Fort Smallwood Park (08 Mar 2026) 1493 Raptors

[SUE RICCIARDI]

Fort Smallwood Park

Pasadena, Maryland, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 08, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	8	12	12
Turkey Vulture	1293	1402	1445
Osprey	1	3	3
Bald Eagle	2	2	2
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	6	6	6
Cooper's Hawk	5	5	5
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	167	170	171
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	10	10	10
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	0	0
Merlin	1	1	1
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	0	0
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	1493	1611	1655

Observation start time:	9:30 am
Observation end time:	3:00 pm Daylight Saving Time
Total observation time:	5.5 hours
Official Counter	Chris Reed
Observers:	Cindy Godwin, Cristians Rivas, Sue Ricciardi

Visitors:
Joe Kramer, Pete and Betty Bengston

Weather:
Cloudy with unsettled skies; 55 to 72 degrees; fair visibility becoming poor when some fog moved in, in the afternoon; winds starting out calm turning to from the south, then WSW, then W, 0-10 mph.

Raptor Observations:
We knew there was likely a pent-up flight coming after days of fog and rain, but we didn't quite expect what ensued: 1493 migrant raptors of 9 species, including 1293 Turkey Vultures with one kettle of 220, plus 168 Red-shouldered Hawks. This is the earliest day in a season ever for a 1,000 plus migrant raptor day. Interesting too because there was never a break in the cloud cover; instead there was a high overcast at times during which the flight got high. The Red-shoulders started early, but there was some swirling going on, so at first we didn't realize that such a large flight would develop. Later in the afternoon, dense clouds moved in and stifled the flight.

Non-raptor Observations:
Icing on the cake were two Common Ravens. Also, 12 American Wigeons, 64 Red-breasted Mergansers, 14 Horned Grebes, 1 Red-throated Loon - could have been more, obscured by the fog, 1 Wilson's Snipe, 16 Tree Swallows. Spring peepers calling the whole day, also some yesterday.

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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.