Final Daily Report for the Hawkwatch

The Bradbury Mountain Hawkwatch has come to a close for another spring season. We wanted to share Zane's final daily report here for those of you who haven't seen it on Hawkcount.org

			Daily Raptor Counts: May 15, 2025
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	6
Turkey Vulture	0	0	614
Osprey	0	30	336
Bald Eagle	0	14	97
Northern Harrier	0	14	144
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	45	679
Cooper's Hawk	0	14	51
American Goshawk	0	4	6
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	5	77
Broad-winged Hawk	0	71	3841
Red-tailed Hawk	0	3	90
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	20	528
Merlin	0	29	89
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	5
Unknown Accipitrine	0	2	11
Unknown Buteo	0	0	3
Unknown Falcon	0	0	4
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	1	36
Total:	0	253	6617

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Zane Baker
Observers:	Dave Fensore, Derek Lovitch

Visitors:

Big thanks the Jeannette and Derek Lovitch of the Freeport Wild Bird Supply store for sponsoring this site and hiring me again and again. Their efforts have kept the project alive and running for 19 years now! Also, thanks to Bradbury Mountain State Park for letting us take up space at the summit and dedicating some signage showing our work. Thank you to everyone who hiked up and contributed to the count. This was certainly a team effort, and the numbers reflect that. Special thanks to some of the dedicated people who voluntarily stand within the miasma that is my stale laundry while helping spot and identify birds. I really appreciate the efforts put in to help other people who may be new or just curious. Fielding questions, sharing optics and even handing out birding gifts didn't go unnoticed and was always done in a kind and friendly manner. Thank you. Big thanks to the MVP's of the season: Jim, Dave, Rich and Biz. Thanks for the help and it's always a pleasure chatting with you. Happy birding everyone, I hope you have a nice summer. Don't hesitate to say hello if you see me around sporting one my awesome hawkwatch T-shirts.

Weather:

Today's weather started out much better than it was forecast to be. I was met with partly cloudy skies and plentiful sunshine. The atmosphere on the summit was bright, humid and hot. Temps were scratching 70 degrees. Winds were light and from the SSE but the ocean air didn't have the chilly bite to it that we often anticipate. At noon the winds became stronger for a little while but subsided soon after. Clouds filled in for the afternoon and the skies became dark off to the W. A small afternoon shower and poor visibility tried to push us out early but we took shelter for a few minutes while it passed. After the rain, we were left with limited visibility but it was comfortably warm and very calm. Overall a pleasant day on the mountain.

Raptor Observations:

This was the final day of the 2025 season and it was not very productive. I think I had a previous season with a similar final day. No birds were counted moving N and we were struggling to find a single bird in the skies at times. Local birds were not seen very much, even during the morning hours when the weather was nice. Turkey Vultures continue to be seen coming and going from the trees below the summit and may be utilizing the cliff ledges as a roost. A couple of birds were seen leaving from very low on the rock face. I plan to keep an eye out for baby vultures in that spot later in the summer. Well, the 19th season of the Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch has come and gone yet again. This was certainly a memorable season compared to say last year, which seemed to pass like a ship in the night. We were pretty lucky with the propitious weather and the timing of it. Right out of the gate we were getting some big numbers, despite probably missing birds which moved before we arrived on the 15th of March. We had a few triple digit days early on and almost hit 300 just a week into the project, which is pretty amazing and also added substantially to our season total. We often think ending March with 500 birds is a good start and this year we were over 700. Heading into April, knowing there is potential for witnessing bigger flights with the arrival of Broad-winged Hawks was highly anticipated. Right as we were getting into the window of peak migration, usually mid to late April, we were hit with some wet weather that shut us down for a couple days. It was a bummer, but hitting the pause button on bird traffic may have helped create the epic flight we were about to experience, possibly by causing birds to pile up to our S, waiting for the blockade to move, then making a mad dash once the conditions improved. After the rains we got lucky with our beloved SW winds a little sun and some cloud cover. Birds literally filled the skies on April 19th. Almost anywhere you looked you were bound to see birds. One thing that made this massive flight stand out besides the sheer number, was the fact that the thermals didn't seem to be taking birds super high, maybe due to some of the winds and or cloud ceiling. The flight remained mostly low and clearly visible to the naked eye and the flightline was taking birds directly over the summit. Parkgoers, who often have no clue there are hundreds of birds passing high overhead were awe struck and couldn't miss the kettles of hawks soaring above. I was glad that many people were able to witness this phenomenon without needing binoculars or a scope. This day set a new all time high count for a single day, with 2712 birds. This also brought us closer to setting the new season record which occurred on April 28, surpassing 6022 birds, and we still had a couple weeks to go. No rarities were spotted this season but we did see many more Black Vultures than we usually do, a bird we hope to see but is not always guaranteed. This season three of those birds showed up together on one afternoon close to the mountain. One of the highlights this year was getting to see three American Goshawks on one day and then shortly after, seeing a Peregrine Flacon which meant that each bird on the data sheet, minus some rarities, was seen on a single day. This was a fun season and I was lucky to be the official counter.

Non-raptor Observations:

Another quiet day at the summit. I was really hoping to have showed up to a big overnight flight with songbirds dancing and singing all around me, but alas, my dreams shattered. That's okay, it was still a nice day. However, our season's species list will be a little shorter than usual. Many of the warblers we expect to see or hear hadn't arrived or simply weren't detected this season. I did finally hear a Scarlet Tanager today, which I know has been in the park for days but this was the first time I heard it from the official count position. I know there were a few other new arrivals just to our SW by the local gas station but they were just out of ear detection range. Highlights from the season include getting to see some of the Sandhill Cranes, which have been breeding in the state for a number of years now. We were treated to a few passes by these big awkward looking birds. One of my favorite sightings, though not the most detailed look, was a group of White-winged Scoters which might have been a first for the site, or at least the first in some years. I had almost dismissed the flock since they were barely detectable in the scope, but even at that great distance my brain suggested I keep watching. There was something just different enough about those black dots compared to other black dots which kept my interest. Thankfully the winds pushed them right by the mountain to the E, lit by the morning light. In my first season I might have initially suspected cormorants out near the coast and moved on to other birds. That was a nice sighting.

Predictions:

No count will be conducted tomorrow.