Mount Lorette (27 Sep 2024) 28 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 27, 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 | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 25 | 117 | 117 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Merlin | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 28 | 152 | 152 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9.32 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Carol McTavish |
Visitors:
About 20 stopped to ask about the count. Many thanks to Paul from Cochrane and the Australian quartet, who stayed several hours and were most helpful in spotting the dots in the sky.
Weather:
It was an unusual day in that the winds were strongest in the morning, and gradually diminished as the day went by. The temperature started at 12C, rose to 16C, and was 15C at the end of the day. It was mostly cloudy in the morning, with cumulus clouds, racing over the sky from the west initially, then veering to the southwest before going back to being from the west. The clouds had mostly disappeared by the end of the count. Ground winds gusted up 40kph. Ridge winds were in the range of 40-50kph most of the day, gusting over 100kph at times. The ridge winds were mostly from the southwest, but moved around to a more southerly direction midday, which resulted in a bit of headwind for the eagles. Most used that headwind to kite high above the ridge.
Raptor Observations:
Golden Eagles flew by in a trickle of 2-4 per hour, with 5 each hour between 1400 and 1600. The total of 25 (11a, 3j, 11u) was respectable for this time of the season. All the eagles flew over the east ridge, most high and fast (and challenging to age), and only a couple needing to soar to gain altitude later in the day. A couple of Sharp-shinned Hawks were spotted, and one adult Red-tailed Hawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other avian fauna consisted mostly of the usual suspects: 7 Common Mergansers, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2 Canada Jays, 6 Common Ravens, 2 Black-billed Magpies, 1 American Dipper, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Boreal Chickadee, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 2 Pine Siskins, and 1 Oregon Dark-sided Junco.
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
