Mount Lorette (01 Oct 2025) 40 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 5 | 5 | 35 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| American Goshawk | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 | 4 | 26 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 25 | 25 | 167 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Total: | 40 | 40 | 285 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11.33 hours |
| Official Counter | Ethan Denton, Peter Lloyd |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Approximately 50 people stopped to chat today, with quite a few staying to help spot and learn more about the count!
Weather:
A mild day today, with temperatures rising from 9 to 14 and back down to 9 degrees. The wind at ground level wasn’t bad, and at ridge levels it was slow but not too calm. Ridge wind readings typically settled between 29 and 38, gusting up to 71 at the windiest. The wind dropped slightly, later in the day. Precipitation was a constant threat, and brief spells of misty rain passed through the valley on a couple of occasions. This obscured the ridges somewhat, but rarely enough to really affect the count.
Raptor Observations:
Lots of resident raptors were active today – a Merlin made a pass at an American Pipit before jetting off north, and two local Golden Eagles were seen throughout the day. A Red-tailed Hawk made several appearances between Hummingbird Plume and the river, and an adult American Goshawk hunted the valley repeatedly. One immature Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen in the forest and deemed to be not-currently-migrating.
Golden Eagles made a small push in the morning before a long gap with few birds. After 16:00, it picked up slightly, culminating in a 4 Eagle push right at the end of the day. An adult Bald Eagle accompanied these four high overhead, before drifting across to the eastern ridgeline. The total GOEA count was 25 – 13 adult, 4 subadult, 1 juvenile, and 7 unaged birds.
Other raptors seen today include a migrating Goshawk, a high-flying Harrier, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, a pair of Merlin flying together over the western ridgeline, and an adult Peregrine Falcon, which gave comparatively excellent views as it briefly paused to soar while crossing Patrick.
Non-raptor Observations:
The big talking point of today was the simply astounding number of passerines migrating down the valley. Over 1,800 Pine Siskins was a safe count, and the American Robin tally fell just short of 700 birds – insane! Also in active passage along the valley were 40 American Pipits, 3 Mountain Bluebirds, a Varied Thrush, 30 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 15 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 20 Dark-eyed Juncos, and a smattering of other small birds. This represents a truly magnificent day-time migration count for passerines in Alberta, and many visitors were treated to fly-by views of numerous species.
2 Townsend’s Solitaires, 2 Belted Kingfishers, a Hairy Woodpecker, and several Clark’s Nutcrackers represented the highlights of the non-migrating birds.
Report submitted by Ethan Denton (ethan@suechick.com)
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org – [Project Details]
