Mount Lorette (24 Sep 2024) 9 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 24, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 9 | 72 | 72 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Merlin | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 9 | 95 | 95 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8.98 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Ruth Morrow |
Visitors:
About 10 visitors came by early in the day, many with binoculars, but only the ones willing to wait around saw any eagles.
Weather:
It was an unusually warm day – the temperature started at 13C and rose to 21C by mid-afternoon. It was still 21C at departure time. Initially the sky was nearly 100% covered with altostratus and cirrostratus clouds, but those gradually moved off to the east and the day ended with just a few cirrus clouds. A Chinook arch hung behind the east ridge for a while – the cloud made spotting eagles relatively easy, but aging them a challenge. Ground winds were mostly calm with gusts from the southwest up to 30kph. A helicopter landed on top of Nakiska, and someone was seen fiddling with the weather station up there. By the end of the day, the Environment Canada Nakiska page was showing ridge winds (for the first time in weeks), which, by the end of the day, were up to 60kph.
Raptor Observations:
In spite of the apparently favourable winds, only 9 migrating Golden Eagles were seen (2a, 1sa, 2j, 2ui, 2u). No other migrant raptors were spotted. The only non-migrant was a Golden Eagle sitting on the rocks at the top of Nakiska early in the morning.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were also not plentiful – only two very small flocks of migrating passerines (not identifiable) flew by. Even ravens were few and far between – we saw only two briefly above the ridge, and a couple in the valley. Other birds were: Canada Goose 2, Belted Kingfisher 1, Canada Jay 2, Black-capped Chickadee 3, Boreal Chickadee 1, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2, Red-breasted Nuthatch 1, American Dipper 1, American Robin 2, Pine Siskin 1
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
