Fwd: Bradbury Mountain State Park (15 May 2020) 38 Raptors

[Derek Lovitch]

And the 14th year of the Bradbury Mountain Raptor Research Project has come to an end.

Jeannette and I want to thank Luke Fultz for his dedication and effort, even on those long, windy days when we had no idea we would even dream of the third highest count in the project’s history. I also want to reiterate our thanks to Bradbury Mountain State Park for hosting the project, and to the Park Manager, Chris Silsbee, and staff for their support and our fancy new signage that debuted this year.

See you at the summit in 10 months! Maybe we won’t be keeping a Turkey Vulture distance apart by then!

- Derek

Bradbury Mountain State Park

Pownal, Maine, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 15, 2020
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	1
Turkey Vulture	0	0	557
Osprey	5	154	401
Bald Eagle	0	6	89
Northern Harrier	0	21	58
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	444	776
Cooper's Hawk	0	12	56
Northern Goshawk	0	0	6
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	1	65
Broad-winged Hawk	24	1784	2531
Red-tailed Hawk	2	12	136
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	2	114	249
Merlin	2	21	79
Peregrine Falcon	1	7	8
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	11
Unknown Buteo	0	1	6
Unknown Falcon	0	1	5
Unknown Eagle	0	0	1
Unknown Raptor	0	8	22
Total:	38	2586	5057

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Luke Fultz
Observers:

Visitors:
13 people visited the hawk watch today.

Weather:
Warm, but cloudy for most of the day. The rained decided to allow me to get the entirety of the last day in! Light winds out of the east into the afternoon before shifting southeast for the last part of the count.

Raptor Observations:
The sky was empty for the first two hours and I got rather concerned that the last day would be a bust, however, activity finally picked up and it actually turned into a pretty good last day of the survey season. Mostly Broad-wings, as is to be expected this time of the season, however, east winds shifting southeast did bring me one more Peregrine Falcon to end the season!

Non-raptor Observations:
44 species were observed from the summit today. Individuals deemed migrating included: 3 Solitary Sandpipers 8 Common Loons 2 Cliff Swallows 17 Chimney Swifts 21 Barn Swallows 69 Tree Swallows 289 Double-crested Cormorant

Predictions:
Today was the final day or the 2020 Bradbury Mountain spring raptor migration survey. I’ve had an absolutely fabulous time on the mountain with the birds and the humans. I didn’t expect to break 5000 migrants this year, but here we are; 5057 for the season! I want to personally thank Bradbury Mountain for hosting the spring raptor migration survey, as well as Freeport Wild Bird Supply for sponsoring the official count. I would also like to extend a big thank you to Derek and Jeannette Lovitch for all the time, work, and dedication they put into the spring migration survey and birding in the state of Maine as a whole! Not to be forgotten, thank you so much to those dedicated volunteers who joined me on the mountain to put eyes in the sky and helped spot birds; I never could have hit that total without you! A special thank you to Jim Pinfold, who spent a significant amount of time on the summit of Bradbury with me this season helping spot birds, as well as providing delightful conversation in between! It’s been a true pleasure to have this opportunity! Take care!

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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]

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[Bill Sheehan]

Derek and Jeannette,

Again.  Thanks for sponsoring the hawk watch and reporting the days' work daily.  

Thanks too to Luke!  That was some nasty weather he endured.

Best 

Bill

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Bill Sheehan
Woodland, Aroostook Co., Maine
http://northernmainebirds.blogspot.com/