Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (07 Apr 2024) 12 Raptors

[Derek Lovitch]

Bradbury Mountain State Park
Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 07, 2024
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	9	43	316
Osprey	2	6	7
Bald Eagle	0	4	26
Northern Harrier	0	6	18
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	14	32
Cooper's Hawk	0	2	14
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	2	24
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	0	4	34
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	6	6
Merlin	1	1	7
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	1	2
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	12	89	487

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dick Baker, Jim Pinfold

Visitors:
Not as many people came by on such a nice Sunday, maybe due to the messy trails. 32 people in total.

Weather:
We're back! After three days we finally went binz up right on time today. Precip finally moved out and left some scattered clouds which mostly moved out by closing time. Despite the N winds, which were gusting pretty hard, we were well sheltered by the trees surrounding the summit. Temperatures started out at the freezing mark but climbed steadily throughout the morning. By later in the count period it was very warm and pleasant. Visibility was very good early and as the clouds parted we started to get more heat distortion.

Raptor Observations:
Kind of an unremarkable day of hawk counting with minimal hawk watching. Resident birds took their time taking to the skies and seemed to take turns roaming the area. The first migrants weren't counted until after the halfway point, within a few seconds of Jim's departure. Sorry Jim.

Non-raptor Observations:
I thought we might see some reverse migration today but the skies were quiet. A couple Robins did push south this morning but nothing else. The species list today was low with no new arrivals. The only cool sighting was a fleeting glimpse of some Bohemian Waxwings.

Predictions:
Tomorrow will be quite a change, with bright blue skies and temps in the mid to upper 50's. Winds look decent for migrating birds, coming from the W and transitioning to W and maybe a tincture of SW. This is the most promising day, on paper, we've had for a while and it coincides with the much anticipated solar eclipse. I really hope there are a bunch of birds in the sky during that time, which we can observe and maybe spot behavioral changes to some degree. I suspect the summit will be crowded and the people watching could be fun too. Who's gonna clap at the end?

---

Report submitted by Jeannette Lovitch (freeport...@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]

---