[Maine-birds] Fw: Bradbury Mountain State Park (06 May 2024) 27 Raptors

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 06, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	628
Osprey	2	17	410
Bald Eagle	1	11	58
Northern Harrier	1	7	145
Sharp-shinned Hawk	11	82	469
Cooper's Hawk	3	6	36
American Goshawk	0	0	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	30
Broad-winged Hawk	4	151	1362
Red-tailed Hawk	0	0	50
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	3	14	308
Merlin	2	9	54
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	3
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	9
Unknown Buteo	0	0	4
Unknown Falcon	0	0	11
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	3	17
Total:	27	301	3595

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Biz Houghton, Carolyn Fensore, Dave Fensore, Jim Pinfold, Ted Michalek

Visitors:
It was surprisingly quiet in the park today with only 11 visitors.

Weather:
Today started with overcast skies, humid and stagnant air with temps in the upper 40's. No breeze is hard to come by during the hawkwatch and was very welcome today. A little drizzle passed over us mid to late morning which was just enough to be a nuisance. Clouds started to part by early afternoon revealing brilliant sun. Most of the afternoon was bright and sunny with mixed clouds. Temps hit the low 60's, in the shade.

Raptor Observations:
The first half of the day was dead. Hardly anything in the air. The approaching drizzle really seemed to quiet things down. After the showers more local birds were the first to come out, followed by a slow trickle of migrants. Birds were scattered all around as they moved N with no developed flight-lines in such light winds. Birds were getting some height once the sun created thermals. I was hoping for a bigger total today with the sun and SW breezes but we came up a bit short. We had a lot of eyes on the sky, pairs of 'em too, but struggled to find many birds. Visitors to the park today were treated to multiple Bald Eagles circling over the summit. Always a crowd pleaser.

Non-raptor Observations:
There was an odd feel to today, including the surrounding woods. It seemed as though we should have been hearing and or seeing more activity at the summit for this date and with this weather but it was awfully quiet. An Oven Bird and a Great Crested Flycatcher were new species for the season, and shortly after their ID they retreated away from us. An Eastern Kingbird flying N in the afternoon was the third new bird for the day. Swallows and Chimney Swifts were very active in the afternoon once the sun came out, along with the black flies.

Predictions:
Hopefully there are some birds stacking up to our S today and will move passed here tomorrow. Winds should be light, from the NW and switching to SW by late morning. Temps should be around 60 with relatively few clouds.

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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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