Mount Lorette (01 Oct 2024) 16 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 13 | 13 | 276 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Total: | 16 | 16 | 339 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Peter Lloyd |
Visitors:
In spite of the cool, damp weather, about 8 people stopped to ask questions.
Weather:
Strong, tree-felling winds started the day. Ridge winds at sunrise were over 100kph and continued at that level until 10:00am. The temperature started at 9C, rose to 12C, and was down to 8C at the end of the day. Ground winds were strong to start with, in the 30-40kph range, but gradually diminished throughout the day. The ridge winds, from the southwest, also died down as the day progressed. As the winds died down, the clouds thickened. From the start of the day there were clouds with rain and snow over the west ridge, which ranged from being 40% obscured to 80%. The east ridge remained clear until late in the day, when MacGillivray and McDougall started disappearing into the clouds. Raindrops from the west side of the valley were blown over to our location, and we were never completely free of them. Towards the end of the day the rain clouds encroached and by the time we left at 1800, the rain was coming down harder.
Raptor Observations:
About half the Golden Eagles seen were spotted in the first two hours of observation, unfortunately silhouetted against clouds and impossible to age. In spite of the ridge winds that were over 100kph, these first birds were initially seen low over the east ridge – so possibly eagles that had spent the night on the ridge and were continuing their journey. After that the Golden Eagles were few and far between, but that was not surprising given the wet weather system. Besides the Golden Eagles (3a, 1ui, 9u) there were two Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 1j) and one intermediate Red-tailed Hawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were: Belted Kingfisher 1, Northern Flicker 1, Black-billed Magpie 1, Canada Jay 3, Common Raven 6, Black-capped Chickadee 3, Mountain Chickadee 1, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4, American Robin 11, Pine Siskin 3, White-throated Sparrow 1, and two white-headed gulls
Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
