Beaver Mines and Steeples, October 3

Saturday, October 03 Vicki Ridge [Day 14] 0800-1915 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge, and Gord Petersen and Cathy Scrimshaw at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite, 1345-1855). The temperature at 0800 was 9C, the high at 1500 and 1600 was 23C and it was still 18C at 1815. Winds were W-WSW all day, 10-20 km/h to 1030, 20-30 km/h to 1300, 30-40 km/h to 1700 and finally 30 gusting 50 km/h for the rest of the day. Cloud cover was 60-30% thin cirrostratus and altostratus to noon after which it was cloudless for the rest of the day. There was again a persistent very light smoke haze that did not affect the viewing conditions. The count at Waterton 61 was 64 birds of 10 species between 0945 and 1911 that comprised 2u Bald Eagles, 3 Northern Harriers (2 males (1a, 1j) and 1j female), 23 Sharp-shinned Hawks (3a, 2j, 18u), 2a Cooper’s Hawks, 5 Northern Goshawks (4a, 1j), 1a dark morph Broad-winged Hawk, 9 Red-tailed Hawks (calurus 7: 4 light (3a, 1u) and 3a dark; and 2 dark harlani (1a, 1j), 1u Rough-legged Hawk, 17 Golden Eagles (7a, 2sa, 5j, 3u) and 1u columbarius Merlin. The most productive hours were 11 between 1300 and 1400, and 14 between 1400 and 1500. The count at the Waterton 68 site was 62 birds of 7 species that were seen between 1352 and 1833 and comprised 1 Osprey, 1j Bald Eagle, 29 Sharp-shinned Hawks (5a, 24u), 5 Cooper’s Hawks (2a, 2j, 1u), 1a intermediate morph harlani Red-tailed Hawk, 23 Golden Eagles (7a, 2sa, 4j, 10u) and 2 Merlins (1u richardsonii, and 1 indeterminate bird). The highest single-hour count was 18 between 1500 and 1600. The combined species count 126 birds of 11 species between 0945 and 1911 was 1 Osprey, 3 Bald Eagles (1j, 2u), 3 Northern Harriers (2 males (1a, 1j) and 1j female), 52 Sharp-shinned Hawks (8a, 2j, 42u), 7 Cooper’s Hawks (4a, 2j, 1u), 5 Northern Goshawks (4a, 1j), 1a dark morph Broad-winged Hawk, 10 Red-tailed Hawks (calurus 7: 4 light (3a, 1u) and 3a dark; and 3 harlani: 2 dark morphs (1a, 1j) and 1a intermediate morph, 1u Rough-legged Hawk, 40 Golden Eagles (14a, 4sa, 9j, 13u) and 3 Merlins (1u columbarius, 1u richardsonii, and 1 indeterminate bird). The four combined-site hourly counts between 1400 and 1800 were 24, 22, 21 and 23 which reflect the relatively uniform migration conditions at the time. Other birds seen were 8 Blue Jays that flew high to the south above the valley at 0855, 2 Clark’s Nutcrackers, 6 Black-billed Magpies, 444 Common Ravens most of which were seen at the Waterton 68 site flying to roost in the late afternoon, 36 American Robins and  45 Pine Siskins.

11.25 hours (154.1) OSPR 1 (6), BAEA 3 (37), NOHA 3 (15), SSHA 52 (552), COHA 7 (101), NOGO 5 (17), BWHA 1 (15), RTHA 10 (152), RLHA 1 (22), GOEA 40 (498), MERL 3 (17) TOTAL 126 (1478)

Saturday, October 03 Mount Lorette [Day 14] 0750-1920 (Blake Weis assisted by Heinz Unger). The observers counted a total of 70 migrant raptors of 5 species that comprised 1 Osprey, 2a Bald Eagles, 2u Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2a light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks and 63 Golden Eagles (25a, 9sa, 12j, 17u).

11.5 hours (171) OSPR 1 (5), BAEA 2 (52), SSHA 2 (77), RTHA 2 (43), GOEA 63 (671) TOTAL 70 (940)

Saturday, October 03 Steeples [Day 2] 1300-1500 (Vance Mattson). It was cloudless and windless with a temperature of 20C which made observing conditions very pleasant but was not conducive to raptor movement and only 1 adult light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk was seen migrating. This year’s resident juvenile Golden Eagle was seen soaring at length in front of and above the ridge while being constantly harassed by an energetic juvenile Northern Harrier.  The harrier bombed the eagle for 15 minutes, eventually producing a barrel-roll in the eagle before the eagle glided behind the ridge. The harrier then engaged a solitary raven in a duel that lasted approximately 20 minutes with the harrier easily out-flying the raven throughout. There were also single sightings of an adult Golden Eagle and a juvenile Bald Eagle.

2 hours (4) RTHA 1 (2) TOTAL 1 (4)