Mount Lorette (07 Oct 2026) 195 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 07, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 | 11 | 21 |
| Northern Harrier | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 23 | 39 | 67 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| American Goshawk | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 4 | 16 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Golden Eagle | 150 | 481 | 747 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Total: | 195 | 572 | 938 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Graeme Dunlop |
| Observers: | Christina Furtado, Peter Lloyd |
Weather:
The temperature at the start was 1C, it reached a high of 13C at 1500 and was 10C at the end of observation. Ground winds were light variable all day, and ridge winds were moderate SW. Cloud cover was 10 to 50% cirrostratus, cirrus and cumulus all day.
Raptor Observations:
There was a fairly strong and varied raptor movement of 195 birds of 8 species that were seen between 0930 and 1905 which comprised 2 adult Bald Eagles, 5 juvenile/female Northern Harriers, 23 Sharp-shinned Hawks (7a, 16u), 4 American Goshawks (2a, 1j, 1u) 1 unidentified Accipiter, 1 dark adult Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk, 3 Rough-legged Hawks (1a light, 1u dark, 1u), 1 unidentified Buteo, 150 Golden Eagles (48a, 5sa, 6j, 19 undifferentiated immatures, 72u), 2u Merlins and 1 unidentified large Falcon. Although the majority of raptors were seen gliding high from Lorette over to the eastern ridges the flight routes were unusually varied with a significant number using the western ridges especially during the busiest 2 hour period from noon until 1400 (64 total raptors between those hours). Several Golden Eagles approached Lorette at low altitude from the north east. We had a number of close fly-bys giving excellent views in great light including 2 Golden Eagles, the Harlan’s Hawk, a Rough-legged Hawk, a Goshawk and a Sharpie that skimmed the ground just a few meters away. The variable flight paths made for a challenging but rewarding day helped enormously by having 2 excellent assistants.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other bird species seen were 28 Snow Geese, 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2 Canada Jays, 25 Common Ravens, 3 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 75 American Robins, 1 Palm Warbler, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler and 1 adult male Wilson’s Warbler. A single Mourning Cloak butterfly was also seen on the wing.
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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]
