Mount Lorette (11 Oct 2022) 140 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 33 | 46 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 10 | 39 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 8 | 19 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 15 | 24 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 128 | 866 | 1021 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 2 | 7 | 13 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 4 | 12 | 16 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Total: | 140 | 980 | 1231 |
| Observation start time: | 07:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Rick Robb |
Visitors:
There were fewer visitors today than previous days, only about a dozen. Four brought binoculars and helped with spotting birds. We are particularly grateful to James Bannon and Theresa Gawron for their expertise in helping out for most of the afternoon.
Weather:
The day’s weather started out looking like last week’s, with no ground wind, frost on the ground, and cloudless blue skies. The temperature started at -2C, rose to a high of 15C, and dropped to 11C at the end. However, while ridge winds varied throughout the day, they were strong and mostly from the southwest, making for good migration conditions. Cumulus clouds built up during the day which aided in spotting the migrants. The clouds showed much turbulence in the air as they were constantly forming and dissipating, and twisting and twirling, generally going rapidly in a south-southeast direction but often appearing to go backwards and sideways.
Raptor Observations:
The turbulence in the air was reflected in the flight paths of the migrants, which were all over the place. Some Golden Eagles were spotted going down the west ridge, which is unusual for fall migration. The count was 1 Osprey (harassed by a Golden Eagle), 128 Golden Eagles (79a, 13sa, 9j, 27u), 3 adult Bald Eagles, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 unid. accipiters and 4 unid. eagles. One adult Bald Eagle was seen heading north on a mission, as if it had just been informed that a large flock of ducks had landed at Barrier Lake.
Non-raptor Observations:
A large flock of about 60 Snow Geese was flying south early in the day. Later a small flock of 3 was seen being chased by a Golden Eagle. They headed north only to find themselves in the path of another Golden Eagle, at which point they descended rapidly and out of sight. A lone loon, presumably a Common Loon, was seen heading south. 14 ravens appeared to be enjoying the turbulent air above the east ridge at one point. Other birds were one Belted Kingfisher, one Northern Shrike, two Canada Jays, two Black-billed Magpies, two Black-capped Chickadees, one Golden-crowned Kinglet, two Red-breasted Nuthatches, two American Dippers, at least two Red Crossbills, a Pine Siskin or more, and two Dark-eyed Juncos.
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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]
