Mount Lorette (03 Oct 2024) 64 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 03, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 4 | 15 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 3 | 21 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| American Goshawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 57 | 163 | 426 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Total: | 64 | 180 | 503 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.33 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Ruth Morrow |
Visitors:
About 20 people stopped to ask about the count. Many thanks to Hazel for staying for a few hours and helping spot the eagles!
Weather:
The temperature started at 2C, rose quickly to 10C, and was 7C at the end of the count. Ground winds were light and mostly from the southwest. Ridge winds were from the southwest at 20-40kph, gusting to 50, and upper winds were moderate from the northwest. The sky was almost completely covered with cumulus clouds to start with, but those gradually disappeared, and were replaced by cirrus clouds. Overall a very pleasant day, accentuated by glorious fall colours.
Raptor Observations:
Golden Eagle movement was light in the morning but gradually picked up as the day went by, with the highest hourly number occurring from 1700 to 1800 (18). All migrants were seen on the east ridge, most coming in low to Patrick, and most not going too high. There was enough wind that they could gain altitude without flapping or soaring, but not so much that they moved quickly. There were 57 altogether (29a, 6sa, 8j, 11ui, 3u). In addition there was one American Goshawk, one juvenile Bald Eagle, three Red-tailed Hawks, and a couple of small, high-flying accipiters.
One of the resident Golden Eagles was spotted on the west ridge, and at various times during the day an American Goshawk was seen hunting over the forest on the east ridge. One Merlin was seen heading north.
Non-raptor Observations:
At the start of the day a couple of skeins of Canada Geese flew over (totalling 50), then a couple of flocks of loons, presumably Common Loons. Seeing five loons flying together seemed odd, but that paled in comparison to the 20 that flew by together a bit later. Another one flying solo brought the total to 26.
Other birds were: Belted Kingfisher 1, Canada Jay 3, Black-billed Magpie 1, Common Raven 7, Black-capped Chickadee 2 Boreal Chickadee 1, Mountain Chickadee 2, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3, Pine Siskin 3, Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
