Bradbury Mountain State ParkPownal, Maine, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 21, 2022 |
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 285 | 470 |
| Osprey | 2 | 182 | 183 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 13 | 73 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 57 | 72 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 358 | 388 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 19 | 36 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 2 | 25 | 119 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 15 | 698 | 698 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 29 | 130 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 2 | 206 | 216 |
| Merlin | 1 | 14 | 18 |
| 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: | 25 | 1904 | 2429 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Zane Baker |
| Observers: | Dave Fensore, Derek Lovitch, Jim Pinfold |
Visitors:30 visitors today, many from out of state.
Weather:Lots of wind today which was steady from start to finish. A few stronger gusts in the afternoon, all coming from the southeast. A veil of high thin clouds during the morning allowed a little diffuse sunlight to keep temps fairly mild , in the mid 40's. More dense clouds moved in during the afternoon, eliminating the sun, and with the combination of wind-chill the temps dropped a bit. Visibility was ok with a light haze washing out colors and details. Scope-shaking was an issue with identification as distant birds jumped around in the field of view.
Raptor Observations:It was a pretty spread out flight today but there was something about the 12 o'clock hour that had some appeal to the birds, which was our most productive time, with a whopping 11 birds that hour. We averaged 3.375 birds per hour. Local birds braved the elements for most of the day including local 'tails Vultures and Eagles. With the strong SE winds there did seem to be an updraft off the face of the mountain birds were using today. Birds flying over the mountain gained a substantial amount of lift. Sharp-shinned hawks could be seen entering the updraft and being lifted straight up rapidly. With a lack of sun and high winds the idea of thermals seemed implausible. For only 485' above sea level some birds seemed to be using The Brad more like a ridgeline sight today.
Non-raptor Observations:Only 18 species for the day's list. Not a bad movement of Cormorants throughout the count period. A total of about 786 passed by often, in groups of around 7 or 55.
Predictions:At this point what's another day of windy weather? The direction appears to be changing to the NW but the intensity looks like it'll remain about the same, in the teens and gusting to the mid 20mph range. Trees to our west may block some of the wind and the sun should be shining a little brighter. Temps could get toasty, into the high 50's. I think we'll fair better for comfort and hopefully birds too.
Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (
freeportwildbird@yahoo.com)
Bradbury Mountain State Park information may be found at:
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com/bradbury-mountain-hawkwatchMore information at
hawkcount.org: [
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