[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (16 Mar 2023) 25 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 16, 2023
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	5	20	20
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	9	21	21
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	1	1
Cooper's Hawk	0	1	1
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	5	5	5
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	5	9	9
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	25	57	57

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Rick Hartzell

Visitors:
For such a nice day the park seemed like a ghost town. A few people trickled in later in the day.

Weather:
Today was bright! With the receding snow and relatively clear skies there was a lot of glare and squinting. Visibility was decent with a slight haze and some heat distortion. Temps were very nice, climbing into the 40's with only a light wind from the NW and W reaching us on the summit. There were some great cloud formations today including a couple of fallstreak holes which look as if a vacuum has begun to suck out the center of the cirrocumulus clouds from below. Very cool sight to see.

Raptor Observations:
For day 2 we're doing alright. There was a lot of local Red-tail activity throughout the day, with birds being seen paired together as they foraged over they're respected territories. We had another good push of Eagles with a few right over the summit. Red shoulders finally showed up by late morning giving us the sighting of the day in terms of proximity and ideal lighting.

Non-raptor Observations:
With a bit less wind there was more bird song to be heard today. We added three species to our season total, including: Common Merganser Dark-eyed Junco Barred Owl

Predictions:
Clouds should be increasing throughout the day as some potential rain makes it way towards us in the afternoon and evening. If there are some birds in the pipeline they may be moving out ahead of it. Approaching weather can sometimes make for some fun hawkwatching. Temps should be mild, in the upper 30's to low 40's but the winds from the SE will certainly make it feel colder.

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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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