Mount Lorette (13 Mar 2026) 15 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 13, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 15 | 154 | 154 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 15 | 177 | 177 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Tiina Moore |
Visitors:
The trail had been groomed for skiing, and at least a dozen skiers zoomed by, but only 5 stopped to ask about the count.
Weather:
The day started out cold, at -11C, but the sun soon rose over the ridge to warm things up. It didn’t last long, though, as clouds drifted in from the west, gradually obscuring first the west ridge and then the east ridge, and dropping graupel on us. By the time we left, the south of the valley was not visible, and Mt Lorette was fading in and out of sight. Ground winds were light, which made the high of -4C a bit more tolerable after the sun was swallowed by the clouds. Ridge winds were probably light too. Occasionally snow plumes were seen, but most of the time there were none, and the migrating eagles clearly were not getting much help from the little wind there was.
Raptor Observations:
The only raptors seen today were Golden Eagles (9a, 6u). The first four, seen around noon, were located gliding low over Patrick. After this, any ridge wind must have died down, because the couple seen on the east ridge after that were well below ridge level. The rest of the eagles were picked up at Mt Lorette, where they came in low and mostly remained low – some disappeared behind Hummingbird Plume. We suspect there may have been more eagles passing by, but it was just not possible to detect them given the lack of wind to bring them above ridge level and into sight, and poor visibility in the afternoon.
Non-raptor Observations:
There were few other birds detected – about nine ravens, a couple of Black-capped Chickadees, a Downy Woodpecker, a distant drumming Pileated Woodpecker, and the Northern Pygmy-Owl who may have found a mate – two very distant pygmy-owl shaped, backlit lumps were seen perched on the tops of conifers far away across the river.
Predictions:
More of same, though worse. Typical March weather. A forecast of light wind from the east, clouds down below ridge level and occasional snow flurries does not make for good conditions for spotting any migrants that are moving.
Report submitted by ()
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]
