Mount Lorette (27 Sep 2026) 61 Raptors

Visitors:
Around 75 people wandered past, but only a few stopped to ask what we were doing. We were kept a little too busy to engage much with the passers-by.

Weather:
After a slightly chilly and frosty start to the day, the temperature warmed up quickly from -2C to 8C and stayed at there until we left at sunset. Ground wind was light from the south, and there was enough sun shining through the high clouds that we were quite warm. Ridge wind was mostly light from the south to southwest, below 20kph in the morning, and then between 20 and 27kph in the afternoon. The sky was variously covered with cirrus and cirrostratus clouds, with mare’s tails shapes, and a sun dog over Nakiska dazzled us later in the day.

Raptor Observations:
After so many days with few Golden Eagles, and the wind forecast to be light, expectations were not high for seeing many. Up until 16:00 it seemed our expectations would be met, so we were delighted when it proved otherwise. The highest concentration was from 16:00 to 17:00 when we spotted 19 of them. The last was seen shortly before 19:00. With so little wind, they were not flying fast or high. Most came into Patrick at ridge level or a little below, and soaring was needed to gain height. While earlier in the day the birds were silhouetted against a mostly white sky making it difficult to age them, later in the day, with the sun shining on the ridge and the relatively slow movement, we were treated to fabulous views of the eagles as they were soaring. The total was 55 (17a, 8sa, 3j, 14ui, 13u).
There were a few other migrants of a variety of species – one Osprey, one Cooper’s Hawk, one Sharp-shinned Hawk, one Prairie Falcon, and two Bald Eagles (1a, 1wb1).
Two American Goshawks and one Red-tailed Hawk were considered not migrating.
One fun interaction we witnessed was a couple of Golden Eagles that we first spotted over Skogan Peak, beyone Lorette. Even at that distance, we could tell there was a size difference between the two. By the time they reached Patrick, they were still flying together and the size difference was very obvious, so we assumed it was a mated pair – the larger bird being the female, and the smaller one a male. However, once they started soaring we could see that the smaller one was not an adult like the female, but very clearly a subadult, with a broad white base to the tail, small white wing patches, and the tawny wingbar that juveniles don’t have. He was occasionally taking swipes at her, but she seemed unperturbed and kept moving on. The behaviour was puzzling. Taking liberties with anthropomorphizing, we decided he was just a teenage boy making moves on an older woman!

Non-raptor Observations:
Numerous small but unidentifiable birds were flying south. Robins are easier to identify as they fly by and there were at least 50 of those. Other birds were one Ruffed Grouse (drumming), one Belted Kingfisher, two Northern Flickers, one Black-billed Magpie, 15 Common Ravens, three Black-capped Chickadees, three Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a couple of Pine Siskins.

Predictions:
Mare’s tails, sun dogs, declining barometric pressure – all harbingers of a change in weather, usually rain or snow. We often see a push in migration prior to such weather. Was that what happened today, and will we see it continue tomorrow? Rain is not forecast until late Tuesday, the day after tomorrow.

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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]