RMERF counts, April 3

Wednesday, April 3 Mount Lorette [Day 32] 0640-2020 (Bill Wilson, assisted by Glenn Webber and Graeme Dunlop). The temperature at 0730 was -5C, the high from 1400 to 1700 was 8C and it was 6C at the end of observation. Ground winds were variable 0-2 km/h to 1100 then S-SW for the rest of the day, 2-10 gusting to 27 km/h to 1700 and 2-10 km/h to 2015; ridge winds were moderate SW all day. Cloud cover was 100% altostratus throughout the morning and 100% cumulus and altostratus throughout the afternoon that provided hazy sunshine and good locating conditions but made detailed determination of age difficult. There was yet another strong April raptor migration with 113 birds of 3 species seen between 0914 and 1947. The flight was 12 Bald Eagles (9a, 1sa, 2j), 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk and 100 Golden Eagles (50a, 1sa, 9j, 40u). The Golden Eagle count of 510 for the first three days of April has already exceeded the long-term April average count for the species of 442. Once again birds moved steadily throughout with a highest hourly count of 23, including 18 Golden Eagles, between 1400 and 1500. Birds moved on both ridge systems to 1500 with the western birds again soaring high over Olympic Summit and gliding high to the NW behind the summit of Mount Allan, but after 1500 all birds flew on the eastern ridges gliding high from the Fisher range to Mount Lorette. There were several records of resident birds with a Northern Goshawk heard calling from the nest site early in the morning, 5 sightings of 1 or 2 adult Bald Eagles mainly moving southwards, and 3 of adult Golden Eagles including one that displayed against the face of Mount Bogart at 1221. Other birds recorded in the area were 75 Canada Geese that flew to the north in 6 flocks, 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Killdeer, 1 Northern Flicker, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 15 Common Ravens, 1 unidentified flying swallow, 4 Mountain Bluebirds (1 male, 3u), 3 singing Varied Thrushes, 15 American Robins, 3 European Starlings, 30 Bohemian Waxwings in one flock, 1 singing White-winged Crossbill and 1 singing Dark-eyed Junco. There were 8 visitors at the site today.

13.67 hours (359.9) BAEA 12 (165), SSHA 1 (4), GOEA 100 (1810) TOTAL 113 (2032)

Wednesday, April 3 Beaver Mines [Day 31] 0715-1945 (Peter Sherrington, assisted by Hilary Atkinson). The temperature was initially 0C, the high at 1300 was 10.5C and it was 6.5C at 1945. Winds were WSW-W all day, 10-20 gusting 25 km/h to 1135 after which they strengthened to 25-40 gusting to 65 km/h for the rest of the day. Cloud cover was mainly 100% altocumulus in the morning and 70-90% altostratus, altocumulus, cumulus and cirrus for the rest of the day, all of which provided good viewing conditions. Despite the favourable winds there was yet another desultory raptor movement with 16 birds of 6 species moving sporadically between 1108 and 1855. The flight comprised 4 adult Bald Eagles, the season’s first Cooper’s Hawk (an unaged bird), 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 5 light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks (3a, 2u), the first Ferruginous Hawk of the season, an unaged light morph bird at 1714 and only 3 Golden Eagles (2a, 1sa). A resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks was present with birds seen displaying on a couple of occasions. A rather dull day was greatly enlivened towards the end when the first Sandhill Crane of the season soared high above the ridge at 1803 and flew high to the north and at 1814 a large flock of about 250 Snow Geese in several skeins flew to the east above the ridge: for a couple of minutes the sky was more reminiscent of Saskatchewan than SW Alberta! A more distant flock of 60 geese at 1757 were also probably Snow Geese. These numbers are unprecedented for the area. Other birds seen were 5 Canada Geese, a small flock of 14 Wild Turkeys that included 6 displaying males, 18 Rock Pigeons, 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, a pair of Northern Flickers, 7 Blue Jays, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 56 American Crows, 19 Common Ravens, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Townsend’s Solitaire, 5 American Robins, 30 European Starlings, 27 Evening Grosbeaks and 8 Pine Siskins.

12.5 hours (373) BAEA 4 (148), NOHA 1 (6), NOGO 1 (15), RTHA 5 (26), FEHA 1 (1), GOEA 3 (431) TOTAL 16 (661)

Wednesday, April 3 Steeples [Day 29] 1645-1830 (Vance Mattson). The temperature was 10C, winds were strong S and 100% dark altostratus and cumulus cloud brought light precipitation and partially obscured the ridges. No migrant or resident raptors were seen.

1.75 hours (143) TOTAL 0 (675)