Mount Lorette and Beaver Mines , March 23

March 23 [Day 22] (Blake Weis, assisted by Caroline Lambert) 0740-2025. The starting temperature was 1C, reached a high of 5C at 1700 and 1800 and was 2C at the end of observation. Ground winds were 5-10 gusting 20 km/h, S-SW to 1100 and mainly S-SE after, while ridge winds were SW all day, moderate to 1100 and after 1600 and strong the rest of the time. Cloud cover was very variable throughout the day, 30-90% stratus, cumulus and altocumulus that brought periods of snow of up to 30 minutes to 1700. Both the east and west ridges were variably obscured 10-90% to 1600 after which they were clear for the rest of the day. Despite the conditions there was a fairly strong raptor movement involving 88 birds of 4 species that migrated between 0748 and 1951. comprising 3 Bald Eagles (2a, 1sa), 2 adult Northern Goshawks, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk, 1 unidentified Buteo, 80 Golden Eagles (62a, 3sa, 1j, 14u) and 1 unidentified large raptor (an eagle or Buteo) that flew high to the north in the morning gloom at 0748. Most birds glided high from the northern end of the Fisher Range to Mount Lorette, and 11 birds were initially located over Mount Lorette. Movement only became steady after 1100 and the maximum hourly count was 1 Bald Eagle and 23 Golden Eagles between 1700 and 1800. First spring bird records at the site were 1 Killdeer, a pair of Belted Kingfishers, and 2 Varied Thrushes that sang in the early morning, while other sightings included 1 Northern Pygmy-Owl, 1 male Mountain Bluebird, 5 American Robins, 260 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches and 8 Common Redpolls. A small herd of 14 Elk fed in the meadow early in the morning, and 16 visitors made it to the site today.

12.75 hours (231.9) BAEA 3 (106), NOGO 2 (4), RLHA 1 (21), UB 1 (2), UU 1 (1) TOTAL 88 (1616)

Beaver Mines [Day 26] (Peter Sherrington, assisted by Hilary Atkinson and Denise Cocciolone-Amatto) 0800-1930. The temperature at 0800 was 3C the high was 8.5C at 1200 and 1300 and it was 5C at 1930. Winds were W-WSW 30-50 gusting 70 km/h all day, and cloud cover was 0-30% cumulus and altocumulus to 1500 after which it was 50-90% altostratus and altocumulus that produced excellent viewing conditions. After 3 days of fairly weak raptor movement there was a reasonable migration today of 112 birds of 8 species that moved between 0828 and 1911. The flight comprised 27 Bald Eagles (20a, 3sa, 4j), 1 juvenile male Northern Harrier, 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Northern Goshawks (1a, 1u), 3 Red-tailed Hawks (2u calurus light morphs, 1a harlani dark morph), the first Ferruginous Hawk of the season, an adult light morph, 4 Rough-legged Hawks (3 light, 1 dark), 1 unidentified Buteo and 72 Golden Eagles (68a, 2sa, 2u). Most of the birds moved high to the NW or NNW in bursts of activity interspersed by periods where nothing was seen. Fifty-four birds were recorded between 1500 and 1800 and the busiest hour was 1700-1800 when 19 birds moved.

11.5 hours (213.3) BAEA 27 (177), NOHA 1 (3), SSHA 1 (5), NOGO 2 (35), RTHA 3 (14), FEHA 1 (1), RLHA 4 (45), UB 1 (4), GOEA 72 (834) TOTAL 112 (1141)

Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation

MOUNT LORETTE SUMMARY COUNT (March 1 to April 22)

DAYS 22

HOURS 231.9

TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) 0

OSPREY (OSPR) 0

BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 106

NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 0

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 2

COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 0

NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 4

Accipiter sp. (UA) 0

BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 0

SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 0

RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 3

FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 0

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 21

Buteo sp. (UB) 2

GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 1464

Eagle sp. (UE) 9

AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 0

MERLIN (MERL) 2

GYRFALCON (GYRF) 1

PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 0

PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 0

Falco sp. (UF) 1

Unidentified Raptor (UU) 1

TOTAL 1616