Mount Lorette (18 Oct 2022) 42 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 18, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 | 57 | 70 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 17 | 46 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 12 | 23 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 18 | 25 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 22 | 31 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Golden Eagle | 40 | 1451 | 1606 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 11 | 13 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 14 | 18 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Total: | 42 | 1643 | 1894 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9.83 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Rick Robb |
Visitors:
We had 10 visitors, several with binoculars. Once again we are very grateful for the assistance of Theresa Gawron and James Bannon, who were with us all afternoon and were immensely helpful in locating and identifying the eagles.
Weather:
Although the days are getting shorter, the blue skies, light winds, and abnormally warm temperatures are persisting. The temperature started out at -2C, rose to a high of 19C, and finished at 11C. Haze from a forest fire exacerbated the difficulties of locating the eagles in the blue sky. Ridge winds were mostly light, but did pick up from the SSW near the end of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Initially the migrant eagles were coming into the east ridge low, and sometimes not being seen again as they moved south below ridge level in shadow, using a lot of powered flight. As the day progressed the eagles were able to use thermals above Mt Lorette to gain height and then glide south high over the east ridge. It was challenging to spot them in the hazy blue sky. The day was marked by a dearth of diversity of migrants. Other than two adult Bald Eagles, all the migrants were Golden Eagles, 40 in total (27a, 4j, 1sa, 8u).
Non-raptor Observations:
The Ruffed Grouse is still drumming away, although with less vigour than previously. A flock of about 40 Red Crossbills flew back and forth across the meadow as if they were testing all the local spruce cones to see which of this abundant crop are best, like kids in a candy store. Annie, guru of bird sound, has identified these as Type 2 Red Crossbills, but I’m happy that I’m able to tell, by sound, that they’re not White-winged Crossbills. Other birds were: Common Loon 2, Canada Jay 2, Black-billed Magpie 2, Clark’s Nutcracker 1, Common Raven 7, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Red-breasted Nuthatch 1, Pacific Wren 1, American Dipper 1, American Robin 1, Cassin’s Finch 2
Predictions:
A break in the weather is finally coming, as we move from temperatures well above average to below average. The barometric pressure will start dropping around noon tomorrow (Wednesday), and will continue to drop until early Saturday morning, when Hay Meadows is likely to get a significant snowfall. The change in pressure is sure to be accompanied by strong winds – and often this means a push south by the migrants. The total number of migrant eagles is currently lagging the average for this time of the season. Have migrants been sneaking by us undetected, or are there birds to the north waiting for more favourable winds? It will be interesting to see what happens.
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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]
