Mount Lorette (07 Nov 2025) 17 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 07, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 15 | 83 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 198 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 43 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Golden Eagle | 16 | 196 | 2401 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| Total: | 17 | 214 | 2852 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.75 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Guy Kerr, Susan Clarahan |
Visitors:
Five people stopped to ask about the count. A couple of students from a local school came to talk about Golden Eagles for a science fair project.
Weather:
The day started off with low, dark clouds occasionally spitting out snow flakes. As the day wore on the clouds gradually broke apart until by day’s end the sky was about 60% covered in cumulus and cirrus clouds. Parts of the west ridge were shrouded in mist at various times during the day, but the east ridge remained clear. The temperature started at 1C, rose to 6C, and was 4C at the end. The southwest ground wind was blustery, keeping us cool most of the time, and gusting up to about 20kph. Ridge winds were close to west all day and ranged from 30 to 70 kph, at one point gusting over 100kph. High winds were moderate from the northwest.
Raptor Observations:
Seven Golden Eagles between 1100 and 1200 was a treat, but that trend did not continue and only one or two were seen per hour after that, for a total of 16 (2a, 3ui, 11u). Many of these were flying very high over the east ridge, just dark silhouettes against a grey sky, making aging impossible. A few came in low to Patrick, but were able to gain altitude quickly and disappear to the south well above the ridge. One juvenile Bald Eagle was in the mix. Nothing was seen on the west ridge.
One of the Golden Eagles did something I’ve never seen before. It came into Patrick low, gained some height and was heading south towards the Bumps when it did a U-turn and started heading north in a hurry, following the course of the river, as if it had spotted something to eat. It was not included in the total.
The two local adult Bald Eagles were seen flying low in front of Patrick.
Non-raptor Observations:
Several flocks of unidentified birds, heading mostly south, were seen. At least one flock was Redpolls, and another was Bohemian Waxwings. Three Canada Jays were around, plus a Black-billed Magpie. The dipper passed by a couple of times. A couple of Mountain Chickadees were detected on the way in. The East Ridge Ravens were up to their usual antics above the ridge, causing excitement until confirmed as ravens.
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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]
