Mount Lorette (05 Apr 2026) 21 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 05, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 9 | 71 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 7 | 15 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 13 | 37 | 1063 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Total: | 21 | 65 | 1189 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9.67 hours |
| Official Counter | Cameron Harvey |
| Observers: | Allison Zukewich |
Visitors:
The holiday weekend made for a busy trail with 40-50 stopping to chat. None stopped long enough to help spot.
Weather:
Today started out overcast with low cloud. All ridges were 100% obscured for the first 2.5 hours of the count. Around 11:30 MST we started to see blue sky and the East ridge opened up. The West ridge was obscured most of the day. The temperature started out -1C, rose to a high of +1C and was at 0C at count’s end. Ground winds were moderate with gusts up to 39 km/h from the NE. Ridge winds appeared moderate and also from the NE, but clouds not much higher than ridge top were heading W, so there must have been a point of considerable wind shear above the ridge top.
Raptor Observations:
The total migrant raptor count today was not very high, but it’s hard to say if that was a result of a lack of raptors or obscured ridges. We spotted a total of 13 Golden Eagles (5a, 2sa, 1ui, 5u) and 3 Bald Eagles (1a, 1sa, 1j). Other migrant raptors included 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Unknown Eagle and 1 Unknown Buteo.
Flight path was low over Old Baldy, low across the bumps and below ridge top across Patrick. Eagles were flapping hard most of the day.
Non-migrant raptors included 2 adult Bald Eagles that made multiple appearances over the East ridge and Old Baldy. 2 Red-tailed Hawks heading South also spent time soaring over Old Baldy. The resident Golden Eagles were not seen today.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors today included: 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 26 American Robin, 3 Common Merganser, 1 Common Goldeneye, 1 Mallard, 3 Canada Goose, 1 Ruffed Grouse (drumming), 32 Dark-eyed Junco, 1 Belted Kingfisher (female), 3 Northern Flicker, 1 Varied Thrush, 1 American Dipper, 7 Bohemian Waxwing, 1 Northern Shrike, Raven and Black-capped Chickadee were present.
The Northern Shrike was a constant companion throughout the day. We got to see it chase after a group of Dark-eyed Juncos, unknown if it was successful.
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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]
