winged Blackbirds 23 Duck Spp. 8 Mallards 4 Killdeer 4 Tree Swallows 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Belted Kingfisher
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like it could be contending with today for the title of, Most Annoying Conditions. High winds, in the 25-30mph range are predicted to be coming in from the NW, along with some colder air. Windchill factor could make it feel like the mid to high twenties. Don't be fooled by the sunshine on the first day of April tomorrow, as the summit will likely be cooler than one might expect. I'll find something up there, and I hope it's a raptor.
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]
