Mount Lorette (06 Apr 2024) 17 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 06, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 7 | 12 | 71 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 9 | 12 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Golden Eagle | 6 | 56 | 1641 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 17 | 84 | 1757 |
| Observation start time: | 11:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.08 hours |
| Official Counter | Blake Weis |
| Observers: | Lynn Macintosh |
Visitors:
16 visitors stopped to talk. None came to watch raptors.
Weather:
The start of the count was delayed because snow fell throughout the morning which obscured all ridges. It commenced at 12:40 PM as the snow stopped and the sky partially cleared. It was mostly cloudy but there were some sunny breaks in the afternoon. The west ridges remained 80% obscured by low cloud and the east 20-40% until the last hour of observation, when they almost fully cleared. Ground wind was light from variable directions, and ridge wind was light to moderate from the SSW. The temperature was 3 C at the start, the high was 5, and the low was 2.
Raptor Observations:
The count consisted of 6 Golden Eagles (5 adults, 1 unaged), 7 Bald Eagles (3 adults, 4 sub-adults), 2 Red-tailed Hawks and 2 Rough-legged Hawks. Migrants moved through in a slow trickle between 1:30 and 5:50 PM. They were flying low over the center and west side of the valley. Most of them stayed below the level of the clouds, but a few soared up higher between cloud layers, disappearing from view. Local raptors included an adult Golden Eagle that flew south down the west side of the valley, a Red-tailed Hawk hunting over Hummingbird Plume Hill, and a Merlin that was seen twice hunting in the meadow.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included: 18 Snow Geese migrating over the Fisher Range, 2 Canada Geese, 1 American Three-toed Woodpecker, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 American Crow, 5 Common Ravens, 8 Chickadee sp., 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Brown Creeper, 2 Varied Thrushes singing in the evening, 20 American Robins, 65 Bohemian Waxwings, and 1 Dark-eyed Junco (Male Oregon) A mink made an appearance swimming in the river near the site. 2 distant bighorn sheep were spotted. Some adult stoneflies have emerged.
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
