Fort Smallwood Park (13 May 2026) 84 Raptors Mississippi Kite!

[SUE RICCIARDI]

Fort Smallwood Park

Pasadena, Maryland, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: May 13, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	1	16	134
Turkey Vulture	75	500	8832
Osprey	1	12	234
Bald Eagle	0	21	110
Northern Harrier	0	2	49
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	56	647
Cooper's Hawk	1	23	192
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	256
Broad-winged Hawk	4	23	106
Red-tailed Hawk	1	8	91
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	1	97
Merlin	0	2	33
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	10
Unknown Buteo	0	1	9
Unknown Falcon	0	0	7
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	2	16
Mississippi Kite	1	1	1
Swallow-tailed Kite	0	0	2
Total:	84	669	10826

Observation start time:	9:00 am Daylight Time
Observation end time:	4:00 pm
Total observation time:	7 hours
Official Counter	Chris Reed
Observers:	Cristians Rivas, Fred Shaffer, Hal Wierenga, John Hoffman, Steve Steimel, Sue Ricciardi

Visitors:  Elizabeth

Weather:
Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy as storms approached; 65-74 degrees; good visibility becoming fair in the last two hours; winds strong and southwesterly 12-18 mph gusting to 24 mph

Raptor Observations:
The strong winds brought 75 Turkey Vultures, but also our first Mississippi Kite of the season! A molting first-year subadult, it first appeared high overhead with two Turkey Vultures at the north edge of the pond, but while the vultures continued north, the kite was in no rush to leave and slowly headed south. It then made a long steep stoop downward as if it had an eye on a prey item, but that wasn't evident. After stooping it continued a low slow half-circuit of the pond, then doubled back and finally left to the northwest. It was in view for 18 minutes! Two photos may be found here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S338555632

Non-raptor Observations: Garter Snake

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Report submitted by Sue Ricciardi (susi...@comcast.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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Site Description
Fort Smallwood Park is located on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay at the
mouth of the Patapsco River, 11 miles south of Baltimore, MD. Best winds are
from the southwest.