Mount Lorette (01 Oct 2022) 78 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Northern Goshawk | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 66 | 66 | 221 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Total: | 78 | 78 | 329 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11.42 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | David Musto |
Visitors:
As usual for a Saturday, many people walked by the site, but only about 25 actually stopped to learn about the count. One visitor brought binoculars and a scope and helped us spot for a couple of hours.
Weather:
The temperature ranged from an almost frosty 3C to an unseasonably warm 20C, falling to 11C at the end of the day. Ground winds were light, as were the ridge winds, but there must have been some stronger winds higher up, as the raptors were moving quite quickly once they had soared to a height well above ridge level. The sky started out clear, but fortunately for us a few cumulus clouds sat over the east ridge all afternoon, allowing for better spotting of those high flying birds. By the time we left, the clouds had dissipated.
Raptor Observations:
For the first time in several days there was good raptor movement. Most birds were spotted high over the east ridge – a few seemed to come up from behind the ridge and soared quickly to gain altitude. Some appeared to have gained altitude to the north and flew over our heads to the east ridge – we never did spot where those came from. The flight comprised of 3 Ospreys, 66 Golden Eagles (37a, 9sa, 8j, 12u), 3 Northern Goshawks, 1 adult Bald Eagle, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 2 small accipiters and one unidentified eagle.
Besides the migrants, there were 2 sightings of a Golden Eagle hunting over Skogan Pass, and 2 resident Northern Goshawks.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were 3 Common Mergansers, 2 Belted Kingfishers, 1 Northern Shrike, 1 Canada Jay, 3 Common Ravens, 3 Mountain Chickadees, 1 Brown Creeper, 1 American Dipper (Tom), and 5 American Robins.
Report submitted by Caroline Lambert (caroline144@gmail.com)
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo – [Project Details]
