[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (03 Apr 2022) 79 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 03, 2022
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	48	95	280
Osprey	4	10	11
Bald Eagle	0	1	61
Northern Harrier	6	15	30
Sharp-shinned Hawk	6	7	37
Cooper's Hawk	1	1	18
Northern Goshawk	0	0	2
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	5	99
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	6	7	108
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	4	5	15
Merlin	1	2	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	3
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	1
Unknown Buteo	0	0	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	1
Total:	79	148	673

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore, Jim Pinfold, Katrina Fenton, Levi Burford

Visitors:
It was a pleasure to have some very skillful hawkwatchers join us at the mountain today. My mentor Katrina and her husband Levi who both are seasoned birders and have led hawkwatch projects helped sharpen my skills. Thanks for your help and sharing your knowledge with me and others. Also thanks to the other watchful eyes who join me at The Brad. 28 visitors today.

Weather:
Today's weather played out about how it was predicted. We did see a little bit of blue skies but for the most part it was an overcast day with light breezes from the east and southeast. Visibility was pretty good throughout the count with a short period of pretty bad heat shimmer which distorted our view. Temperatures started out in the mid 30's and quickly climbed to the mid 40's.

Raptor Observations:
Despite the easterly winds we had a fairly productive day with Turkey Vultures making up the bulk of the movement. Even with clouds overhead some birds were finding some lift to carry them pretty high above. Another good showing of Harriers today. Closest bird of the day was a Merlin powering by in front of and over the summit. Unfortunately for a young birder with a love for Kestrels, he left about 20 seconds too early as one appeared while the birder disappeared.

Non-raptor Observations:
A few more passerines today but no first of season sightings. Levi caught a brief glimpse of 3 more Sandhill Cranes which were cruising behind the mountain to our north. 27 species were seen or heard today.

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like we'll have higher are temps, in the high 40's but we're going to be contending with higher winds from the northwest. Winds could be gusting into the upper 20's. Clouds should diminish in the morning providing some sunshine for most of the day.

---

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]

---