[Maine-birds] Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (24 Mar 2023) 19 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 24, 2023
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	16	113	113
Osprey	0	0	0
Bald Eagle	2	29	29
Northern Harrier	1	7	7
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	9	9
Cooper's Hawk	0	6	6
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	26	26
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	0	29	29
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	2	2
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	1
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	19	222	222

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 Fensore, Dick Baker

Visitors:
10 visitors

Weather:
With morning clouds and some overnight showers there was little heat left in the ground making for crystal clear visibility early in the count. Clouds started to break up as the day progressed bringing more direct sun to the summit. Temps were comfortable but took a while to heat up. Winds mostly from the NW increased during the afternoon and temps decreased slightly in the final hour.

Raptor Observations:
Not much was happening in the first half of the day. Local birds weren't very lively either. Around midday we started to see TV's moving north by two's. Later in the day I had a stare down with a first year Eagle as it overwhelmed my view through the scope. As I lifted my head from the eye piece the bird got spooked and flared up and changed coarse. That was fun experience.

Non-raptor Observations:
More blackbirds and robins were moving early today along with some more geese. I was a little surprised not to see many more species than those. The highlight of the day was a Snow Goose which was slightly hidden among 73 Canada Geese. As the group moved through a ray of sun the Snow Goose stood out like a sore thumb.

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks a little gross for standing on the mountain but we might get a full day before the wet weather moves in. Hopefully birds are out ahead it. Winds will likely be cold, coming from the ESE getting stronger late in the day. Temps should be in the mid 30's. Rain and some snow are predicted but not until the afternoon. East winds aren't great but will the birds fight through to avoid the wet weather?

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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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