Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch: Week 4

This was the week we broke 1000 hawks for the season. Despite some hours in the middle of the week that were frustratingly birdless due to dreary gray skies and some rain, hawk watching was pretty good. Birds would come through in waves it seemed, with a nice uptick in American Kestrel, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Osprey numbers. The first Broad-winged Hawk came through on 4/11. A Northern Goshawk made an appearance on 4/10 as well as a possibly territorial bird on 4/11, exciting viewers at the summit. A Fish Crow passed by the mountain on 4/5 - a bird that is becoming more common as a breeder in Maine, but still a rarity up here. There was not a lot of non-raptor movement, but the first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Barn Swallow were observed.

Week 4 Totals (current week - total to date - 2021 total)

BLACK VULTURE 0-0-2

TURKEY VULTURE 156-437-603

OSPREY 46-58-390

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE 0-0-0

MISSISSIPPI KITE 0-0-0

BALD EAGLE 5-69-127

NORTHERN HARRIER 16-48-91

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 59-99-736

COOPER’S HAWK 4-24-100

NORTHERN GOSHAWK 1-3-4

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 8–108-129

BROAD-WINGED HAWK 1-1-1962

SWAINSON’S HAWK 0-0-0

RED-TAILED HAWK 12-121-180

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK 0-0-0

GOLDEN EAGLE 0-0-0

AMERICAN KESTREL 46-61-334

MERLIN 2-8–71

PEREGRINE FALCON 0-3-13

UNIDENTIFIED RAPTOR 6-10-75

TOTAL 362-1050-4817