Beaver Mines and Steeples, April 15

Wednesday, April 15 Beaver Mines [Day 51] 0630-2030 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson). The temperature at 0630 was -2C the high at 1200 and 1300 was 2C and it was again -2C at 2030. Winds were N-NNE all day 20-30 gusting to 45 km/h that dropped to less than 20 km/h after 1900. Cloud cover was 100% stratus with moderate to light snow that obscured the ridge to 1130 when the ridge cleared to 1225, but was obscured again to 1245 and again between 1315 and 1355 when the snow finally stopped leaving 15 cm fresh on the ground. The rest of the day varied between 50% cumulus that brought sunny periods and 100% stratocumulus that produced brief light flurries between 1752 and 1845 but the ridge remained clear. Only 2 migrant raptors were seen: an adult Golden Eagle at 1439 and 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk at 1520. Non-migrants were 1 juvenile Bald Eagle, 2 and possibly more adult male Sharp-shinned Hawks that hunted at the site, 1 adult Northern Goshawk and 2 pairs of resident Red-tailed Hawks that soared high on the windward side of the ridge between 1748 and 1808 with males occasionally displaying. Caroline Lambert reported that no observation was possible at Mount Lorette as snow fell all day and the mountains were obscured.  Other birds seen at Beaver Mines were 20 Canada Geese, 16 Mallards, 20 Green-winged Teal, 9 Wild Turkeys, 10 Rock Pigeons, a pair of Greater Sandhill Cranes, and the bird of the day, an adult Whooping Crane that flew low to the NE above the valley at 1357 just after the snow had ended and bright sunshine illuminated the huge white crane with conspicuous black wingtips. This is the third time the bird has been seen here on a spring count, the previous two being 2016 April 12 and 2017 April 16 Other birds were 1 Killdeer, 1 Red-shafted Flicker, 2 Blue Jays, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 9 American Crows, 50 Common Ravens, 6 Black-capped Chickadees, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 1 American Robin, 16 European Starlings, 1 Evening Grosbeak, a flock of 50 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches of which 2 were the race littoralis, 1 American Tree Sparrow and 80 Dark-eyed Juncos (4 hyemalis, 6 cismontanus and 70 montanus) that were somewhat reduced following 7 attacks by up to 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks between 0850 and 1926.

14 hours (630) SSHA 1 (48), GOEA 1 (1056) TOTAL 2 (1783)

Wednesday, April 15 Steeples [Day 38] 1330-1800 (Vance Mattson). The temperature was 10C, winds were moderate N and cloud cover was 50% cumulus that gave sunny conditions. No migrants were seen and non-migrants were 4 Turkey Vultures, 1 adult Red-tailed Hawk and 1 adult Golden Eagle. The drive to the site produced an adult male Northern Harrier hunting low over a field, and the return trip saw a perched American Kestrel that was the first for the area this year.

4.5 hours (208.8) TOTAL 0 (482)