Mount Lorette (06 Nov 2026) 33 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 06, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 15 | 68 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | 84 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 23 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 4 | 5 | 24 |
| Golden Eagle | 27 | 194 | 2289 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Total: | 33 | 221 | 2597 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Ethan Denton |
| Observers: | Christa Clifford |
Visitors:
16 people came by today, of which 11 stopped to talk. Thanks to Hazel for staying and helping spot for a while!
Weather:
A truly stunning sunrise prefaced what would be a balmy day at Hay Meadows. Temps stayed between 2 and 5 degrees, the sun spent more time shining than hiding, and we managed to avoid any precipitation. The wind, however, was high – averaging over 100kph with gusts up to 150kph at ridge level, and 5-20kph gusting up to 35kph on the ground. The high West winds seemed good for eagle movement in the morning at ~80 gusting 100, but picked up in the afternoon and may have been difficult to fly in.
Raptor Observations:
27 Golden Eagles were observed today, 18 of which came before noon. Almost all were high to obscenely high, and harsh backlighting made ageing difficult. The breakdown was 8ad, 1sub, 1ui, 17u. Passage was fast and effortless as they rode the wind over the Eastern ridge. Only one bird attempted the Western side. Four Rough-legged Hawks was a season high, with three at ridgelevel and one pausing to hunt the meadow before moving on. A juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk following the riverline offered good views. Our late-staying juvenile Osprey showed up again, as did an adult Bald Eagle which was deemed to be resident.
Non-raptor Observations:
A quiet day saw limited non-raptor highlights.
A couple chickadees hung around, as did a Pine Grosbeak and a small group of Bohemian Waxwings. A couple European Starlings touched down by the pumphouses, and the Dipper chipped away on the river as we were walking out.
Report submitted by Ethan Denton (ethan@suechick.com)
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]
