RMERF counts, March 21

Thursday, March 21 Mount Lorette [Day 19] 0800-2000 (Cliff Hansen, assisted by Rick Robb). It was another warm day with a temperature high of 15C from 1600 to 1800 from a morning low of -5C and it was 5C at 2000. It was calm to 1100 and subsequently ground winds were variable and light as probably were the ridge winds, and it was completely cloudless all day. Only 5 migrant raptors were seen between 1147 and 1902: 1 adult Bald Eagle that flew north from the end of the Fisher Range at 1902, 1 adult Northern Goshawk that flew low to the NW and 3 adult Golden Eagles 2 of which flew to the NW from Olympic Summit and the third that flapped north along the Fisher Range ridge and roosted for the night at 1901on a rock outcrop at the northern end of the range. A resident adult Northern Goshawk was seen hunting in the vicinity of the Lorette Canyon, 2 adult resident Golden Eagles were seen several times around Olympic Summit and a non-migrant adult Bald Eagle flew east from the Fisher Range. Other birds seen were 4 Canada Geese, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Northern Flicker, 2 Canada Jays, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 5 Common Ravens, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Brown Creeper, 2 European Starlings and 8 Bohemian Waxwings. Among the 25 visitors to the site today were a party of 16 from the Canmore Bird Association led by Caroline Lambert who were of great assistance in locating birds in the cloudless skies.

12 hours (199.4) BAEA 1 (29), NOGO 1 (3), GOEA 3 (238) TOTAL 5 (276)

Thursday, March 21 Beaver Mines [Day 20] 0730-1930 (Peter Sherrington, assisted by Hilary Atkinson). It was slightly cooler today with a high temperature of 13C at 1500 from a low at 0730 of 0.5C, and it was 6.5C when observation ceased at 1930. The wind followed the same pattern as the last several days with W-WSW winds 10-15 km/h to 1030 and then E-NE winds for the rest of the day that were mainly light but gusted to 15 km/h from 1500 to 1700, after which it was calm for the rest of the day. It was cloudless to 1200 when very thin cirrostratus developed to the south which gradually moved to the north and reached 70% after 1900. The only migrant seen was an adult Bald Eagle that flew to the NW at 1804, and an unaged Golden Eagle seen in the same area at 1755 perched on a tree, was not seen again and was considered to be a non-migrant. Gord Petersen watched various ridges to the north and east between 1045 and 1650 including Burmis Hill near Lee Lake, Rock Creek Road, the area around Lundbreck and Cowley, the Snake Road on the western Flank of the Porcupine Hills, Highway 22 and finally the Livingstone Ridge at Frank. A total of 8 Bald Eagles were seen soaring and some appeared to be migrating to the NW, and a further 6 were perched or feeding, but the only Golden Eagle seen was a resident perched on a rock west of the Porcupine Hills that was later seen hunting. Surprisingly not a single Buteo was recorded and, significantly, only one Richardson’s Ground Squirrel was seen on the entire trip. Other birds at Beaver Mines were a total of 23 Canada Geese, 12 of which landed on a melt-water pool in the valley in the evening, 53 Wild Turkeys, 3 Rock Pigeons, 1 Wilson’s Snipe that called at 1115 and was not heard again, 4 Downy Woodpeckers, 2 Hairy Woodpeckers, 1 Northern Flicker, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 12 Blue Jays, 8 Black-billed Magpies, 9 Common Ravens, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 14 European Starlings, 32 Evening Grosbeaks and 7 Pine Siskins.

12 hours (225.8) BAEA 1 (66) TOTAL 1 (183)

Thursday, March 21 Steeples [Day 16] 1300-1900 (Vance Mattson). Weather information was not provided, but conditions were probably similar to those of the last several days. A total of 36 migrants were seen up to 1803 when the first non-eagle migrant of the year, an adult female Northern Harrier, moved to the north. Other migrants were 22 Bald Eagles (11a, 2sa, 9j) and 13 Golden Eagles (10a, 2j, 1u). Only 8 eagles were seen before 1600 but 19 migrated between 1600 and 1700. Consistent with the last few days movement was generally low and slow with extended soaring by some of the birds, especially as the day progressed. Non-migrant raptors were 3 adult Bald eagles and 1 adult Golden Eagles. Two probable Trumpeter Swans were seen on small open patches of water on the still mainly frozen Wasa Slough on the way to the site.

6 hours (74.75) BAEA 22 (101), NOHA 1 (1), GOEA 13 (132) TOTAL 36 (236)