RMERF counts, November 15 with November and Final Count summaries and variances.

Thursday, November 15 Mount Lorette [Day 53] 0800-1900 (Cliff Hansen, assisted by Rick Robb). The temperature at 0800 was -1C, the high was 4C (1200-1400) and it was 3C at 1700. Ground winds were S 0-8 gusting to 25 km/h at 1600 and ridge winds were moderate SSW. Cloud cover was 100% stratus and cumulus at the start and then 70-90% stratus, cumulus and stratocumulus for the rest of the day. The east ridges were clear all day and the west was clear to 1200 when it was 10% obscured and gradually increased to 50% by 1700. The only migrant raptors seen were 2 Golden Eagles gliding above the Fisher Range ridge: an adult at 1038 and an unaged bird at 1528. The path to the site early in the morning revealed the tracks of 3 Grey Wolves, 1 Red Fox and 1 Coyote that led to the carcass of a freshly killed White-tailed Deer on a gravel bar in the river south of the Hay Meadow site. Perched in adjacent trees were 3 adult Bald Eagles and a juvenile Bald Eagle was perched on the gravel bar, while 2 more Bald Eagles (1a, 1sa) were perched in trees farther south along the river. Ten ravens and 2 magpies were also in attendance. By 1600 the carcass had been entirely consumed. Other birds seen were 1 Belted Kingfisher, 4 Canada Jays, 1 Pacific Wren, 15 Lapland Longspurs and 6 White-winged Crossbills. Seven visitors were at the site today. The spring 2019 count at Mount Lorette will start on March 1.

9 hours (536.3) GOEA 2 (2688) TOTAL 2 (3154)

Mount Lorette November Summary (November 1-15), with variances to 1993-2017 averages (excluding 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008). 15 days (+5.9%), 137.1 hours (+6.4%), Turkey Vulture 0, Osprey 0, Bald Eagle 55 (-26.5%), Northern Harrier 0, Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 (+39%), Cooper’s Hawk 0, Northern Goshawk 3 (-52.1%), UA 0, Broad-winged Hawk 0, Swainson’s Hawk 0, Red-tailed Hawk 0, Ferruginous Hawk 0, Rough-legged Hawk 1 (-83.6%), UB 0, Golden Eagle 172 (-24.5%), UE 2 (+90%), American Kestrel 0, Merlin 1 (+137.5%), Gyrfalcon 0, Peregrine Falcon 0, Prairie Falcon 0, UF 0, UU 0 TOTAL 237 (-26.8%).

Mount Lorette Final Count Summary (November 1-15), with variances to 1993-2017 averages (excluding 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008). 53 days (-2.7%), 536.3 hours (-4.5%), Turkey Vulture 0, Osprey 3 (+11.1%), Bald Eagle 216 (-8.7%), Northern Harrier 7 (-32.0%), Sharp-shinned Hawk 68 (-49.6%), Cooper’s Hawk 7 (-68.8%), Northern Goshawk 37 (-15.2%), UA 8 (+19.4%), Broad-winged Hawk 1 (-83.3%), Swainson’s Hawk 1 (+185.7%), Red-tailed Hawk 27 (-18.9%), Ferruginous Hawk 0 (-100%), Rough-legged Hawk 36 (-28.8%), UB 5 (+31.6%), Golden Eagle 2688 (-21.6%), UE 31 (+705.2%), American Kestrel 0 (-100%), Merlin 4 (-47.7%), Gyrfalcon 2 (-29.8%), Peregrine Falcon 2 (-66.7%), Prairie Falcon 3 (+36.4%), UF 4 (+158.1%), UU 4 (+1.3%) TOTAL 3154 (-21.4%).

Thursday, November 15 Vicki Ridge [Day 50] 0800-1700 (Peter Sherrington, assisted by Hilary Atkinson and Troy Malish observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite, and Gord Petersen observing from the Waterton 68 wellsite, 1235-1635). The temperature at 0800 was 1C, the high at 1200 was 5C and it was 3C at 1700. Winds were W-WSW all day 40-50 gusting 70 km/h and were sustained 60-70 km/h for the last 2 hours. Cloud cover was 70-100% altostratus, cumulus, altocumulus and cirrus all day that provided mainly gloomy conditions. There was a fairly strong raptor movement for the last day of the count with 38 birds of 4 species moving between 0823 and 1617 comprising 14 Bald Eagles (8a, 2sa, 4j), 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk and 22 Golden Eagles (17a, 1sa, 2j, 2u). The total includes 18 raptors seen by Gord Petersen between 1244 and 1617 at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge near the Waterton 68 wellsite, that comprised 7 Bald Eagles (8a, 1sa), 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk and 9 Golden Eagles (6a, 1j, 2u). During the same period , that coincided with the strongest winds of the day, only 5 migrants were seen from the Waterton 61 site. Movement was slow and sporadic throughout the day and the highest hourly count was 9 between 1500 and 1600. The resident Golden Eagle family group (2a and 1j) were seen throughout the day and other birds seen were 1 female Hairy Woodpecker, 95 Common Ravens, 4 Clark’s Nutcrackers, 40 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 18 Red Crossbills and 32 Common Redpolls.

9 hours (434.9) BAEA 14 (445), NOGO 1 (103), RLHA 1 (436) GOEA 22 (2735) TOTAL 38 (4755)

Vicki Ridge November Summary (November 1-15), with 2017 totals in parenthesis. 15 days, (12 days), 117.1 hours (86.1 hours) Turkey Vulture 0 (0), Osprey 0 (0), Bald Eagle 131 (153), Northern Harrier 0 (0), Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 (1), Cooper’s Hawk 0 (0), Northern Goshawk 10 (11), UA 0 (0), Broad-winged Hawk 0 (0), Swainson’s Hawk 0 (0), Red-tailed Hawk 3 (0), Ferruginous Hawk 0 (0), Rough-legged Hawk 34 (28), UB 0 (1), Golden Eagle 245 (195), UE 2 (4), American Kestrel 0 (0), Merlin 1 (0), Gyrfalcon 1 (2), Peregrine Falcon 0 (0), Prairie Falcon 5 (1), UF 0 (0), UU 0 (0) TOTAL 433 (396)

Vicki Ridge Final Count Summary (September 20-November 15), with 2017 totals in parenthesis. 50 days (52 days), 434.9 hours, (418.9 hours) Turkey Vulture 0 (0), Osprey 8 (11), Bald Eagle 445 (350), Northern Harrier 15 (19), Sharp-shinned Hawk 627 (751), Cooper’s Hawk 74 (94), Northern Goshawk 103 (109), UA 7 (6), Broad-winged Hawk 24 (33), Swainson’s Hawk 2 (1), Red-tailed Hawk 176 (234), Ferruginous Hawk 8 (6) , Rough-legged Hawk 436 (515), UB 25 (19), Golden Eagle 2735 (2001), UE 7 (18), American Kestrel 12 (21), Merlin 21 (20), Gyrfalcon 5 (5), Peregrine Falcon 9 (17), Prairie Falcon 10 (5) , UF 2 (2), UU 4 (0) TOTAL 4755 (4237)

Thursday, November 15 Steeples [Day 50] 1315-1615 (Vance Mattson). The temperature was 6C, winds were strong S-SW, cloud cover was 100% stratus, altostratus and cumulus and the ridges were clear. No migrants were seen but at 1315 an adult resident Golden Eagle soared in the high winds above the ridge.

3 hours (212.5) TOTAL 0 (486)

Steeples November Summary (November 1-15), with 2017 totals in parenthesis. 13 days (9 days), 52.75 hours (37 hours), Turkey Vulture 0 (0), Osprey 0 (1), Bald Eagle 25 (67) , Northern Harrier 0 (3), Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 (0), Cooper’s Hawk 0 (0), Northern Goshawk 2 (1), UA 0 (0) , Broad-winged Hawk 0 (0), Swainson’s Hawk 0 (0), Red-tailed Hawk 0 (1) , Ferruginous Hawk 0 (0), Rough-legged Hawk 0 (5) , UB 0 (0), Golden Eagle 33 (36), UE 0 (2), American Kestrel 0 (0), Merlin 1 (0), Gyrfalcon 0 (0), Peregrine Falcon 0 (0), Prairie Falcon 0 (0), UF 0 (0) TOTAL 61 (116)

Steeples Final Count Summary (September 20-November 15), with 2017 totals in parenthesis. 50 days (41 days), 212.5 hours (185 hours) Turkey Vulture 1 (1) , Osprey 2 (7) , Bald Eagle 116 (276), Northern Harrier 14 (16), Sharp-shinned Hawk 72 (78), Cooper’s Hawk 4 (1), Northern Goshawk 8 (13), UA 0 (0), Broad-winged Hawk 3 (5), Swainson’s Hawk 0 (0), Red-tailed Hawk 75 (51) , Ferruginous Hawk 0 (0), Rough-legged Hawk 3 (15), UB 0 (1), Golden Eagle 177 (146), UE 2 (3), American Kestrel 3 (8), Merlin 3 (2), Gyrfalcon 1 (0), Peregrine Falcon 1 (2), Prairie Falcon 0 (0), UF 0 (0) UU 1 (0) TOTAL 486 (625).