[Maine-birds] Fw: Bradbury Mountain State Park (01 May 2022) 295 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 01, 2022
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	1
Turkey Vulture	0	0	470
Osprey	13	13	241
Bald Eagle	2	2	84
Northern Harrier	1	1	74
Sharp-shinned Hawk	29	29	511
Cooper's Hawk	5	5	49
Northern Goshawk	0	0	3
Red-shouldered Hawk	3	3	123
Broad-winged Hawk	203	203	1436
Red-tailed Hawk	0	0	133
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	16	16	256
Merlin	19	19	58
Peregrine Falcon	1	1	4
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	6
Unknown Buteo	0	0	5
Unknown Falcon	0	0	3
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	3	3	16
Total:	295	295	3473

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Biz Houghton, Dave Gulick, Derek Lovitch, Jeannette Lovitch

Visitors:
45 Visitors today plus a horse and some rock-crawling electric trucks.

Weather:
Today felt a little more like spring, until the afternoon hours. Clouds were minimal and sunshine abundant. The morning hours were t-shirt weather for sure with temps climbing to a new high of 62 degrees, in the shade, which is where our thermometer resides. The wind direction started out from the N until about 1 pm EDT when it made a pretty abrupt shift to the S. Wind speeds started to increase and there were slight shifts between ESE, SE and S. As the afternoon progressed the wind speeds continued to increase bringing in some cool and cold ocean air. There was a drastic change in how it felt to stand up there between morning and afternoon. I was bundled up by the time I left. Once at the base of the mountain it felt like a different, and very pleasant spring evening.

Raptor Observations:
It was not a record day for us but it was a good day and a lot of fun. In the morning there were a few little bursts of birds with a couple small kettles forming, then silence. This happened a couple of times before the flights became more steady. Birds were getting plenty of lift today with all the sun for thermal production. Our biggest hour of 131 birds occurred when we were still getting N winds but right around the switch to S. With the bright blue sky and limited clouds I think we missed detecting birds overhead today. Also, in the afternoon with the strong winds from the S we probably lost birds which were being pushed inland before getting to Bradbury. As wind speeds increased we started seeing fewer birds but a lot of them were right in close to the summit. We had a good mix of birds and fantastic viewing conditions as birds were close enough to not need binoculars. Merlins were the MVP of the day, most of which were right at eye level moving point to point or right over our heads. In the afternoon there was a sudden cacophony of gasping sounds as people watched a Merlin fly by and out of nowhere was blasted by a Barn Swollow. The Merlin receiving a taste of it's own medicine. At times during the height of the day it seemed as though Broad-wings were taking flight from the playground down below. One after another birds were rising from the trees to our SW, right in close to the mountain.

Non-raptor Observations:
A better day for the passerines. Derek finally caught sight of his first Sandhill Crane for the season which was at a cruising altitude of a few thousand feet. Not exactly a photo op. In the morning I spotted three Magnolia Warblers beautifully lit by the sun as they passed low over the summit to the north. They were a surprise to see this early. Early afternoon we had our first-of-season Chimney Swifts and moments later Derek had a Purple Martin. 28 species were seen or heard today. Other birds moving north include: 162 Double-crested Cormorants 18 Tree Swallows 11 Barn Swallows 7 American Goldfinch 4 Yellow-rumped Warblers 3 Magnolia Warblers 2 Chimney Swifts 1 Purple Martin 1 Sandhill Crane

Predictions:
Winds may be out of the SE tomorrow but I hope they remain light so bird are pushed to us and not passed us. Temps should climb into the 50's but the wind direction will likely bring some ocean air with it. There should be a mix of clouds and sun which could be helpful for spotting.

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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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