Beaver Mines and Steeples, October 5

Monday, October 05 Vicki Ridge [Day 16] 0750-1910 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge, and Gord Petersen at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite, 1310-1850). It was yet another warm and windy day with a temperature of 11C at 0750 rising to a high of 21C at 1600 and it was still 17C at 1910. Winds were strong W-WSW all day gusting 60-70 km/h that peaked at 85 km/h around 1500. It was cloudless to 1000 and again at 1200 but the rest of the day saw a rapidly changing kaleidoscope of 30-70% altocumulus, altostratus, cirrus cirrocumulus and lenticular clouds that generally gave excellent observing conditions. The count at the Waterton 61 site was 47 birds of 9 species between 1031 and 1816 that comprised 1j Bald Eagle, 1j male Northern Harrier, 8 Sharp-shinned Hawks (3a, 5u), 1a Cooper’s Hawk, 1a light morph Broad-winged Hawk, 3a calurus Red-tailed Hawks (2 light, 1 dark), 2 Rough-legged Hawks (1 light, 1 dark), 29 Golden Eagles (19a, 4sa, 5j, 1u) and 1u female columbarius Merlin. The highest hourly count was 10 between 1100 and 1200. At the Waterton 68 site there was a total of 66 migrants of 6 species that moved between 1316 and 1832 and comprised 1a Bald Eagle, 21 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 3j, 17u), 1j calurus Red-tailed Hawk, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk, 38 Golden Eagles (16a, 2sa, 7j, 3u), 3 unidentified eagles and 1u columbarius Merlin. The highest hourly count was 17 between 1400 and 1500. The combined species count was 113 migrants of 9 species that moved between 1031 and 1832 and comprised 2 Bald Eagles (1a, 1j), 1j male Northern Harrier, 29 Sharp-shinned Hawks (4a, 3j, 22u), 1a Cooper’s Hawk, 1a light morph Broad-winged Hawk, 4 calurus Red-tailed Hawks (2a, 1j light and 1a dark), 3 Rough-legged Hawks (2 light, 1 dark), 67 Golden Eagles (35a, 6sa, 12j, 4u), 3 unidentified eagles and 2 columbarius Merlins (1 female, 1u). The highest combined site hourly counts were 21 between 1400 and 15 and again between 1600 and 1700. Only 5 other bird species were seen: 7 Black-billed Magpies, 93 Common Ravens, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 18 American Robins and 8 Pine Siskins.

11.33 hours (176.4) BAEA 2 (40, NOHA 1 (17), SSHA 29 (601), COHA 1 (102), BWHA 1 (17), RTHA 4 (165), RLHA 3 (25), GOEA 67 (607), UE 3 (5), MERL 2 (21) TOTAL 113 (1667)

Monday, October 05 Mount Lorette [Day 16] 0800-1950 (Caroline Lambert assisted by Graeme Dunlop). A season-high total of 295 migrant raptors of 8 species was counted that comprised 2a Bald Eagles, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 2u), 1u Cooper’s Hawk, 1u Northern Goshawk, 1 unidentified small Accipiter, 6 Red-tailed Hawks (5u calurus light morphs and 1j harlani intermediate morph), a season high count of 275 Golden Eagles (129a, 22sa, 16j, 108u), 1 indeterminate eagle, 2u columbarius Merlins, 1j Prairie Falcon and 2 unidentified falcons (1 large and 1 small). There was a major influx of Golden Eagles late in the day when poor lighting conditions made aging of the birds impossible.

11.83 hours (194.8), BAEA 2 (55), SSHA 3 (83), COHA 1 (13), NOGO 1 (30), UA 1 (5), RTHA 6 (50), GOEA 275 (1038), UE 1 (6), MERL 2 (9), PRFA 1 (3), UF 2 (5) TOTAL 295 (1335)

Monday, October 05 Steeples (Vance Mattson).  No observation.