Mount Lorette (11 Nov 2026) 6 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 11, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 35 | 88 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 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 | 0 | 6 | 25 |
| Golden Eagle | 6 | 266 | 2361 |
| 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 | 6 | 14 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Total: | 6 | 317 | 2693 |
| Observation start time: | 10:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Graeme Dunlop |
| Observers: | Peter Lloyd |
Visitors:
About 130 people passed the site, 40 stopped to chat and 6 helped to look with binoculars, thanks to Malik for staying a couple of hours in the afternoon to scan the empty skies.
Weather:
Similar conditions to the previous day but with temperatures a little higher (which helped keep the observers more comfortable) and the winds were a little stronger which resulted in even fewer eagles. The temperature at 1000 was 9C reaching a high of 13C at 1500. Ground winds were variable, light in the morning becoming quite strong in the afternoon with sudden swings in direction between W and SE. Ridge winds were SW 50 to 110km/h with gusts over 100km/h all day reaching 155km/h at 1500. Cloud cover was 60 – 90% cumulus, stratocumulus, altostratus and cirrostratus; the thicker clouds gradually dissipated by midafternoon leaving just high cirrostratus.
Raptor Observations:
Only 6 migrant Golden Eagles were seen. The first appeared at 1110 and was quickly followed by 4 more, all using exactly the same flight path from Mt. Lorette over to the Fisher Range. Their flight style was the one they often use when the crosswinds approach 100km/h, shooting up vertically over the summit of Lorette before facing into the wind with wings half-tucked and slowly gliding SW over the river valley before angling their bodies about 45deg against the crosswinds and their direction of travel and tacking SE at very high speeds into the Fisher Range before once again riding the strong updrafts southwards high above the ridges. The sixth and final eagle of the day was seen at 1220. All 6 eagles were unaged due to the backlighting and extreme height of flight. Non migrants were 1 American Goshawk and an adult Bald Eagle which gave us some nice views as it hunted low along the river.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were 10 Canada Geese, a flock of 18 unidentified ducks, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 2 Canada Jays, 7 Common Ravens, 1 American Dipper and 4 Pine Grosbeaks.
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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]
