Beaver Mines and Steeples, October 6

Tuesday, October 06 Vicki Ridge [Day 17] 0810-1910 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson assisted by Raymond Toal (1615-1705) observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge, and Gord Petersen and Cathy Scrimshaw at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite, 0945-1900). It was again a warm and windy day with a temperature of 14C at 0810, a high of 21 at 1500-1700 and a finishing temperature of 17C at 1910. Winds were again strong WSW-W for most of the day day gusting 50-60 km/k and reaching 80 km/h on the western ridge that only moderated to 30-40 km/h after 1800. Cloud cover was 30-40% altocumulus, lenticular and cirrus with minor cumulus to the west until 1630 after which it was 40-60% cumulus. It was sunny all day and observing conditions were excellent. Following the strong movement at Mount Lorette the previous day we were expecting a high count and it appeared that this was going to happen when 9 Golden Eagles moved high to the south between 0914 and 0952 but by 1645 when the last migrant was seen the count at Waterton 61 was a disappointing 31 migrants of 5 species. The total comprised 4u Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1a Cooper’s Hawk, 4a calurus Red-tailed Hawks (3 light, 1 dark), 2 Rough-legged Hawks (1 light, 1 dark) and only 20 Golden Eagles (17a, 3j).  Once again the strong winds favoured movement on the western ridge and the Waterton 68 site produced a total of 84 birds of 5 species between 0943 and 1852 that comprised 30 Sharp-shinned Hawks (5a, 25u), 4 Red-tailed Hawks (1 light a and 1dark j calurus, and 2a harlani (1 light, 1 dark), 4 Rough-legged Hawks (2 light, 2 dark), 45 Golden Eagles (26a, 4sa, 13j, 2u) and 1u Merlin. Most birds moved close to the ridge and very few birds were seen moving west of the site along the Carbondale Ridge. The combined species count was 115 migrants of 6 species that moved between 0914 and 1852 and comprised 34 Sharp-shinned Hawks (5a, 29u), 1a Cooper’s Hawk, 8 Red-tailed Hawks (calurus 6: 4a light, 1a, 1j dark, and 2a harlani (1 light 1 dark)), 6 Rough-legged Hawks (3 light, 3 dark), 65 Golden Eagles (43a, 4sa, 16j, 2u) and 1u Merlin. Other bird species were 1a light morph Parasitic Jaeger photographed by Gord at 1345, 7 Black-billed Magpies, 12 American Crows, 132 Common Ravens, 2 Mountain Bluebirds (1 male, 1 female) that perched at the Waterton 61 site and fed on grasshoppers in the morning, and 7 American Robins.

11 hours (187.4) SSHA 34 (635), COHA 1 (193), RTHA 8 (173), RLHA 6 (31), GOEA 65 (672), MERL 1 (22) TOTAL 115 (1782)

Tuesday, October 06 Mount Lorette [Day 17] 0745-1930 (George Halmazna assisted by Dan Parliament). For the second consecutive day there was a significant Golden Eagle movement at the site with 255 birds recorded. Other raptors were 2 Bald Eagles (1a, 1sa), 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks (2a, 3u), 5 Northern Goshawks (3a, 1j, 1u), 2a calurus Red-tailed Hawks (1 light, 1 intermediate), 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk, 1u columbarius Merlin and the first Gyrfalcon of the season, an adult light grey morph for a total of 272 migrants of 8 species.

11.75 hours (206.6) BAEA 2 (57), SSHA 5 (88), NOGO 5 (35), RTHA 2 (52), RLHA 1 (10), GOEA 255 (1293), MERL 1 (10), GYRF 1 (1) TOTAL 272 (1607)

Tuesday, October 06 Steeples [Day 4] 1615-1800 (Vance Mattson). The prospect of raptor migration seemed good with moderate to strong SW winds blowing into the early afternoon, but when Vance arrived at the site at 1615 winds were light W, the temperature was 23C and cloud cover was 60% cumulus with some smoke haze from a nearby controlled burn. The only migrant seen was an adult Bald Eagle, and a resident Red-tailed Hawk hunted to the southwest. 1.75 hours (7.75) BAEA 1 (1) TOTAL 1 (6)