[Maine-birds] Fw: Bradbury Mountain State Park (19 Apr 2022) 50 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 19, 2022
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	1	1
Turkey Vulture	0	285	470
Osprey	3	178	179
Bald Eagle	0	13	73
Northern Harrier	0	57	72
Sharp-shinned Hawk	11	352	382
Cooper's Hawk	0	19	36
Northern Goshawk	0	1	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	23	117
Broad-winged Hawk	36	671	671
Red-tailed Hawk	0	29	130
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	204	214
Merlin	0	13	17
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	3
Unknown Accipiter	0	5	6
Unknown Buteo	0	4	5
Unknown Falcon	0	1	1
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	6	7
Total:	50	1862	2387

Observation start time:	13:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	3 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:

Visitors:
1 Visitor, Elise who got to share a brief but fun flight.

Weather:
More SE wind tunnel conditions recreated the feel of car surfing at 30mph. The severe winds but mostly rain and poor visibility kept me away until 2pm when the fog had lifted enough to see the summit. For the first hour the visibility was about 5 miles with lots of moisture in the air. My scope lay prone for some time as I used binoculars and faced the wind with a slight forward leaning angle. Small tree branches were being snapped occasionally. By about 3:30 the fog had mostly lifted, leaving excellent visibility and the skies were getting brighter. Clouds eventually parted to reveal some blue patches, around the same time the winds swung around to the SW. There was a period of about 40 minutes when the winds let up but resumed blowing a little after 4pm. Winds shifted once more around this time, now coming slightly more WSW. A rain shower passed in the final minutes but we ended the day with about 5 minute of sun and strong winds to dry us back out. Waves offshore were crashing violently around Eagle Island and Halfway Rock lighthouse and the whitewater obscuring the structure at times. Despite the wild conditions this was an exciting afternoon and pretty fun and somehow more comfortable than yesterday.

Raptor Observations:
I was surprised to find a TV flying around when I arrived today, which didn't seem quite possible given the conditions. Once there was a slight change in wind direction and a bit of sun birds started popping up all around. It seemed like we were in for a wildly successful afternoon. Strong SW winds had birds moving pretty fast coming through in quick succession. It was all going great until winds shifted to more westerly and became stronger again. Also the passing showers appeared on radar to be just widespread enough to keep birds grounded, even though it was brief. Birds didn't take back to the skies even though the sun had returned later on. Hawkwatch Junco alerted me to a Sharpy I likely would have missed overhead.

Non-raptor Observations:
There were a few strange sounds coming from the rock face when I arrived to the summit. I had an idea of what it might be and decided to investigate. The sounds were a repetitive, short and nasally kind of mewing reminiscent of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I came around the cliff face to find my suspicion was correct. I walked up on a Porcupine which had it's back turned as it was maybe grooming itself while sitting in it's own waste at the entrance to the den. Seemed ironic and like poor anti predation behavior. That critter had no idea I was in its life for a brief moment in time. With just minutes to go a linear break in the clouds let in direct sun and with it the arrival of 18 Cedar Waxwings which perched briefly in the afternoon light. A nice way to wrap up the short day.

Predictions:
Winds will remain high tomorrow from the NW along with powerful gusts. There should be a mix of clouds and sun with fewer clouds in the afternoon. Temps should climb into the 50's. I'm hoping there are still remnants from today's flight waiting to go 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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