Mount Lorette (09 Mar 2023) 5 Raptors

Visitors:
Only six people stopped to chat.

Weather:
It was -26C on arrival in the parking lot, but there were no clouds in the sky to start with, so after the sun rose over the east ridge the temperature rose quickly, hitting a high of -3C in the afternoon, and lowering to -8C at the end of the day. Ground winds were initially light from the southwest, but became a bit stronger and from the northeast in the afternoon. When clouds appeared late in the morning, they were moving slowly from the west. What was happening at ridge level is not certain, but there appeared to be not much wind at that level since no snow was blowing off the ridges. At the Centennial Ridge weather station, the wind was mostly from the south and very light.

Raptor Observations:
Viewing conditions were excellent all day, but unfortunately there were few eagles to view. The one Golden Eagle (adult) seen (in the early afternoon) was following the usual route from the east ridge to Lorette, using powered flight to maintain altitude. Three of the four Bald Eagles seen were soaring to gain altitude; a couple over Hummingbird Plume, and one over the east ridge.

Non-raptor Observations:
The shock of the cold to start the day was offset a bit by hearing a Pine Grosbeak singing. Four Black-capped Chickadees were entertaining during the morning as they sang their “cheese burger” song and chased each other around. Other birds were: Common Raven 4, Mountain Chickadee 2, American Dipper 1, Pine Grosbeak 2, White-winged Crossbill 1, Pine Siskin 4

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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]