RMERF Count Summary 2021 Spring
COUNT DATE: 22/04/2021, (Day 53 of 53)
NO OBSERVATION
OBSERVERS: Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: No observation due to low clouds that obscured the ridges all day, with snow off and on.
COUNT DATE: 21/04/2021, (Day 52 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:10 – End: 20:25, Day Total: 14:15hrs, (To Date: 570:28hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson, Cliff Hansen, Caroline Lambert
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It was another beautiful day, clear sky to 1 pm, then variable cirrus and cirrostratus until “the system” began moving in very late in the day. Ground winds were mostly S to SW 5 to 10 km/h with gusts to 20 or occasionally around 40 km/h. Ridge winds were SW to WSW 10 to 30 km/h to about noon, then 30 to 50 gusting to 60 km/h.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -4, Max: +13
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: The only migrants were 3 Golden Eagles in the west in a 15-minute period around 10:30, and 5 migrants (3 Bald Eagles and 2 Golden Eagles) in the east between 5 pm and 7 pm.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 3, Sub-Adult: 1, Juvenile: 1, Unaged: Total: 5, (To Date: 1689)
– Bald Eagle: Sub-Adult: 2, Juvenile: 1, Total: 3, (To Date: 143)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 8, (To Date: 1944)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Several sightings of one light calurus adult Red-tailed Hawk throughout the day, one sighting of a single Golden Eagle, and one sighting of a pair of Golden Eagles formation-flying and interacting in the south valley.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: 5 Canada Geese, 3 Mallards, 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 male Red-naped Sapsucker drumming on a power pole, 4 Northern Flickers, 1 American Pipit, 1 male Mountain Bluebird, 13 or so American Robins, 2 Varied Thrush, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Boreal Chickadee, 1 Brown Creeper, 10 or so Common Ravens, 1 European Starling, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 Fox Sparrow, 1 Song Sparrow, 1 Dark-eyed Junco.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Comma, tortoiseshell, and mourning cloak butterflies..
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 13, (To Date: 873)
COUNT DATE: 20/04/2021, (Day 51 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:20 – End: 20:20, Day Total: 13:00hrs, (To Date: 556:13hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A pleasant day for the observers with temperatures between minus 7 to plus 10C and clear blue skies. Minimal ground wind with variable direction, very low ridge winds, and low winds aloft, resulting in poor flight dynamics for migration. Five migrants were observed (BAEA x 2, NOGO x 1, Merlin x 2), and no migrating GOEAs.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -7, Max: +10
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 12:00-13:00, NOGO x 1, BAEA x 1
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 2, (To Date: 140)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 1
– Merlin: 2
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 5, (To Date: 1936)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Bald Eagle x 2, Red-tailed Hawk x 2, Golden Eagle x 1 (perched on notch by Olympic summit)
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose x 121 (one flock of 115), Mallard x 3, Common Raven x 5, Ruffed Grouse x 2 (drumming), Black-billed Magpie x 1, Pileated Woodpecker x 1, Northern Flicker x 2, Black-capped Chickadee x 1, Mountain Chickadee x 1, Boreal Chickadee x 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch x 3, Ruby-crowned Kinglet x 3, Violet-green Swallow x 1, American Robin x 51, Varied Thrush x 4, Northern Shrike x 1, European Starling x 5, American Pipit x 3, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) x 9, Dark-eyed Junco x 2
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Red Squirrel x 2
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 4, (To Date: 860)
COUNT DATE: 19/04/2021, (Day 50 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:45 – End: 20:30, Day Total: 13:45hrs, (To Date: 543:13hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop, Caroline Lambert
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A nice sunny day with light northerly winds at ground and ridge level. Quite cold and some fresh snow on the ground. Cloud cover 20 – 80% cumulus/stratocumulus, ridges clear all day. A reasonable number of migrants were seen. Some migrants used the west ridges or flew overhead but most were seen over the Fisher range at or near ridge level. Both migrant and resident raptors were often seen soaring.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -3, Max: 4
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 16:00-17:00 with 10 migrants.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 7, Sub-Adult: 2, Juvenile: 3, Unaged: 2, Total: 14, (To Date: 1684)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: 6, Juvenile: 1, Total: 8, (To Date: 138)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Harrier: 1
– Northern Goshawk: 3
– Red-tailed Hawk: 3
– Rough-legged Hawk: 7
– American Kestrel: 1
– Prairie Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 38, (To Date: 1931)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 2, Bald Eagle: 3, Northern Goshawk: 2, Red-tailed Hawk: 2
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 8, Barrows Goldeneye: 4, Mallard: 2, Common Merganser: 1, Sandhill Crane : 6, Gull (sp.): 4, Ruffed Grouse: 1, Downy Woodpecker: 1, Northern Flicker: 4, Common Raven: 15, American Pipit: 1, Savannah Sparrow: 1, Black-capped Chickadee: 2, Mountain Chickadee: 1, Boreal Chickadee: 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet: 8, Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 1, Mountain Bluebird: 1, Varied Thrush: 16, American Robin: 30, Pine Siskin: 6, Dark-eyed Junco: 12, Northern Shrike: 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler: 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch 6.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: None
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 4, (To Date: 856)
COUNT DATE: 18/04/2021, (Day 49 of 53)
NO OBSERVATION
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Brian McBride
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: No count was conducted as snow fell all day and all ridges were obscured. The forecast showed the potential for clearing in the afternoon so we did visit the site later in the day, but the weather didn’t improve.
COUNT DATE: 17/04/2021, (Day 48 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:15 – End: 20:30, Day Total: 14:15hrs, (To Date: 529:28hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson and Annie Finch
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Beautiful sunshine and light winds, mostly 5 to 20 km/h, with occasional gusts to 30 or 40. Ridge winds were light (less than 10 km/h) to 15:00, then SW or WSW 20 to 45 km/h to the end. Conditions were excellent for spotting and aging raptors. All movement was in the west until 13:30. All movement was in the east after that, with the eagles either passing very high over Lorette or going straight to Skogan Pass. Due to the light winds, there was a fair amount of soaring.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2.9, Max: +16.7
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 10 migrants between 11:00 and 12:00 (8 Golden Eagles and 2 Northern Goshawks).
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 6, Sub-Adult: 1, Juvenile: 8, Unaged: 6, Total: 21, (To Date: 1670)
– Bald Eagle: Juvenile: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 130)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Northern Goshawk: 3
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 26, (To Date: 1893)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Multiple sightings of one adult Golden Eagle, several of these being the male display diving; 1 white-belly Bald Eagle flying south low at the end of the count and landing on a spruce across the river; 1 Northern Goshawk; multiple sightings of a resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks, and 1 Prairie Falcon trying to convince us it was a migrant by flying to the north high up, then soaring while drifting south and getting higher still, and then dispelling all illusions by flying back south.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose 2, Mallard 2, Killdeer 1, Ruffed Grouse 2, Northern Flicker 2, Tree Swallow 2, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Boreal Chickadee 3, Mountain Chickadee 5, Golden-crowned Kinglet 2, Brown Creeper 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch 1, American Robin 5, Varied Thrush 4, European Starling 2, Pine Siskin 1, Song Sparrow 1, Red-winged Blackbird 1, Rusty Blackbird 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Nothing other than the above.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 40, (To Date: 852)
COUNT DATE: 16/04/2021, (Day 47 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:15 – End: 20:30, Day Total: 13:15hrs, (To Date: 515:13hrs)
OBSERVERS: Lori Anderson, Kat Stack, Rosemary Power.
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: This cloudless day was marked by an absence of wind, or only slight breezes at the ridges averaging 4 km/h from all directions. I would call it “the day of the Lone Ranger”. The only Golden Eagle migrant today crossed the face of Lorette and soared in circles until it gained enough height to continue its journey northwards.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -3, Max: 14.5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Between 12:00- 15:00 and then again from 17:00- 20:00 there was one migrant per hour.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: Unaged: Total: 1, (To Date: 1649)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 129)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 2
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
– Unidentified Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 6, (To Date: 1867)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle 1 Adult, Northern Goshawk 1 Adult, Red-tailed Hawk (B. j. abeiticola) 2.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: American Robin 30, Common Raven 8, Varied Thrush 2, Mountain Chickadee 1, American Dipper 1, Canada Goose 14, Dark-eyed Junco 30, Northern Flicker 2, European Starling 30, Ruffed Grouse 1, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Mountain Bluebird 1, Savannah Sparrow 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) 1 male.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Down at hay meadow, it was a wonderful warm and sunny spring day full of activity. The air was filled with the song and dance of birds, bees and butterflies. The first bumble bees of the season were out and we saw about 6 Milbert’s Tortoiseshell butterflies.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 15, (To Date: 812)
COUNT DATE: 15/04/2021, (Day 46 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:45 – End: 20:00, Day Total: 13:15hrs, (To Date: 501:58hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Rick Robb, David Scott
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It was warm and sunny with hardly any clouds. The wind was from the NE, generally light but sometimes gusting up to 30 in the afternoon. It was a slow day with more resident than migrant raptors counted.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -4, Max: 12
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: The only two migrants were an adult Bald Eagle at 11:38 and a Merlin at 13:19, both over Olympic Summit
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 128)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Merlin: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 2, (To Date: 1861)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 2, Bald Eagle: 3, Northern Goshawk: 1, Red-tailed Hawk: 2
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 4, Common Merganser: 2, Ruffed Grouse: 3, Downy Woodpecker: 1, Northern Flicker: 2, Canada Jay: 1, Common Raven: 7, Black-capped Chickadee: 2, Mountain Chickadee: 3, Boreal Chickadee: 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet: 4, Pacific Wren: 1, European Starling: 8, Mountain Bluebird: 1, Varied Thrush: 6, American Robin: 20, Common Redpoll: 1, Pine Siskin: 1, Dark-eyed Junco: 17 (Oregon: 4, Cassiar: 1, Slate-colored/Cassiar: 1, unknown ssp: 11), Song Sparrow: 2, Red-winged Blackbird: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Milbert’s Tortoiseshell: 1, Comma sp: 1
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 7, (To Date: 797)
COUNT DATE: 14/04/2021, (Day 45 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:30 – End: 20:30, Day Total: 14:00hrs, (To Date: 488:43hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson and Glenn Webber
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It was a beautiful, sunny day with light ground winds. Unfortunately, ridge winds were from the NE, and these are bad for migration, so the day was slow. Only 5 Golden Eagles, and 14 raptors in total, were seen.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -6.7, Max: +10.6
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 09:00-10:00 (4 migrants) and 13:00-14:00 (5 migrants).
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 2, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 2, Unaged: 1, Total: 5, (To Date: 1648)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Unaged: 1, Total: 3, (To Date: 127)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Cooper’s Hawk: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 4
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 14, (To Date: 1859)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: 2 Bald Eagles, 2 Northern Goshawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks (more than one sighting of each), and 3 sightings of a Golden Eagle.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: 7 Canada Geese (non-migrants), 3 Northern Flickers, at least 28 American Robins ( 24 on the ground in Hay Meadow at one time), 2 Mountain Bluebirds, 2 Varied Thrush, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 1 Dark-eyed Junco, and 44 Common Ravens (largest single sighting = 7).
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Nothing of note.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 7, (To Date: 790)
COUNT DATE: 13/04/2021, (Day 44 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:00 – End: 19:30, Day Total: 12:30hrs, (To Date: 474:43hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Opening temperature of minus 16 warming to plus 6 C. The ground winds were minimal all day at 1-3 km/hr with variable direction, but predominantly from the NE. The site had approximately 10 cm of fresh snow from overnight flurries. The ridges winds were low, and winds aloft were light, resulting in poor flight dynamics for raptor migration. Cloud cover was minimal and all ridges were clear. A total of six raptor migrants of five species.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -16, Max: +6
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 17:00-18:00, GOEA x 1A, PRFA x 1
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 2, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 0, Total: 2, (To Date: 1643)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 124)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
– Prairie Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 6, (To Date: 1845)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA x 2A, BAEA x 2A, NOGO x 2A, RTHA x 1A
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose x 4, Ruffed Grouse x 2, Northern Flicker x 2, Downy Woodpecker x 1, Black-billed Magpie x 1, Common Raven x 18, Black-capped Chickadee x 1, Mountain Chickadee x 5, American Robin x 32, Varied Thrush x 2, Dark-eyed Junco x 1, Song Sparrow x 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Red Squirrel x 1
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 10, (To Date: 783)
COUNT DATE: 12/04/2021, (Day 43 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:00 – End: 20:20, Day Total: 13:20hrs, (To Date: 462:13hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: 10 cm of fresh overnight snow lay on the ground. It continued snowing until mid-morning. From then the day was a mix of frequent snow showers with some blue sky in between although the higher ridges remained obscured until later in the day when there were some partial clearances. Winds were from the NE, mostly light at ground and ridge level with max. gusts of 40 km/h. The count was from Wasootch after 14:00. 8 migrant eagles were seen, 6 Bald Eagles and 2 Golden. All the Bald Eagles were flying low down river towards Barrier Lake
TEMPERATURE: Min: -6, Max: 1
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 18:00 to 19:00 with 3 migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 1, Unaged: 0, Total: 2, (To Date: 1641)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 6, Total: 6, (To Date: 123)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 2
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 11, (To Date: 1839)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Northern Goshawk 2, Red-tailed Hawk 1, Bald Eagle 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Mallard: 22, Canada Goose: 6, Common Merganser: 2, Canada Jay: 1, Black-billed Magpie: 1, American Crow: 3, Common Raven: 5, Black-capped Chickadee: 2, Mountain Chickadee: 4, European Starling: 4, American Robin: 26, Northern Flicker: 2, Dark-eyed Junco: 3, Northern Shrike: 1, Pacific Wren: 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: None
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 3, (To Date: 773)
COUNT DATE: 11/04/2021, (Day 42 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:50 – End: 15:39, Day Total: 08:49hrs, (To Date: 448:53hrs)
OBSERVERS: Ethan Denton Neil Denton
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The weather and conditions consistently made counting difficult, yet kept suggesting it may become better soon. Very low ridgetop winds did not encourage migration, although a brief push between 11:00 and 12:00 gave us the only Goldens of the day. After battling poor conditions for 5 hours, and with nothing flying, we decided to call the day at 17:30, with the sixth, and undoubtedly worst, snowstorm of the day moving in. We checked in at the site at 19:00 to see if anything had improved, but it was even worse than before.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -8, Max: 2
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Most migrants (5) between 11:00 – 12:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Total: 4, (To Date: 1639)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 4, Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 5, (To Date: 117)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
– Unidentified Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 12, (To Date: 1828)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Red-tailed Hawk (abeitacola) 1, Bald Eagle (ad) 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S85370241
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Avalanche bombing, weather balloon.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 26, (To Date: 770)
COUNT DATE: 10/04/2021, (Day 41 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:40 – End: 18:15, Day Total: 11:35hrs, (To Date: 440:04hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson and Annie Finch
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It was a nice spring day, cloudy but light winds, until a squall blew in at 14:20 and migration shut down completely. Ridge winds were SW to W 20 to 40 km/h until 11:00, dropped to 5 to 20 km/h for three hours, then swung to the NE 15 to 25 km/h when the squall blew in. Migration was slow until 13:00, then picked up a bit during the hour and a quarter before the squall shut everything down. We left the site at 18:15 with snow falling and all mountains obscured or invisible, and no sign of improvement.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2, Max: +3.2
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 16 migrants between 13:08 and 14:19 (8 Golden Eagles, 5 Bald Eagles, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, and 1 dark “Harlan’s” Red-tailed Hawk, 1 unidentified raptor).
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 5, Sub-Adult: 1, Juvenile: 2, Unaged: 1, Total: 9, (To Date: 1635)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 3, Juvenile: 1, Unaged: 1, Total: 5, (To Date: 112)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Cooper’s Hawk: 1
– Northern Goshawk: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
– Rough-legged Hawk: 2
– Unidentified Raptor: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 21, (To Date: 1816)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: 1 Golden Eagle, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Northern Goshawk, 1 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 unidentified falcon.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Snow Goose – high-flying flock of 60; Canada Goose – 2; Northern Flicker – 2; Northern Shrike – 1; American Robin – 110 (largest flock = 60); Varied Thrush – 3; Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 1; Black-capped Chickadee – 3; Common Raven – 18; Dark-eyed Junco – 3; Common Redpoll – 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: It was unusual to see a falcon flying the wrong way (south), finally lost against dark trees near the ski slopes. Not a Kestrel, but otherwise unidentified.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 22, (To Date: 744)
COUNT DATE: 09/04/2021, (Day 40 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:45 – End: 18:00, Day Total: 11:15hrs, (To Date: 428:29hrs)
OBSERVERS: Lori Anderson, Cliff Hansen.
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The day began with a beautiful pink/red sunrise but as we have long known, this beauty comes with a price, a sailors warning perhaps. Even Shakespeare wrote, “Like a red morn that ever yet betokened, Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field, Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.” Today was marked by periodic strong winds that even tumbled the steel chair and forced me to hang on to my telescope, anchored to a stone.Winds at valley level, S/SW most of the time, 10-20 km/h and gusts of up to around 60km/h at times. At the ridges winds SW averaging 64 km/h with gusts of up to 138 km/h. The majority of the eagles seemed to originate from the Wedge far to the south and were subsequently found high in the sky over the centre of the valley. At 17:00, the conditions deteriorated and it began to snow more heavily. With no forecast of improvement, we were forced to end the days count early at 18:00.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2, Max: 4.5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Between 12:00-13:00 (3 GOEA) and 16:00-17:00 (3 GOEA).
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: 6, Unaged: 5, Total: 12, (To Date: 1626)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 12, (To Date: 1795)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle 2 adults, Bald Eagle 1 adult , Northern Goshawk 1 adult, American Kestrel 1.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: American Robin 119, Common Raven 8, Canada Jay 1, Varied Thrush 1, Mountain Chickadee 1, Canada Goose 8, Northern Shrike 1, Dark-eyed Junco 50, Northern Flicker 2, Common Merganser 2.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Droves of Robins flying and vocalizing everywhere. A flock of 50 landed in the pussy-willows to eat the catkins. One Robin even bullied a Varied Thrush when it was trying to peacefully drink from the river. A Dark-eyed Junco seemed to be planning to land on my coat. A Northern Goshawk and a Northern Shrike were found perching on many trees across from us along the river as they hunted.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 37, (To Date: 722)
COUNT DATE: 08/04/2021, (Day 39 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 20:00, Day Total: 12:30hrs, (To Date: 417:14hrs)
OBSERVERS: Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The day started out with mild weather, clear ridges, and many songbirds singing all around. Mid-morning clouds came down and it snowed until late afternoon. After that, although there was plenty of blue sky, ridge winds were low, and clouds never cleared up completely from either ridge. No migrant raptors were seen.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2, Max: 2
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: No migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 0, (To Date: 1783)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA 1, MERL 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CANG 4, RUGR 1, NOFL 1, NSHR 1, CORA 4, BCCH 4, MOCH 4, RCKI 1, VATH 6, AMRO 30, GCRF 1, CORE 1, DEJU 40, SOSP 1, RWBL 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: None
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 15, (To Date: 685)
COUNT DATE: 07/04/2021, (Day 38 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:05 – End: 17:00, Day Total: 09:55hrs, (To Date: 404:44hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Glenn Webber, Rosemary Power
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: In typical fashion for this spring count it was extremely windy with gusts from the SW up 70 at ground level and up to 120 at ridge level. Most migrants were gliding and kiting very high from Patrick to Lorette or flying down the east side of the valley. The count was concluded at 17:00 as low clouds moved in bringing a mix of rain and snow.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 5, Max: 9
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 14:00 to 15:00 with 7 migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: 1, Unaged: 9, Total: 11, (To Date: 1614)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 5, Total: 5, (To Date: 107)
– Unidentified Eagle: Total: 1, (To Date: 9)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 4
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 22, (To Date: 1783)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 2
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 5, Mallard: 20, Wilson’s Snipe: 1, Northern Flicker: 1, Common Raven: 12, Black-capped Chickadee: 4, Mountain Chickadee: 3, Boreal Chickadee: 1, Tree Swallow: 1, Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 1, Brown Creeper: 1, European Starling: 4, Mountain Bluebird: 4, Varied Thrush: 3, American Robin: 87, American Pipit: 1, Evening Grosbeak: 1, Common Redpoll: 11, Pine Siskin: 2, Dark-eyed Junco: 25 (10 Oregon, 3 Cassiar, 12 u), Savannah Sparrow: 1, Song Sparrow: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 21, (To Date: 670)
COUNT DATE: 06/04/2021, (Day 37 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:10 – End: 20:10, Day Total: 13:00hrs, (To Date: 394:49hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The morning temperature was -5C increasing to +10C in maid afternoon. The morning was calm at both ground and ridge levels. Ground winds increased in the afternoon from 5-20 km per hr with gusts to 28 km per hr. In the afternoon blowing snow was observed ar ridge levels with estimated speeds of 20-40 km per hr. Winds aloft were Northerly. A quiet day for migration, but in the early morning the meadow was alive with feeding robins, and bluebirds. The first migrating GOEA was at 14:20 hrs. A Northern Shrike was in evidence for most of the day and the afternoon brought a flock of 29 Dark-eyed Juncos.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -5, Max: +10
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 14:00-15:00 AND 19:00-20:00 with three GOEAs each hour
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 7, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 2, Unaged: 1, Total: 10, (To Date: 1603)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 3, Total: 3, (To Date: 102)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 14, (To Date: 1761)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: One adult resident GOEA
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CNGO x 17, RUGR x1, CORA x 25, AMRO x 34, VATH x 5, BCCH x 5, BOCH x 2, NOFL x 2, TTWO x 1, NOSK x 1, RBNU x 1, EUST x 3, MOBL x 4 (M), SOSP x 1, DEJU (Oregon) x 29, RWBB x 1 (F)
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: One small butterfly (Unidentified), Several very small unidentified moth
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 27, (To Date: 649)
COUNT DATE: 05/04/2021, (Day 36 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:00 – End: 20:15, Day Total: 13:15hrs, (To Date: 381:49hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop, Brian McBride, Heinz Unger
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A beautiful sunny day. The sky was mostly cloudless apart from a few cirrus clouds in the early afternoon. Winds were calm / light SW at both ground and ridge level, max ridge gusts of 40km/h. Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. some early movement of Golden Eagles observed flying low on the east side of Mt Kidd before disappearing between Ribbon Peak and Olympic Summit. Migration was very slow until between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. with 23 migrants flying over the eastern ridges. Most of these birds were gliding and soaring high over the ridges but it was notable how much height they lost during the glide across the valley towards Mt Lorette.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -5, Max: 8
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 16 migrants between 18:00 and 19:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 20, Sub-Adult: 3, Juvenile: 4, Unaged: 3, Total: 30, (To Date: 1593)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 4, Sub-Adult: 3, Juvenile: 1, Total: 8, (To Date: 99)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 3
– Unidentified Accipiter: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
– American Kestrel: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 44, (To Date: 1747)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Northern Goshawk 2, Golden Eagle 1, Bald Eagle 1, Red-tailed Hawk 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Common Merganser 2, Canada Goose 8, Mallard 7, Northern Shrike 1, Common Raven 28, Varied Thrush 8, Mountain Bluebird 2, American Robin 27, Common Redpoll 35, Pileated Woodpecker 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 12, (To Date: 622)
COUNT DATE: 04/04/2021, (Day 35 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:12 – End: 10:41, Day Total: 03:29hrs, (To Date: 368:34hrs)
OBSERVERS: Ethan Denton Neil Denton
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Arriving at sunrise, we were greeted by light rain and terrible viewing conditions. We watched diligently for several hours as the rain turned to snow and the clouds hung heavy, blocking any chance of migrating raptors. At 10:15 we decided the conditions were not going to change, so we called the day early and this proved to be correct. We checked back in the afternoon in the hopes that things had changed, but they had not.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 3, Max: 3
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: N/A
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 0, (To Date: 1703)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Northern Goshawk 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Northern Shrike 1 Brewers Blackbird 2 Puleated Woodpecker 1 Common Redhill 100
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 3, (To Date: 610)
COUNT DATE: 03/04/2021, (Day 34 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:00 – End: 20:30, Day Total: 13:30hrs, (To Date: 365:05hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Annie Finch, Cliff Hansen
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: In the morning cloud cover was 10-40% and winds were light. In the afternoon cloud cover increased to 60% and the wind picked up, gusting up to 60 at ground level and up to 80 at ridge level. Migration started slow but picked up after 16:00. Most of the eagles were kiting and gliding high from Patrick to Lorette, though a few used the western ridges from Bogart to Olympic Summit
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2, Max: 10
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 30 of the days 42 migrants were counted after 16:00. The highest hours were 16:00 to 17:00 and 18:00 to 19:00 with 9 migrants each
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 15, Sub-Adult: 1, Juvenile: Unaged: 21, Total: 37, (To Date: 1563)
– Bald Eagle: Juvenile: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 91)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 41, (To Date: 1703)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 2, Bald Eagle: 1, Red-tailed Hawk: 1, Northern Goshawk: 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Swan sp.: 8 (flying high up to the north), Canada Goose: 1, Common Merganser: 3, American Three-toed Woodpecker: 1, Downy Woodpecker: 2, Hairy Woodpecker: 1, Northern Flicker, Northern Shrike: 1, Canada Jay: 1, Common Raven: 20, Black-capped Chickadee: 2, Mountain Chickadee: 3, Boreal Chickadee: 2, Tree Swallow: 1, Golden-crowned KInglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1, Pacific Wren: 1, American Dipper: 1, European Starling: 7, Mountain Bluebird: 4, Varied Thrush: 4, American Robin: 65, Dark-eyed Junco: 6, Song Sparrow: 2, Brewer’s Blackbird: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 21, (To Date: 607)
COUNT DATE: 02/04/2021, (Day 33 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:00 – End: 20:15, Day Total: 13:15hrs, (To Date: 351:35hrs)
OBSERVERS: Lori Anderson, Patrick Farley, Patricia Farley, Rosemary.
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Movement started around noon and coincided with a change in direction and speed of ground winds from N/NE ˂ 5 km/h to W/SW ˂ 20 and gusts ˂ 30 km/h. Ridge winds averaged 42 km/h with gusts of up to 75 km/h throughout the afternoon. Most of the Eagles were found entering the face of Lorette at the pyramid, then disappeared around the west side or glided past McGillivray. Once again they they seemed to come from from Wasootch, far to the north of the observation site. An ominous sheet of white/gray altostratus covering the entire sky, made aging a difficult task.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -0.5, Max: 8.5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 17:00-18:00 with 29 migrants counted.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 69, Sub-Adult: 9, Juvenile: 6, Unaged: 50, Total: 134, (To Date: 1526)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 89)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 136, (To Date: 1662)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Northern Goshawk -2, Golden Eagle – 2, Bald Eagle -1.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Common Raven -5, American Robin ≈ 50, Varied Thrush -2, Canada Goose -22, Mountain Chickadee -1, Black-capped Chickadee -2, Canada Jay -2, European Starling -12, Swan sp.-1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Nothing.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 72, (To Date: 586)
COUNT DATE: 01/04/2021, (Day 32 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:05 – End: 18:00, Day Total: 10:55hrs, (To Date: 338:20hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Rick Robb, Caroline Lambert
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Once again it was extremely windy with gusts exceeding 70 km/h. Most migrants were typically gliding high from Patrick to Lorette. Many lost much height along the way but caught an air current approaching Lorette which they used to kite over the mountain. 90-100% altostratus cloud cover made ageing difficult. The count was concluded at 18:00 due to snow.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 4, Max: 9
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 11:00 to 12:00 with 6 migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 5, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: Unaged: 15, Total: 20, (To Date: 1392)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 88)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Unidentified Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 24, (To Date: 1526)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 1, Bald Eagle: 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 12, Common Merganser: 2, Northern Flicker: 1, Canada Jay: 1, Common Raven: 5, Black-capped Chickadee: 2, Mountain Chickadee: 1, American Dipper: 1, European Starling: 1, Varied Thrush: 1 American Robin: 111 (most were flying north in the morning), Common Redpoll: 4, Pine Siskin: 1, American Tree Sparrow: 1, Dark-eyed Junco: 11 (10 Oregon, 1 u)
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 20, (To Date: 514)
COUNT DATE: 31/03/2021, (Day 31 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:40 – End: 20:15, Day Total: 13:35hrs, (To Date: 327:25hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson and Glenn Webber
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Migration mostly slow, with a few faster periods. Ground winds SW to SSE 5 to 10 km/h gusting to 30 to 40 (or 60 later in the afternoon), with one sustained gust around 80 or 90 km/h at 19:45. I had to hold my tripod, feet planted against the wind like it must feel to hold a flag in the wind on the summit of Everest. Winds aloft SW to WSW 40 to 60 gusting to 70 to 90 km/h, but 100 gusting 130 in the hour when we had the big gust at ground level. No precipitation. 20 – 90% cumulus & altostratus, with lenticular forming at the end.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -8.6, Max: +6.9
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: First eagle 07:45 (half an hour after sunrise), last eagle 19:50 (20 minutes before sunset). Maximum movement 58 raptors) 12:00 to the end. Maximum hour16:00-17:00 (13 golden eagles)
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 34, Sub-Adult: 5, Juvenile: 7, Unaged: 17, Total: 63, (To Date: 1372)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Unaged: 2, Total: 3, (To Date: 86)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Northern Goshawk: 1
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 69, (To Date: 1502)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: 7 Golden Eagle sightings (2 X 2 + 3 X 1), 1 light calurus adult Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Northern Goshawk
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: 10 Canada Geese in flight, 2 Common Mergansers, 4 American Robins, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 1 Canada Jay, 15 Common Ravens (largest grouping 8), 2 starlings.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Except for the wind gust noted above, nothing.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 11, (To Date: 494)
COUNT DATE: 30/03/2021, (Day 30 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 20:00, Day Total: 12:30hrs, (To Date: 313:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament, Graeme Dunlop, Cindy Parliament
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The morning opening temperature was minus 18 warming to plus 1 at 1600 hrs. The East ridges were clear all day and the West ridges 10-30 % obscured until 1500 hrs when the West ridges were 100 % obscured. Ground winds were low with a maximum of 15 km per hr with gusts to 20 km per hr. Ridge winds were WSW all day with starting at 20 with gusts to 35 km per hr, and increasing by 1700 hrs to 66 with gusts to 80 km per hr. Aloft winds were low from the west. Although the GOEA migration was primarily on the Patrick-Fisher and Lorette mountains there was no dominant pattern, with birds flying on the East ridges, coming from Wasootch behind Lorette, across the centre of the valley overhead, and either low in the face or extremely high across Patrick. A lot of flapping was observed on Lorette. The blue skies made location difficult. The extra observers were most welcome. The resident pair of GOEA were extremely active throughout the day in all sectors of the valley.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -18, Max: +1
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 14:00-15:00 (23 migrants of which 18 were GOEA)
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 71, Sub-Adult: 5, Juvenile: 11, Unaged: 2, Total: 89, (To Date: 1309)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 5, Total: 5, (To Date: 83)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 3
– Red-tailed Hawk: 5
– Rough-legged Hawk: 1
– Gyrfalcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 104, (To Date: 1433)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: BAEA Adult x 1, GOEA adults x 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: AMCR x 2, CORA x 13, CNGO x 2, SNGO x 25, AMRO x 1, VATH x 1, BCCH x 1, MOCH x 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: RUGR tracks x 2, Snowshoe Hare tracks, Red Squirrel tracks – Troll Falls parking lot closed for expansion
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 0, (To Date: 483)
COUNT DATE: 29/03/2021, (Day 29 of 53)
NO OBSERVATION
OBSERVERS: Caroline Lambert, Pat Farley
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The forecast of ‘partly cloudy’ turned out to be a weak sun shining through stratus clouds that kept the ridges obscured most of the day, with frequent light flurries of snow keeping the visibility limited.
COUNT DATE: 28/03/2021, (Day 28 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:20 – End: 13:30, Day Total: 06:10hrs, (To Date: 301:20hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop. Cliff Hansen
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The day began with light snow and low cloud obscuring all ridges. Light SW ground winds. ridge winds SW 50 km/h gusting up to 100 km/h. The days only partial clearance was from 09:00 to 10:00 when the cloud lifted from the eastern and northern ridges/peaks. 9 Golden Eagles were seen during this period, gliding over the Fisher Range at ridge level. All ridges were again obscured after 10:00 and with the weather closing in and a forecast for worsening conditions the count was ended at 13:30.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 2, Max: 5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 09:00 to 10:00 with 10 migrants.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 4, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 5, Total: 9, (To Date: 1220)
– Bald Eagle: Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 78)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 11, (To Date: 1329)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: BAEA 1, NOGO 1.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Varied Thrush 1, American Robin 8, Common Raven 9, Canada Goose 6, Snow Goose 1, Hairy Woodpecker 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 7, (To Date: 483)
COUNT DATE: 27/03/2021, (Day 27 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:20 – End: 20:00, Day Total: 12:40hrs, (To Date: 295:10hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Annie Finch
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It was an extremely windy day with gusts up to 70 at ground level and 127 at ridge level. Cloud cover ranged from 60 to 90%. Flying conditions seemed inconsistent as migrants used various combinations of soaring, gliding, kiting and sometimes powered flight. Their altitude was similarly variable with may birds extremely high and others quite low. Most migrants used the eastern ridges and were detected at Patrick or Lorette, though some used the western ridges or just flew over the valley.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 0, Max: +9
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Peak migration was late morning and early afternoon with 40 migrants counted between 11:00 and 13:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 43, Sub-Adult: 1, Juvenile: Unaged: 65, Total: 109, (To Date: 1211)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 3, Unaged: 1, Total: 4, (To Date: 77)
– Unidentified Eagle: Total: 3, (To Date: 8)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Unidentified Raptor: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 117, (To Date: 1318)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 2, Northern Goshawk: 2, Red-tailed Hawk: 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 9, Ruffed Grouse: 1, American-three Toed Woodpecker: 1, Hairy Woodpecker: 1, Canada Jay: 1, Black-billed Magpie: 1, American Crow: 3, Common Raven: 8, Black-capped Chickadee: 2, Boreal Chickadee: 2, Mountain Chickadee: 4, Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1, European Starling: 4, American Robin: 8 Dark-eyed Junco: 2
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 34, (To Date: 476)
COUNT DATE: 26/03/2021, (Day 26 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:00 – End: 20:00, Day Total: 13:00hrs, (To Date: 282:30hrs)
OBSERVERS: Lori Anderson, Brian McBride.
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: At the onset of observation at 7:30 until 9:00, the winds were calm and a light snow fell. The ridges were between 80 – 100 % obscured. After 12:00 winds picked up. The ground winds blew mainly from the south up to 20 km/h with a few gusts every now and then, while SW Ridge winds were clocked at an average of 31 km/h. Throughout the day, we had about 80% Cumulous and Alto Cumulous and some Cirrostratus. Most of the birds appeared gliding high in the center of the valley between Patrick and Lorette or entering the face of Lorette at the pyramid, then disappearing around the west side. At 19:00 The winds and pressure suddenly changed. It was as though someone decided to let the menacing west winds fill the valley after having held them at bay all day.The sky above us was filled with beautiful ever changing mare’s-tail wisps of cirrus uncinus and the bird migration stopped. All in all we expected to have a better day in terms of numbers.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -5, Max: 5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Between 15:00 and 17:00 we found 19.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 27, Sub-Adult: 3, Juvenile: Unaged: 17, Total: 47, (To Date: 1102)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Unidentified Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 48, (To Date: 1201)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA 2, NOGO 1.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CNGO 10, AMRO 3, DEJU 1, EUST 3, CORA 10, BBMA 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: A beautiful almost full moon came up from behind Patrick.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 14, (To Date: 442)
COUNT DATE: 25/03/2021, (Day 25 of 53)
NO OBSERVATION
OBSERVERS: Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Light winds from the east, light snow, and clouds obscuring the ridges all day resulted in no count today.
COUNT DATE: 24/03/2021, (Day 24 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:45 – End: 20:15, Day Total: 13:30hrs, (To Date: 269:30hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson and Glenn Webber
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A slow movement of raptors throughout the day. Above freezing but chilly because of the wind, often 10 – 30 km/h but gusting up to 40 or even 60 on occasion. Winds aloft mostly WSW to SW 20 – 45 gusting 40 – 80. Occasional scattered snowflakes but no significant precipitation. East ridges clear, west ridges mostly clear. Backlighting by clouds made aging of migrating raptors difficult.
TEMPERATURE: Min: +0.7, Max: +5.0
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: First raptor (GOEA) 09:12, last raptor (3 GOEA) 19:40. Greatest movement 29 migrating raptors between 11:00 and 15:00, greatest hour 12:00 – 13:00 (11 GOEA).
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 19, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 19, Total: 38, (To Date: 1055)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 73)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Peregrine Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 41, (To Date: 1153)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA (three sightings of one each time), BAEA (two sightings of a high-flying adult) and one sighting of the resident NOGO east of the river, flying south at treetop level.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: The most notable was a Varied Thrush heard singing somewhere near the pumphouses around 08:15 (yay, spring is here!). The only other non-raptors were 2 Canada Geese landing on the river, 2 Common Mergansers flying south along the river, 7 American Robins, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, and 35 Common Ravens (largest single group 6).
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: The Sharp-shinned Hawk noted above (an adult) briefly took its frustrations out on one of the migrating Golden Eagles, before letting it go on its way. Can a poor, migrating Golden Eagle have no peace?
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 7, (To Date: 428)
COUNT DATE: 23/03/2021, (Day 23 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 20:40, Day Total: 13:10hrs, (To Date: 256:00hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament, Cindy Parliament, Cliff Hansen, Lyn & Howard Heffler
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The ground winds were light from the SW from 3-10 km per hr and gusting to 15 on occasion. The ridge winds were good for migrants and classed as medium from the SW. The skies were clear until noon with the gradual development of Cumulus and Cumstratrus (20-70 %) in the afternoon. The migrants initially ran high and fast over Patrick. In the afternoon the migrants were observed on Lorette. The resident GOEA pair were observed over the West ridges.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -10, Max: +4
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 19:00-20:00 (GOEA x 23)
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 116, Sub-Adult: 2, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 4, Total: 122, (To Date: 1017)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 72)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 124, (To Date: 1112)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA x 2 (Resident)
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CNGO x 2, COME x 3 (M,F,U), RUGR x 2, CAJA x 1, CORA x 13, AMCR x 1, EUST x 1, BCCH x 4, MOCH x 1, AMRO x 5, Northern Shrike x 1, DEJU x 1, CORE x 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Snowshoe Hare x 5 (tracks), Red Squirrel x 1
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 43, (To Date: 421)
COUNT DATE: 22/03/2021, (Day 22 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 16:30, Day Total: 09:00hrs, (To Date: 242:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop, Pat Farley
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The day began quite sunny with light ground winds from the SW. Ridge winds were also SW gusting up to 70 km/h in the morning, decreasing to 10-40km/h in the afternoon. Cloud cover was about 30% cumulus and stratocumulus at sunrise but gradually increased to 90% by 15:00. Some intermittent light snow began around 13:00 and by 15:00 we were surrounded by ominous looking clouds so relocated to Wasootch Creek at 15:30 but heavy hail and approaching thunder forced an end to the days count at 16:30. Between 11:00 and 14:00 we did get some decent raptor movement including 37 Golden Eagles. Most of these birds were seen soaring near the SE side of Mt. Kidd before gliding behind Olympic Summit. 5 Golden Eagles were seen at Wasootch, gliding down the Creek and across to Mt. Lorette where they soared to regain height.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -1, Max: 4
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 11:00-13:00 with 32 migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 29, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 18, Total: 47, (To Date: 895)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 70)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 2
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 51, (To Date: 988)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Bald Eagle 2
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose 6, Northern Shrike 1, Canada Jay 2, American Robin 14, Red-winged Blackbird 1, Grey-crowned Rosy Finch 70.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 5, (To Date: 378)
COUNT DATE: 21/03/2021, (Day 21 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:20 – End: 19:25, Day Total: 12:05hrs, (To Date: 233:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament, Cindy Parliament
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The ground winds were from the North in the morning and changing to SW in the afternoon. Ground winds were light all day from 10-15 km per hr with several gusts to 18 km per hr. Ridge winds appeared low, resulting in poor conditions for migration. The West ridges were 40-80 % and the East ridges 0-10 % obscured. The resident pair of GOEA were together over Mt Lorette flying South along the East ridges. At various times one of the resident pair would perch on the pyramid of Mt Lorette or near the summit of the Little Smile.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -3.5, Max: +5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 17:00-18:00 x 3
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 9, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 0, Total: 9, (To Date: 848)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 2, (To Date: 68)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 11, (To Date: 937)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA x 2 (adult – resident)
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CORA x 12, CNGO x 17, AMRO x 16, AMDI x 1, PIWO x 1, GCRF x 145 ( 2 flocks 110 + 35), DEJU x 1, Northern Shrike x 1, CAJA x1 , BCCH x 2
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: None
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 34, (To Date: 373)
COUNT DATE: 20/03/2021, (Day 20 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:50 – End: 19:30, Day Total: 11:40hrs, (To Date: 221:45hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Annie Finch, Brian McBride
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It started snowing around 10 am which continued on and off for the rest of the day
TEMPERATURE: Min: +1, Max: +5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Highest hourly count was 12:00 to 13:00 with 6 migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 11, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: Unaged: 9, Total: 20, (To Date: 839)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 2, (To Date: 66)
– Unidentified Eagle: Total: 1, (To Date: 5)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 23, (To Date: 926)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 2, Bald Eagle: 3, Northern Goshawk: 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 14, Hairy Woodpecker: 1, Northern Shrike: 1, Canada Jay: 1, Black-capped Chickadee: 4, Mountain Chickadee: 2, Boreal Chickadee: 5, Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1, American Robin: 1, Common Redpol: 4, Song Sparrow: 1, Red-winged Blackbird: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 19, (To Date: 339)
COUNT DATE: 19/03/2021, (Day 19 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 19:45, Day Total: 12:15hrs, (To Date: 210:05hrs)
OBSERVERS: Lori Anderson, Kat Stack
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Three periods of snow, rain and strong winds marked this day. Although there were intervals of sun and calmer winds, I think the high council of Raptor wellness declared it a snow day, and most of the birds stayed at home in bed in pajamas. Winds at valley level, S/SW most of the time, 5-10 km/h and gusts of up to around 50km/h at times. At the ridges winds SW averaging 41 km/h with gusts of up to 87 km/h. Most of the raptors were found high in the sky over the valley centre/northeast or at Lorette/ Mcgillivray.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 1, Max: 7
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: About half of today’s birds passed us between 12:00 and 14:00.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 8, Sub-Adult: 2, Juvenile: Unaged: 4, Total: 14, (To Date: 819)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 64)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Peregrine Falcon: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 17, (To Date: 903)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: BAEA1, GOEA 1, NOGO 2.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Rusty Blackbird 2, Canada Jay 1, American Robin 1, American Dipper 1, Northern Flicker 1, Canada Goose 1, Dark-eyed Junco 1, Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch in two flocks of 50 and 100, Northern Shrike 1, Common Raven 8.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Once again I had the pleasure of observing some breathtaking acrobatics as the resident Golden Eagle dive-bombed a local Bald. I hope it’s mate arrives soon.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 21, (To Date: 320)
COUNT DATE: 18/03/2021, (Day 18 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:45 – End: 19:45, Day Total: 12:00hrs, (To Date: 197:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop, Rick Robb
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A nice sunny day. Winds were SW-WSW at ground and ridge level, mostly light gusting to 60 km/h at ridges. Cloud cover around 10%, small cumulus and thin cirrus increasing in the afternoon. There was some early movement with 20 Golden Eagles seen before 12:00, often far to the south at The Wedge or on the south side of Mt Kidd. Steady movement continued until 15:00, mostly on the far side of the western ridges or at Lorette where birds seemed to be arriving from the Wasootch area. There was then a bit of a lull until between 17:00 and sunset at19:45 when 35 Golden and 14 Bald Eagles were seen, mostly flying quite high over the eastern ridges before gliding to Mt Lorette.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2, Max: 10
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 17:00 to 18:00 with 21 migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 82, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 18, Total: 100, (To Date: 805)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 15, Sub-Adult: 3, Total: 18, (To Date: 62)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Cooper’s Hawk: 1
– Northern Goshawk: 3
– Red-tailed Hawk: 2
– Merlin: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 125, (To Date: 886)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: NOGO 1, GOEA 2, BAEA 2
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Swan sp 7, American Robin 4, Dark-eyed Junco 4, Red-breasted Nuthatch 1, Boreal Chickadee 4, American Dipper 2, Canada Goose 8, Common Raven 18, Northern Pygmy Owl (calling) 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 15, (To Date: 299)
COUNT DATE: 17/03/2021, (Day 17 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:05 – End: 19:55, Day Total: 12:50hrs, (To Date: 185:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson, Glenn Webber
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It was a great spring day with mostly thin altostratus at the start and mostly thin cirrostratus in the afternoon. Ground winds were mostly light with windier periods of up to 20 or maybe 30 km/h. Ridge winds were SSW to WSW 20 to 30 gusting up to 45 km/h. Raptor movement was almost entirely in the east, light until noon and then in the range 15 to 24 each hour until an hour before sunset. The last two birds went through twenty minutes before sunset.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -5.5, Max: +8.1
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 125 between 12:00 and 19:00, with the maximum hour being 24 between 18:00 and 19:00.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 90, Sub-Adult: 3, Juvenile: 3, Unaged: 38, Total: 134, (To Date: 705)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 3, Sub-Adult: 2, Juvenile: 2, Unaged: 1, Total: 8, (To Date: 44)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Harrier: 1
– Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
– Northern Goshawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 145, (To Date: 761)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Norther Pygmy-owl 1, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Pileated Woodpecker 1, Canada Jay 2, Common Raven 7, American Robin 1, Common Redpoll 2, White-winged Crossbill 2, Gray-crowned Rosy-finch 30 (fast-flying flock)
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: An adult Sharp-shinned Hawk got rather upset at an adult Golden Eagle at Mt. Lorette, even making contact on one occasion.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 17, (To Date: 284)
COUNT DATE: 16/03/2021, (Day 16 of 53)
TIME: Start: 08:00 – End: 20:00, Day Total: 12:00hrs, (To Date: 173:00hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Brian McBride, Rosemary Power, Dave Stewart, Ed McCullough
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: It was a beautiful, sunny day with 20 to 40% cloud cover and wind gusting up to 20 km/h in the afternoon and evening. In contrast to Sunday many migrants were soaring on thermals, making ageing easy in many cases. Most of the days unaged eagles were seen gliding from Mount Bogart to the other side Olympic Summit and didn’t re-emerge, or soared over the western ridges late in the day and were backlit by the setting sun.The day started slow with only 15 migrants counted at 15:00 but it picked up quickly from there. For most of the day migrants used the western ridges, with some birds seen soaring over Mt. Bogart before moving over to Olympic Summit. From 17:00 to 18:00 they were flying down both sides of the valley and after 18:00 had transitioned to primarily using the eastern ridges.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -5, Max: +7
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: There was a huge rush in the last few hours with 53 migrants between 17:00 and 18:00, 48 between 18:00 and 19:00, and 14 between 19:00 and 19:12
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 96, Sub-Adult: 8, Juvenile: 1, Unaged: 63, Total: 168, (To Date: 571)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 36)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Goshawk: 2
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 172, (To Date: 616)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 1, Northern Goshawk: 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 2, Northern Pygmy-Owl: 1, Hairy Woodpecker: 1, Canada Jay: 2, Common Raven: 9, Black-capped Chickadee: 4, Mountain Chickadee: 5, Boreal Chickadee: 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch : 1, American Dipper: 1, American Robin: 4, Bohemian Waxwing: 12, Common Redpoll: 3, White-winged Crossbill: 3, Dark-eyed Junco: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: A Northern Pygmy-owl was heard on and off throughout the day. One of the resident Northern Goshawks was in display flight and harassed a migrating Goshawk.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 15, (To Date: 267)
COUNT DATE: 15/03/2021, (Day 15 of 53)
TIME: Start: 08:00 – End: 19:30, Day Total: 11:30hrs, (To Date: 161:00hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop, Pat Farley
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Winds were N-NE for much of the day, 5-30 km/h at both ground and ridge level. Cloud cover varied between 40% cumulus with sunny periods and up to 100% stratocumulus that brought some light snow flurries throughout the afternoon. Despite the northerly winds 61 migrant raptors were seen. Most migrants were observed during 2 periods of activity: between 12:00 and 14:00 with 28 Golden Eagles mostly using the western ridges flying quite low between Mt Kidd and Mt Allan, then between 16:45 and 18:00 when a sudden but short-lived change in wind direction from NE to SW produced a flurry of activity on the eastern ridges with 18 Golden Eagles, 4 Bald Eagles, 1 Northern Harrier and 1 Rough Legged Hawk. The majority of migrants were seen around ridge level often using flap-glide and soaring at every opportunity to try and gain some altitude. Birds gliding across the valley from Patrick to Lorette lost a lot of height and often disappeared behind Hummingbird Plume.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 0, Max: 4
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 12:00 – 14:00 with 28 migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 41, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 13, Total: 54, (To Date: 403)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 4, Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 5, (To Date: 34)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Northern Harrier: 1
– Rough-legged Hawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 61, (To Date: 444)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle 1, Bald Eagle 2
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose 16, American Robin 1, Common Raven 17
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 26, (To Date: 252)
COUNT DATE: 14/03/2021, (Day 14 of 53)
TIME: Start: 09:05 – End: 19:45, Day Total: 10:40hrs, (To Date: 149:30hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Glenn Webber, Jim St Laurent
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A beautiful spring day, though somewhat windy with gusts up to 40 km/h in the afternoon. In the morning cloud cover was 30% but increased to 60-90% later in the day which helped to spot high-flying migrants. Most Golden Eagles were gliding extremely high and passed well over Mount Lorette on the north side of the valley without stopping to soar, making them impossible to age. All migrants used the eastern ridges or the east side of the valley. Before 18:00 they were usually detected over or just south of Patrick, after 18:00 they were seen only at Lorette and probably originated from the Wasootch Ridge area.
TEMPERATURE: Min: +2, Max: +11
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: The first peak was 12:00 to 14:00 with 31 migrants. Migration was sporadic after that but picked up again near the end of the day with 20 migrants from 18:00 to 19:15
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 13, Sub-Adult: 1, Juvenile: Unaged: 64, Total: 78, (To Date: 349)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 5, Total: 5, (To Date: 29)
– Unidentified Eagle: Total: 1, (To Date: 4)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Red-tailed Hawk: 1
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 85, (To Date: 383)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Golden Eagle: 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 36, Ruffed Grouse: 1, Canada Jay: 3, Common Raven: 18, Black-capped Chickadee: 1, Mountain Chickadee: 1, Boreal Chickadee: 1, Brown Creeper: 2, American Dipper: 1, Bohemian Waxwing: 77, Common Redpoll: 1, White-winged Crossbill: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 27, (To Date: 226)
COUNT DATE: 13/03/2021, (Day 13 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:00 – End: 19:00, Day Total: 12:00hrs, (To Date: 138:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: Caroline Lambert, Annie Finch
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Another unusually warm day, starting with clear blue skies and ending with some cirrus clouds. Wind at ground level was mostly calm, and the ridge winds were around 30kph, but that was enough for the eagles to fly high and fast from the east ridge to Lorette. None were seen on the west ridge. A few were seen in the morning, then a trickle between 1pm and 2pm became a steady stream until the sun went behind the west ridge.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -5, Max: 11
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: There was a steady flow from 14:00 to 18:00, but the hour with the most was 15:00-16:00.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 95, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: Unaged: 40, Total: 135, (To Date: 271)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 3, Sub-Adult: 2, Total: 5, (To Date: 24)
– Unidentified Eagle: Total: 1, (To Date: 3)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 141, (To Date: 298)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA – 1 adult over Hummingbird Plume
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: HAWO – 1, CAJA – 3, CORA – 6, BCCH – 2, MOCH – 2, BOCH – 1, RBNU – 1, AMDI – 1, BOWA – 40, WWCR – 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 17, (To Date: 199)
COUNT DATE: 12/03/2021, (Day 12 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:45 – End: 18:45, Day Total: 12:00hrs, (To Date: 126:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: Lori Anderson, Brian McBride.
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Migration is picking up. Today movement started really early at 8:00 and all day there was a steady flow, albeit slow. The winds originated in the S/SW- W/SW during most of the day and conditions were seemingly great for observing the normal route, but a large number of raptors appeared out of nowhere in front of McGillivray or popped out of nowhere near the pyramid on Lorette only to suddenly disappear behind. They seem to have been traveling through the east side of the Fisher Range and crossing over to Lorette far to the north of the observation site.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2.5, Max: 6.5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Between 17:00 and 18:00 we had 8 migrants but almost the same number at other times in the day.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 25, Sub-Adult: 2, Juvenile: Unaged: 18, Total: 45, (To Date: 136)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 19)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 46, (To Date: 157)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA 1, BAEA 1.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CORE 1, BCCH 1, AMDI 1, CAJA 2, AMRO 1, DOWO 1, CORA 10, BOWA 18
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: It struck a special chord within me hearing the voice again of my old friend the Robin. Early in the morning there was a huge snow devil churning up quite the storm on the southern slope of Mt. Allen. As we left the site there was a huge pink cotton-candy cloud above Lorette making it seem like a cartoon version of Mt. Vesuvius.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 32, (To Date: 182)
COUNT DATE: 11/03/2021, (Day 11 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:20 – End: 19:00, Day Total: 11:40hrs, (To Date: 114:50hrs)
OBSERVERS: Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The day started cold and clear, but gradually warmed up and clouded over. The morning was quiet, with the highlight being the first robin of the season. Early in the morning a Golden Eagle was seen interacting with ravens in the notch on Nakiska, and then disappeared down behind the mountain. Later a Golden Eagle was seen hunting over Hummingbird Plume. Both these sightings suggest at least one of the residents has returned. The main migrant action started shortly after 3pm, with eagles popping up from behind the east ridge, gaining height rapidly, and then moving very quickly to Lorette. This action continued until almost sunset.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -16, Max: 3
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 16:00-18:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 36, Sub-Adult: 1, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 9, Total: 46, (To Date: 91)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 5, Total: 5, (To Date: 18)
– Unidentified Eagle: Total: 1, (To Date: 2)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 52, (To Date: 111)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: GOEA 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: RUGR 1, CAJA 2, CORA 9, AMDI 1, AMRO 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Nothing
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 16, (To Date: 150)
COUNT DATE: 10/03/2021, (Day 10 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:15 – End: 12:30, Day Total: 05:15hrs, (To Date: 103:10hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Patrick Farley
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Snow started falling shortly after 8 am, which lasted for the rest of the day. There were a few moments of clearing in the morning when parts of the Fisher Range were visible, but they were short lived. Seeing no improvement in the forecast, we concluded the count at 12:30 but lingered in the area until 15:00.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -6, Max: -4
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: No migrants
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 0, (To Date: 59)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: N/A
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: American Three-toed Woodpecker: 2, Common Raven: 2, Mountain Chickadee: 1, Boreal Chickadee: 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet: 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1, American Dipper: 1, Evening Grosbeak: 1, Pine Grosbeak: 4, White-winged Crossbill: 1, Red Crossbill: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 0, (To Date: 134)
COUNT DATE: 09/03/2021, (Day 9 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:55 – End: 17:55, Day Total: 10:00hrs, (To Date: 97:55hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The observers left early in the morning for the site, but ran into unexpected treacherous road conditions which delayed the opening time (heavy fog, glazed sheet ice suitable for curling, overturned transport truck resulting in traffic delay, 5 km per hr descent of the westbound Scott Lake Hill toboggan slope – otherwise a great day for a morning drive in the mountains !). Blue skies, warm temperatures (+4 C), and no wind made for a pleasant day for observation. Unfortunately, winds aloft were minimal resulting in poor conditions for migration. The drive home was uneventful.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -11, Max: +4
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 13:00-14:00 x 2 GOEA
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 3, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 0, Total: 3, (To Date: 45)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 3, (To Date: 59)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: One adult BAEA flying South
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CORA x 8, BCCH x 5, MOCH x 6, DOWO x 1, TTWO x 1, CAJA x 1, resident BAEA x 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: RUGR tracks
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 13, (To Date: 134)
COUNT DATE: 08/03/2021, (Day 8 of 53)
TIME: Start: 06:50 – End: 18:20, Day Total: 11:30hrs, (To Date: 87:55hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop, Sandy Graham
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A nice clear sunny day with light SW winds. A few small cumulus clouds and some thin cirrus clouds. Ridge winds SW 0 – 30 km/h. Despite the seemingly favourable conditions only 13 migrants were seen.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -8, Max: 3
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: First eagle seen at 13:10. 9 migrants between 15:00 to 18:00.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 9, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 1, Unaged: 1, Total: 11, (To Date: 42)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 13)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 13, (To Date: 56)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Bald Eagle 3, Golden Eagle 1.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Common Raven 15, Canada Jay 3, Mountain Chickadee 2, Pine Grosbeak 4.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: None
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 8, (To Date: 121)
COUNT DATE: 07/03/2021, (Day 7 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:10 – End: 18:28, Day Total: 11:18hrs, (To Date: 76:25hrs)
OBSERVERS: Ethan Denton, Neil Denton
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: The day started off slow, but with good weather throughout we managed to spot 8 Golden Eagles, most in a burst around 2pm. Two adult Bald Eagles also made an appearance, flying low throught the valley. Although we were treated to excellent weather and mild temperatures for the majority of the day, a mist rolled in towards the end, killing visibility, and with just a few minutes left anyways, we decided to call it a day.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -2.6, Max: +4.1
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: Most migrants passed through between 13:00-14:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 4, Sub-Adult: 2, Juvenile: Unaged: 2, Total: 8, (To Date: 31)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 8, (To Date: 43)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Bald Eagle 2
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Pileated Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: N/A
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 17, (To Date: 113)
COUNT DATE: 06/03/2021, (Day 6 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 18:30, Day Total: 11:00hrs, (To Date: 65:07hrs)
OBSERVERS: Blake Weis, Annie Finch
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: I was greeted with moderate rain upon arrival to the site at 7 am, which I waited out until it turned to light rain at 7:30. The weather cleared throughout the morning resulting in a very nice day with good observing conditions, wind gusting from the SW to 20 km/h and a high of +6. The nice day was suddenly interrupted at 12:15 by north wind gusting to 40 km/h which was then followed by heavy snow and temperature retreating to +2. The snowstorm lasted until 14:00, when it cleared once again.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 2, Max: 6
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 7 of the day’s 9 migrants passed between 11:00 and 12:30, and the other 2 between 15:00 and 16:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 5, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: 3, Unaged: 1, Total: 9, (To Date: 23)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 9, (To Date: 35)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: Bald Eagle: 2, Northern Goshawk: 1
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Canada Goose: 6, Great Horned Owl: 2, Downy Woodpecker: 1, Hairy Woodpecker: 1, Canada Jay: 3, Common Raven: 7, Black-capped Chickadee: 3, Mountain Chickadee: 1, Boreal Chickadee: 2, Brown Creeper: 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Dipper: 1, European Starling: 1, Bohemian Waxwing: 1, Pine Grosbeak: 1, Common Redpoll: 2, Song Sparrow: 1
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: One great Horned Owl was hooting from across the river in the afternoon. Another distant owl replied a few times. The song sparrow was nice to see.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 21, (To Date: 96)
COUNT DATE: 05/03/2021, (Day 5 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:15 – End: 18:30, Day Total: 11:15hrs, (To Date: 54:07hrs)
OBSERVERS: Lori Anderson, Kat Stack
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A blustery but beautiful day! The temperature at 07:15 was 2.5C and the high at 14:00 was 10C. Ridge Winds came from the SW with speeds of 70-98 km/h and strong gusts between 97 and 138 km/h all day. The ridges were clear from dawn to dusk, but a constant layer of morphing altostratus created a backdrop that made it difficult to distinguish the plumage of the few migrating raptors that managed to sail the turbulent sky.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 2.5, Max: 10.5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: To be exact, from 16:15 to 17:15 we had the highest count for the day, 1 adult Golden Eagle and 2 adult Bald Eagles.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: Unaged: Total: 1, (To Date: 14)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 2, Total: 2, (To Date: 11)
– Unidentified Eagle: Total: 1, (To Date: 1)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 4, (To Date: 26)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: 1 GOEA, 1 BAEA.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: Common Raven 15+, Canada Jay 2, American Dipper 1, Black-billed Magpie 2, Mountain Chickadee 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: It was fun to watch the swooping and mirroring of 5 Ravens engaged in courtship joy flights. A healthy and brave vole surfaced from under the shelter and made its way across the path to the open snowfield.
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 12, (To Date: 75)
COUNT DATE: 04/03/2021, (Day 4 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:25 – End: 18:20, Day Total: 10:55hrs, (To Date: 42:52hrs)
OBSERVERS: Caroline Lambert, Cliff Hansen
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Unusually warm for the beginning of March. While the weather was nice for humans, it did not appear that way for eagles. With little wind there was virtually no raptor movement all day.
TEMPERATURE: Min: -6, Max: 9
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 12:00-13:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Bald Eagle: Juvenile: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 9)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 1, (To Date: 22)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: 2 adult Bald Eagles
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: 1 DOWO, 3 CAJA, 4 CORA, 3 MOCH, 1 BOCH, 1 RBNU, 1 BRCR, 1 AMDI, 1 PIGR, 25 CORE, 8 PISI
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Nothing
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 14, (To Date: 63)
COUNT DATE: 03/03/2021, (Day 3 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:03 – End: 18:30, Day Total: 11:27hrs, (To Date: 31:57hrs)
OBSERVERS: Bill Wilson, Glenn Webber
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: Nice but cool early spring day. Ground winds mostly 5-10 km/h but gusting to 20-30 km/h. 70-90% cumulus, no precipitation.
TEMPERATURE: Min: +0.6, Max: +6.6
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 16 migrants beginning with 4 between 12:25 and 13:00 and ending with 7 between 17:00 and 17:30.
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 11, Sub-Adult: Juvenile: Unaged: Total: 11, (To Date: 13)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 4, Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 5, (To Date: 8)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 16, (To Date: 21)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: NOGO – 1 adult hunting S part of Hummingbird.
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: ATTW 1, AMDI 1, MOCH 1, BCCH 1, GRJA 2, CORA 46, PIGR 10, WWCR 1.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: 14 ravens heading sw from behind Lorette at 17:40
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 21, (To Date: 49)
COUNT DATE: 02/03/2021, (Day 2 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 18:30, Day Total: 11:00hrs, (To Date: 20:30hrs)
OBSERVERS: George Halmazna, Dan Parliament, Cindy Parliament
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: We encountered warm temperatures, but the stiff West breeze gusting to 50 km/hr and overcast skies, resulted in high wind chills. The West ridges were obscured most of the day. A quiet day for both raptors (BAEA x2) and passerines.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 0, Max: 5
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 12:00-13:00 (BAEA x1), 13:00-14:00 (BAEA x 1)
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Sub-Adult: 1, Total: 2, (To Date: 3)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 2, (To Date: 5)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: 0
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: CORA x 20, PIGR x 2, BCCH x 2, AMDI x 1, BBMA x 1, CAJA x 3
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: Red Squirrel x 1
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 5, (To Date: 28)
COUNT DATE: 01/03/2021, (Day 1 of 53)
TIME: Start: 07:30 – End: 17:00, Day Total: 09:30hrs, (To Date: 9:30hrs)
OBSERVERS: Graeme Dunlop, Pat Farley
DESCRIPTION OF DAY: A nice sunny morning with temperature 4C and SW winds gusting to 50 km/h at ground level. Some thicker clouds to the south and west and this plus the strong SW ridge winds over 120 km/h likely caused the low number of migrating birds. The wind speed gradually decreased through the day but cloud cover increased and light snow started falling intermittently around noon, becoming continuous by 15:00. The count ceased at 17:00 due to weather conditions. Only 3 migrating raptors were seen, 1 adult Bald Eagle and 2 adult Golden Eagles.
TEMPERATURE: Min: 4, Max: 8
PERIOD WITH MOST MIGRANTS: 14:00 to 15:00
MIGRANT EAGLE COUNT BY SPECIES:
– Golden Eagle: Adult: 2, Sub-Adult: 0, Juvenile: 0, Unaged: 0, Total: 2, (To Date: 2)
– Bald Eagle: Adult: 1, Total: 1, (To Date: 1)
MIGRANT RAPTOR COUNT BY SPECIES:
– None observed
TOTAL MIGRATORY RAPTORS: Daily: 3, (To Date: 3)
NON MIGRANT RAPTORS: None
OTHER BIRDS OF NOTE: 12 Common Raven, 4 Black – capped Chickadee, 27 Pine Grosbeak.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS: None
NUMBER OF VISITORS: Daily: 23, (To Date: 23)
2021 SPRING COUNT STARTED
