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Mount Lorette (21 Mar 2024) 5 Raptors

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Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 21, 2024
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 1 35 35
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0
Cooper’s Hawk 0 0 0
American Goshawk 0 2 2
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 1
Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3
Golden Eagle 3 1116 1116
American Kestrel 0 0 0
Merlin 0 1 1
Gyrfalcon 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 1 5 5
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 5 1163 1163
Observation start time: 12:00:00
Observation end time: 13:30:00
Total observation time: 1.5 hours
Official Counter Rosemary Power
Observers:

Visitors:
There were two school classes visiting, totalling 29 participants.

Weather:
It was an interesting day. The scheduled principal observer had called off the count due to a forecast of low clouds and snow all day, and roads that were covered in snow. However, the count coordinator bravely drove out to the site due to a previously arranged obligation to meet with a school group. Fortuitously, the clouds thinned a bit during the time she was at the site, temporarily improving visibility and allowing an occasional view of the ridges. The temperature at the site during this time was -2C. By the time the school visit was over, the clouds had closed in again and snow was falling.

Raptor Observations:
Two juvenile Golden Eagles were low on Nakiska, one subadult Golden Eagle headed north, plus one adult Bald Eagle, and an unidentified eagle.
The resident American Goshawk was seen, plus a pair of Bald Eagles – one adult and one immature – along the river.

Non-raptor Observations:
Three starlings had taken refuge in the kiosk. Two Common Mergansers were spotted heading north.


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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]



Mount Lorette (20 Mar 2024) Raptors

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Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 20, 2024
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 0 34 34
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0
Cooper’s Hawk 0 0 0
American Goshawk 0 2 2
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 1
Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3
Golden Eagle 0 1113 1113
American Kestrel 0 0 0
Merlin 0 1 1
Gyrfalcon 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 4 4
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 0 1158 1158

(No count conducted today)

Weather:
The Kananaskis/Canmore/Calgary area was under a regional snowfall warning today. Continuous low cloud and ongoing snowy conditions did not permit conducting meaningful observation activities.

Raptor Observations:

Non-raptor Observations:


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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]



Mount Lorette (19 Mar 2024) 88 Raptors

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Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 19, 2024
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 3 34 34
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0
Cooper’s Hawk 0 0 0
American Goshawk 1 2 2
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 1
Rough-legged Hawk 1 3 3
Golden Eagle 81 1113 1113
American Kestrel 0 0 0
Merlin 0 1 1
Gyrfalcon 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 2 4 4
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 88 1158 1158
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 18:00:00
Total observation time: 9.53 hours
Official Counter Caroline Lambert
Observers: Rick Robb

Visitors:
Very few people came by. Of those, three stopped to chat.

Weather:
It was an interesting day for weather. The temperature started at -2C, rose to 6C, and dropped to 3C by the end of the day. Ground wind was from the northeast, light at first and then moderate, gusting up to 30 kph. Ridge winds were unknown. Cloud cover started out as cirrostratus across the sky. In the early afternoon cumulus clouds started appearing. There was a bank of dark clouds to the northeast that gradually came closer, but at the same time, clouds were forming over all the ridges, gradually becoming thicker and lower and darker as the afternoon wore on. The count was terminated at 18:30 when all the ridges were obscured and dark clouds covered the whole valley, the wind was slowing, and shortly after one eagle was seen flying into the trees on Hummingbird Plume, presumably to roost since it did not re-appear. That was our signal to leave.

Raptor Observations:
With northeast winds we were not expecting much, but there was quite a bit of movement on both ridges all day. Initially most of the movement was on the west ridge, with much soaring. Some eagles chose to use the east ridge, where they were barely getting above ridge level, yet were able to move quickly without soaring or using powered flight. After a slight lull in mid-afternoon most of the movement switched to the east side of the valley, with a few birds dodging clouds on the west side. Although there were clouds low on the ridges there must have been quite a bit of wind, as the eagles were able to fly high and fast apparently without using the ridge, more over the valley than over the ridge, and almost right over us. We could see some of them without using binoculars.
The totals were 81 Golden Eagles (59a, 2sa, 20u), three Bald Eagles (2a, 1u), two unidentified eagles, one Rough-legged Hawk, and one American Goshawk.
The only non-migrant was an American Goshawk hunting over Hummingbird Plume.

Non-raptor Observations:
In the morning there was quite a bit of bird activity, with several chickadees upset at a Northern Shrike in the meadow, and a few robins and starlings flitting around. At one point a faint drumming from a Ruffed Grouse could be heard. The non-raptor list was: Canada Goose 11, Ruffed Grouse 1, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Northern Shrike 1, Canada Jay 2, Common Raven 10, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Mountain Chickadee 2, European Starling 4, American Robin 3, Red Crossbill 2


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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]



Mount Lorette (18 Mar 2024) 76 Raptors

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Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 18, 2024
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 2 31 31
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0
Cooper’s Hawk 0 0 0
American Goshawk 1 1 1
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 1
Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 2
Golden Eagle 72 1032 1032
American Kestrel 0 0 0
Merlin 1 1 1
Gyrfalcon 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 2 2
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 76 1070 1070
Observation start time: 06:45:00
Observation end time: 16:45:00
Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter Jessica Banas
Observers: Lynette MacCulloch

Visitors:
It was fairly quiet during the day with only 3-4 people stopping by to chat. There were 3 visitors who helped spot during the afternoon.

Weather:
The morning was chilly at -2C but warmed throughout the day to 12C. The morning was quite still on the ground with almost no breeze, but as the day went on the breeze steadily picked up. It was almost impossible to tell what winds were doing on the ridges with no clouds in the sky at all, for the entire day.

Raptor Observations:
Although weather conditions seemed similar to the day prior, the raptor movement could not have been more different. The birds moved almost exclusively on the western ridges, with only two eagles taking the eastern side. In total, Golden Eagles included 58a, 13sa, 1j. One Merlin(u) was seen streaking across the west side of the valley around noon. One adult Goshawk flew high across the east side of the valley in the early afternoon. A bit later, two adult Bald Eagles were seen traveling high above the east ridges. One local adult bald eagle was seen during the day.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included: 4 Trumpeter Swans, 4 Canada Geese, 2 Common Merganser, 2 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 2 Canada Jay, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 7 Common Raven, 5 Black-capped Chickadee, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Boreal Chickadee, 1 European Starling, 1 American Robin, 3 Bohemian Waxwing.


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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]



Mount Lorette (17 Mar 2024) 54 Raptors

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Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 17, 2024
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 5 29 29
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0
Cooper’s Hawk 0 0 0
American Goshawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 1 1 1
Rough-legged Hawk 2 2 2
Golden Eagle 46 960 960
American Kestrel 0 0 0
Merlin 0 0 0
Gyrfalcon 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 2 2
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 54 994 994
Observation start time: 06:45:00
Observation end time: 17:45:00
Total observation time: 11 hours
Official Counter Jessica Banas
Observers: Allison Zukewich

Visitors:
There were a number of visitors who stopped by to chat during the day, approximately 25 throughout the day, and a couple of people stopped by to help spot.

Weather:
The morning was chilly at -2C, but once the sun arrived it warmed up quickly, with a high of 12C – some visitors were warm enough to wear shorts! There was a gentle morning breeze on the ground from the SW that shifted to a light, warm breeze from the WSW for the afternoon. The ridge winds seemed to vary a bit throughout the day, and it was a challenge to estimate, but at the strongest I believe approximately 40-80km WSW. There were some very light clouds throughout the day.

Raptor Observations:
Most eagles moved primarily along the eastern ridges, with an exception of two adults that chose the west. The birds were moving very high in the sky, often skipping Patrick altogether by moving across the valley to Lorette. In all, Golden Eagles included 1j, 6sa, 29s, 20u. There were also 2jlm Rough-Legged Hawks, 2a and 3sa Bald Eagles migrating. A local Goshawk was heard calling in the morning. The star of the show, however, was a juvenile dark-morph Ferruginous Hawk seen in the afternoon, flying a strange path much lower than other migrants. At the end of the day, one Golden Eagle flew low through the valley and landed on Mount Lorette – this bird was not included in the days’ migration count.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included: 1 American Three-toed Woodpecker, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Norther Flicker, 1 Canada Jay, 1 Black-Billed Magpie, 6 Common Raven 6 Black-Capped Chickadee, 2 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1 American Robin, 10 Bohemian Waxwing, 2 Evening Grosbeak.


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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]



Mount Lorette (16 Mar 2024) 156 Raptors

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Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 16, 2024
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 2 24 24
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0
Cooper’s Hawk 0 0 0
American Goshawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 154 914 914
American Kestrel 0 0 0
Merlin 0 0 0
Gyrfalcon 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 2 2
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 156 940 940
Observation start time: 07:00:00
Observation end time: 18:00:00
Total observation time: 10.57 hours
Official Counter Blake Weis
Observers: Lynn Macintosh

Visitors:
At least 60 visitors stopped to talk. Thanks to Will & Sarah and to my dad Tim for staying to help spot migrants!

Weather:
The temperate was -2 C at the beginning of observation, it rose to +13 in the afternoon, then fell to +10 as we were leaving. Cloud cover was mostly high cirrus covering 25-50% of the sky which created excellent spotting and ageing/ID conditions for most of the day. Ground wind was mostly below 10 km/h with some gusts between 10 and 20. Around 2 PM the direction switched from SW to NW. The Nakiska Ridgetop weather station is not reading wind at the moment, and ridge wind was a bit tough to judge, but was probably light to moderate (below 40 km/h) since most of the migrants were soaring and those that were gliding were low and had to do some flapping. The direction probably shifted around the same time it did at ground level as may of the high-soaring birds later in the day seemed to get pushed back south a bit as they were gaining height.

Raptor Observations:
The count for the day included 154 Golden Eagles (116 adults, 1 subadult, 37 unaged) and 2 adult Bald Eagles. Route, flight style and observing conditions all varied greatly throughout the day. Before 2 PM most of the migrants were soaring slowly and not too high which made spotting and ageing easy. After 2 PM the migrants were getting higher and higher and started to become backlit which made observing conditions much more difficult. Most of the movement was on the Kananaskis Range to the west where they were often soaring very high, though some used the Fisher Range to the east, especially later in the day. Those birds on the eastern ridges were usually gliding and flapping low, below mountain-top height. The peak was between 11:45 and 12:15 when about 40 migrants were counted. A pair of local adult Bald Eagles perched near the site in the morning. Later a sub-adult 3 Bald Eagle was in the area but it seemed to be escorted away by one of the local adults. At least one of the resident Goshawk pair was seen several times over Hummingbird Plume Hill and the west side of the valley.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included 1 Canada Goose, 1 American Three-toed Woodpecker, 3 Hairy Woodpeckers, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 3 Canada Jays, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 7 Common Ravens, 3 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Boreal Chickadee, 1 Brown Creeper, 1 American Dipper, 2 European Starlings, 2 American Robins, 10 Bohemian Waxwings, and 2 Common Redpolls. At least 3 white-tailed deer were around, and 1 bighorn sheep was spotted on a distant cliff.


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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]



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