[Maine-birds] Fw: Bradbury Mountain State Park (14 May 2024) 20 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 14, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	628
Osprey	2	36	429
Bald Eagle	0	15	62
Northern Harrier	0	15	153
Sharp-shinned Hawk	3	111	498
Cooper's Hawk	0	10	40
American Goshawk	0	0	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	1	31
Broad-winged Hawk	11	217	1428
Red-tailed Hawk	0	3	53
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	3	20	314
Merlin	0	16	61
Peregrine Falcon	0	2	4
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	9
Unknown Buteo	0	0	4
Unknown Falcon	0	0	11
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	4	18
Total:	20	450	3744

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore, Jeannette Lovitch, Nate Johnson, Nate Stephenson

Visitors:
8 visitors plus 39 more students from The French School of Maine, or L'Ecole Francaise du Maine. Students showed up prepared with binoculars and questions. I introduced myself in French and was met with blank stares, nobody too impressed. I gave a brief synopsis of what I do on the mountaintop and shared some cool bird facts, and I learned some interesting bird facts from them too.

Weather:
Today's weather was much more pleasant than I expected. We started out with a little moisture in the air and some fog but that dried up quickly. The rest of the day was plentiful sun with minimal thin wispy clouds. Temps climbed into the mid 60's and I didn't have to put on a jacket today. Winds were a little strong at times, especially in the middle of the day, coming from the SSE which pushed in some cool ocean air. Visibility was decent given the hazy conditions.

Raptor Observations:
Not bad for the penultimate day of the season. Birds were hard to come by but we finished strong. Immature birds were the majority of what was passing by today. I was hoping for one more Peregrine Falcon on the southerly winds but, alas, no such luck. Bald Eagles put on quite the display this afternoon as three immature birds came in over the summit and circled and turned in the afternoon light. Later, a single immature Bald Eagle made one of the lowest and slowest passes directly overhead I have seen in a long time. Too close for binos, switching to naked eye.

Non-raptor Observations:
Despite the winds really putting a damper on bird song later in the day and many birds retreating to the woods, the morning was entertaining and active. My start time at the summit may have been a little late to fully capture any morning flight, as I was seeing a fair amount of northbound movement in the early morning hours. However, we did capture a few migrants. In the am I was thinking of a few birds I would like to see for the season, including an Indigo Bunting. I was thinking back to last season and the particular flight call they make. Just as I was going to refresh my memory with my phone, the bird beat me to it and provided the sound bite for me. I looked up and said "that's it!" Another new and fun flyover for the season was a couple of Bobolinks. Probably the highlight of the day for me was the Ruby-throated Hummingbird flight. I was hoping we could get 10 but we topped out at 8 with a couple questionable sightings.

Predictions:
Tomorrow's forecast looks much better than it did a few days ago. Precipitation potential has dropped, so we likely will get in a good chunk of time and hopefully a full day to finish things out. Temps should be in the 60's again with mostly cloudy skies and a light SW breeze changing to S in the afternoon. Fingers crossed it's a fun and eventful final day.

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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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