Mount Lorette and Beaver Mines, April 17

April 17 [Day 46] (George Halmazna, assisted by Dan Parliament) 0600-1815. The temperature was -2C at 0600, rose to a high of 9.5C at 1400 and was 7.5C at 1800. Ground winds were SW 0-5 km/h to 1100, variable SW-NW to 1300 and light NW for the rest of the day, while ridge winds were probably light W-NW all day. Cloud cover was 70-100% altostratus, cumulus, cirrostratus and stratus all day that produced light snow flurries between 1400 and 1700, but visibility was good all day. A total of 21 migrant raptors of 6 species were seen between 1052 and 1332, after which movement completely ceased. Apart from the first 3 Golden Eagles that moved on the western route all others moved from the Fisher Range to Mount Lorette from where they headed directly to the north. The flight comprised 1j Bald Eagle, 1a Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2a Northern Goshawks, 5a light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks, 11 Golden Eagles (1a, 6sa, 4u) and 1 adult male richardsonii Merlin. Eight of the 11 Golden Eagles were recorded between 1200 and 1300. There was a good variety of other bird species including 1 Sandhill Crane that flew to the SW above the Fisher Range at 1335, first records of single Pacific Wren and Savannah Sparrow, 4 drumming Ruffed Grouse, 2 Northern Pygmy-Owls, 1 male Belted Kingfisher, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1 Northern Shrike, 9 Tree Swallows, 9 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 6 Mountain Bluebirds (5m, 1f), 1 Townsend’s Solitaire, 44 American Robins, 9 Varied Thrushes, 1 American Pipit, 5 Song Sparrows, 32 Dark-eyed Juncos, 4 Red-winged Blackbirds, 50 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches and 17 Common Redpolls. The first butterfly of the season, an unidentified Comma (Polygonia sp) was on the wing at 1445. The 17 visitors to the site had plenty to look at.

12.25 hours (531.3) BAEA 1 (210), SSHA 1 (11), NOGO 2 (24), RTHA 5 (47), GOEA 11 (2203), MERL 1 (5) TOTAL 21 (2562)

Beaver Mines [Day 51] (Peter Sherrington) 0800-1945. The starting temperature was 1C, rose to a high of 13C at 1500 and was 6C at 1945 when observation ceased. Winds were variable and light to 1315 after which they were W-SW 30-45 gusting up to 70 km/h for the rest of the day. Cloud cover was mainly 60-100% stratus, cumulus, altostratus and altocumulus to 1900 after which it rapidly reduced to 10% at the end of observation. Viewing conditions were very good throughout. There was a steady raptor migration between 1055 and 1746 involving 35 birds of 9 species. The count was 1 Osprey, 4 Bald Eagles (1a, 1sa, 2j), a season high 12 Northern Harriers (6 males: 5a, 1j, 4a females and 1u), 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 1u), 1a Cooper’s Hawk, 7 calurus Red-tailed Hawks (5 light: 4a, 1u and 2a dark), 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk, 1 unidentified light Buteo, 5 Golden Eagles (3a, 1sa, 1j) and 1 juvenile Peregrine Falcon. A male Yellow-rumped [Audubon’s] Warbler was a first for the year at 1050.

11.75 hours (453.1) OSPR 1 (8), BAEA 4 (294), NOHA 12 (44), SSHA 2 (51), COHA 1 (8), RTHA 7 (172), RLHA 1 (66), UB 1 (15), GOEA 5 (1033), PEFA 1 (8) TOTAL 35 (1818)

Steeples (Vance Mattson) observation.

MOUNT LORETTE SUMMARY COUNT (March 1 to April 22)

DAYS 46

HOURS 531.3

TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) 0

OSPREY (OSPR) 0

BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 210

NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 3

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 11

COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 4

NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 24

Accipiter sp. (UA) 0

BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 3

SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 0

RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 47

FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 0

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 22

Buteo sp. (UB) 3

GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 2203

Eagle sp. (UE) 13

AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 3

MERLIN (MERL) 5

GYRFALCON (GYRF) 2

PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 4

PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 1

Falco sp. (UF) 2

Unidentified Raptor (UU) 2

TOTAL 2562