Thursday, October 10 Vicki Ridge [Day 18] 0915-1910 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson assisted by Raymond Toal, observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of Vicki Ridge, and Gord Petersen (1310-1850) observing at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). It was a cool day with a temperature of -5C at 0915, a brief high of 3C at 1600 that fell to -2C at 1810. Winds were WNW-NW all day 10-20 occasionally gusting 30 km/h and it was completely cloudless all day. The count on the western flank of Vicki Ridge produced 100 eagles that comprised 8 Bald Eagles (3a, 2j, 3sa) and 92 Golden Eagles (62a, 7sa, 23j) between 0936 and 1855. Birds moved steadily throughout the day with a highest single-hour count of 21 between 1400 and 1500. On the western edge of Kyllo Ridge Gord counted 31 migrants of 5 species between 1339 and 1843 that comprised 7 Bald Eagles (2a, 3sa, 1j, 1u), 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 2u), 3a Cooper’s Hawks, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk and 17 Golden Eagles (10a, 1sa, 2j, 4u). Three subadult Bald Eagles that moved to the west at 1835 were seen at both sites, so the combined species count of 128 birds was 12 Bald Eagles (5a, 3sa, 3j, 1u), 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 2u), 3a Cooper’s Hawks, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk and 109 Golden Eagles (72a, 8sa, 25j, 4u). The highest single-hour combined count was 29 between 1400 and 1500. Other birds seen were 2 Clark’s Nutcrackers, 55 Common Ravens, 30 American Robins, 10 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches and 2 Dark-eyed Juncos (1 hyemalis and 1 cismontanus).

9.92 hours (165.3) BAEA 12 (85), SSHA 3 (353), COHA 3 (58), RLHA 1 (41), GOEA 109 (933) TOTAL 128 (1680)

Thursday, October 10 Steeples [Day 10] 1245-1830 (Vance Mattson). The temperature was initially 1C and dropped to -1C by 1830, conditions were calm and 30% cumulus cloud cover gave way to cloudless skies after 1700. For the second consecutive day there was a fairly strong raptor movement of 39 migrants of 8 species between 1329 and 1655 that comprised 1 Osprey, 6 Bald Eagles (3a, 3j), 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 2u), 1u Northern Goshawk, 1a light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk, 2 Rough-legged Hawks (1 light, 1 dark), 1 unidentified Buteo, 23 Golden Eagles (9a, 1sa, 10j, 3u) and 1 male American Kestrel. Only 4 birds were seen before 1400 but the next three hours produced 12, 11 and 12 migrants respectively. No resident birds were seen.

5.75 hours (42.75) OSPR 1 (2), BAEA 6 (47), SSHA 3 (22), NOGO 1 (2), RTHA 1 (23), RLHA 2 (3), UB 1 (1), GOEA 23 (67), AMKE 1 (4) TOTAL 39 (178)

Monday, October 07 Vicki Ridge [Day 16] 0815-1845 (Peter Sherrington to 0920, Gord Petersen after 0920, assisted by Trevor Lewis, observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of Vicki Ridge, Ridge, and Raymond Toal (1405-1600) observing at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite).  The temperature at 0815 was 6C, the high at 1600 and 1700 was 12C and it was 9C at 1845. Winds were strong W-WSW and occasionally SW all day, 30-50 gusting up to 90 km/h and cloud cover was 20-30% altostratus, cirrostratus and lenticular to 1000, 70-90% altostratus, cirrus with dark cumulus increasing from the west to 1500 after which it thinned to 60-30% cirrus, cumulus and altostratus until the end of observation when dark cumulus again moved from the west bringing light rain showers. Observing was challenging because of the strong winds and cloud cover often made detailed identification impossible. A total of 103 migrant raptors of 6 species were counted between 0838 and 1640 that comprised 5 Bald Eagles (3a, 2sa), 10 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 9u), 2a Cooper’s Hawks, 2a Red-tailed Hawks (1 light calurus, 1 dark harlani), 7 Rough-legged Hawks (4 light, 2 dark, 1u), 71 Golden Eagles (25a, 12sa, 10j, 24u) and 6 unidentified eagles. The count includes 10 birds seen by Raymond at the Waterton 68 site: 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 8 Golden Eagles (5a, 2sa, 1u) and 1 unidentified eagle. Birds moved steadily all day with high hourly counts of 18 (1000-1100) and 21 (1500-1600). The only other birds seen were 18 Common Ravens and 61 American Robins.

10.5 hours (152.9) BAEA 5 (71), SSHA 10 (350), COHA 2 (55), RTHA 2 (103), RLHA 7 (40), GOEA 71 (816), UE 6 (13) TOTAL 103 (1541)

Monday, October 07 Steeples (Vance Mattson). No observation because of teaching commitments.

Tuesday, October 08 Vicki Ridge No observation: a cold front moved from the north overnight bringing rain and then heavy snow all day.

Tuesday, October 08 Steeples No observation: the day was 100% overcast with rain in the morning and heavy snow throughout the afternoon.

Wednesday, October 09 Vicki Ridge [Day 17] 1600-1830 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson assisted by Trevor Lewis, observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of Vicki Ridge). Light snow and low cloud persisted in the area to 1500 when it rapidly cleared and we manage to get to the site through 40 cm of fresh snow at 1600. The temperature was -7C and dropped to -8C at 1830, winds were very light SE and an initial cloud cover of 70% cumulus quickly diminished and by 1830 it was cloudless. A total of 11 migrant raptors were seen between 1603 and 1725 that comprised 2 juvenile Bald Eagles, 1a dark morph harlani Red-tailed Hawk and 8 Golden Eagles (4a, 3sa, 1j). Other birds seen were a flock of 8 Canada Geese that flew west at 1812, a large flock of about 200 unidentified ducks that flew high to the west at 1650, 79 Common Ravens most of which flew to the west to roost late in the day, about 250 American Robins and 1 Dark-eyed [cismontanus] Junco.

2.5 hours (155.4) BAEA 2 (73), RTHA 1 (104), GOEA 8 (824) TOTAL 11 (1552)

Wednesday, October 09 Steeples [Day 9] 1645-1900 (Vance Mattson). After yesterday’s heavy snow today was clear so Vance rushed to the site after work and counted 49 migrant raptors of 5 species between 1645 and 1843. The count comprised 10 Bald Eagles (6a, 5j), 4u Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 unidentified Accipiter, 8 calurus Red-tailed Hawks (5 light: 3a, 2j, 1u, and 2a dark), 1 dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, 23 Golden Eagles (11a, 1sa, 10j, 1u) and 2 unidentified eagles. Birds were already in the air when Vance arrived and by 1745 36 migrants had been counted. The initial movement consisted of Bald Eagles, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks, while nearly all the last migrants were Golden Eagles, the last 5 of which were juveniles. The temperature was 2C that dropped to -1C by 1900, it was calm and cloud cover was 30-60% cumulus that produced sunny conditions throughout although some cloud hung in front of the mountains and obscured the front face of Mount Bill Nye. Flight was generally slow and low with increasing flapping as the day progressed. One wonders how many birds were missed before 1645?

2.25 hours (37), BAEA 10 (41), SSHA 4 (19), RTHA 8 (22), RLHA 1 (1), GOEA 23 (44), UA 1 (1), UE 2 (3) TOTAL 49 (139)

Sunday, October 06 Vicki Ridge [Day 15] 0830-1915 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of Vicki Ridge, and 1155-1500 Denise Cocciolone-Amatto, Raymond Toal, Keith McClarey and Leanne Poneche on the ridgetop). The temperature at 0830 was 4C, the high at 1600 was 11C and it was 8C at 1915. Winds were strong WSW-W all day 40-50 gusting 60-75 km/h and it was cloudless until 1700 when cirrostratus and altostratus started to develop that quickly became 80% altostratus, lenticular and altocumulus for the last two hours of the day. Observing conditions were challenging for most of the day with all raptors moving high in a pure blue sky, and the observers on the ridgetop added 13 birds (1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1a Cooper’s Hawk, 1 dark Rough-legged Hawk and 10 Golden Eagles (4a, 2sa, 4j) between 1159 and 1432 that were not seen from the valley bottom. The total count of 114 birds of 6 species between 0858 and 1851 was 8 Bald Eagles (5a, 1sa2, 1sa1, 1j), 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 3u), 3 Cooper’s Hawks (2a, 1u), 4 adult light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks, 12 Rough-legged Hawks (10 light, 2 dark), 7 of which moved between 1727 and 1812, 1 unidentified light morph Buteo, 80 Golden Eagles (42a, 5sa, 25j, 8u), 1 unidentified eagle and 1 unidentified raptor (a mid-sized light bird that simply disappeared into the blue sky!). Movement was fairly steady all day with a high hourly count of 16 between 1100 and 1200. Only three other bird species were recorded: 34 American Crows, 21 Common Ravens and 38 American Robins, and two Mourning Cloak butterflies were also seen.

10.75 hours (142.4) BAEA 8 (66), SSHA 4 (340), COHA 3 (53), RTHA 4 (101), RLHA 12 (33), UB 1 (6), GOEA 80 (745), UE 1 (7), UU 1 (1) TOTAL 114 (1438)

Sunday, October 06 Steeples [Day 8] 1215-1815 (Vance Mattson). The temperature was 13C, winds were moderate SW and cloud cover was 0-30% thin altostratus, but despite apparently ideal conditions only 15 migrants were seen. This contrasts to this date last year when a season-high 104 migrants that included 75 Golden Eagles were counted. Today’s total of 15 birds of 4 species was 9 Bald Eagles (4a, 4j, 1u), 1 adult female Northern Harrier, 3 adult light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks and 2a Golden Eagles. Resident Golden Eagles hunted as a pair near the site at 1724, the same time that the last migrant, an adult Bald Eagle, glided south over Mount Bill Nye.

6 hours (34.75) BAEA 9 (31), NOHA 1 (2), RTHA 3 (14), GOEA 2 (21) TOTAL 15 (90)

Saturday, October 05 Vicki Ridge [Day 14] 0820-1920 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson assisted by Patricia and Patrick Farley observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of Vicki Ridge and Gord Petersen (1243-1845) observing at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature was 4C at 0820, the high was 9C at 1600 and it was 5C at 1920. Winds were again W-WSW all day 20-40 km/h to 1100 after which they were 30-40 gusting 55 km/h. Cloud cover was 100% altostratus and altocumulus to 1100 after which it gradually reduced to 10% cumulus at 1600 before increasing again to 70% altostratus, cirrus and cumulus at 1700 and 1800, and was finally cloudless at 1900. Again observing conditions were excellent all day. The count from WT 61 was 186 birds of 7 species between 0844 and 1859 that comprised 14 Bald Eagles (6a, 4sa, 4j), 1j male Northern Harrier, 7 Sharp-shinned Hawks (4a, 3u),  1a light calurus Red-tailed Hawk, 4 light morph Rough-legged Hawks, 158 Golden Eagles (92a, 17sa, 47j, 2u) and 1 female American Kestrel. Similar to yesterday there was a two-hour hiatus in movement between 1500 and 1700 when only 8 birds were counted. At the western edge of Kyllo Ridge between 1246 and 1844 Gord counted 107 birds of 7 species that comprised 3 Bald Eagles (1a, 1sa, 1j), 23 Sharp-shinned Hawks (7a, 16u), 2 Cooper’s Hawks (1a, 1u), 3 Northern Goshawks (2a, 1u), 2a Red-tailed Hawks (1 light calurus and 1 dark harlani), 5 Rough-legged Hawks (4 light, 1 dark) and 69 Golden Eagles (44a, 8sa, 14j, 3u). The total movement observed across the ridge system between 0844 and 1859 was 293 migrants of 9 species that comprised 17 Bald Eagles (7a, 5sa, 5j), 1j male Northern Harrier, 30 Sharp-shinned Hawks (11a, 19u), 2 Cooper’s Hawks (1a, 1u), 3a Red-tailed Hawks (2 light calurus and 1 dark harlani), 9 Rough-legged Hawks (8 light and 1 dark), 227 Golden Eagles (136a, 25sa, 61j, 5u) and 1 female American Kestrel. The highest combined-site hourly count was 49 between 1300 and 1400. Only three other bird species seen: 1 Clark’s Nutcracker, 58 Common Ravens and 75 American Robins, and a single Mourning Cloak butterfly was again seen on the wing.

11 hours (131.7) BAEA 17 (58), NOHA 1 (10), SSHA 30 (336), COHA 2 (50), NOGO 3 (16), RTHA 3 (97), RLHA 9 (21), GOEA 227 (665), AMKE 1 (17) TOTAL 293 (1324)

Saturday, October 05 Steeples [Day 7] 1200-1800 (Vance Mattson). The temperature reached a high of 11C, winds were light to moderate S-SW and cloud cover varied between 100% altostratus and cumulus and 60% cumulus. The ridges were clear but light rain fell between 1525 and 1540 that fell as snow at ridge level. A total of 21 raptors of a season-high 7 species moved between 1250 and 1651 comprising 7 Bald Eagles (3a, 1sa, 3j), 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1a Northern Goshawk, 1a light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk, 8a Golden Eagles, 1 unidentified eagle, 1 female American Kestrel and 1u Merlin. Non-migrants were 1 adult Bald Eagle and an adult and juvenile Golden eagle that soared at length in front of and above Mount Bill Nye.

6 hours (22.75) BAEA 7 (22), SSHA 1 (15), NOGO 1 (1), RTHA 1 (11), GOEA 8 (19), UE 1, AMKE 1 (3), MERL 1 (1) TOTAL 21 (75)

Friday, October 04 Vicki Ridge [Day 13] 0815-1920 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson assisted by Denise Cocciolone-Amatto observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of Vicki Ridge and Gord Petersen (1310-1905) observing at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0830 was 4C, the high at 1400 and 1500 was 10C and it was 5.5C at 1920. Winds were WSW-W all day 20-40 km/h that gusted to 50 km/h only at 1600. It was cloudless to 1200 when cirrus and cumulus cloud began to form and by 1345 it had reached 80% altostratus, cirrostratus and cumulus which then fluctuated between 50 and 90% for the rest of the afternoon. Observing conditions were good to excellent throughout. The count on Vicki Ridge was 127 birds of 6 species between 0910 and 1907 that comprised 6 Bald Eagles (1a, 3sa, 2j),13 Sharp-shinned Hawks (10a, 3u), 1u Cooper’s Hawk, 3a Red-tailed Hawks (1 light and 1 dark calurus and 1 dark harlani), 3 light morph Rough-legged Hawks and 101 Golden Eagles (55a, 11sa, 35j). Fifty-five Golden Eagles were seen up to 1231, none were seen for the next 2 hours, then 46 more were counted between 1431 and 1907. Between 1313 and 1905 at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge Gord counted 107 birds of 5 species that comprised 8 Bald Eagles (2a, 2sa, 4j), 30 Sharp-shinned Hawks (7a, 1j, 22u), 3 Cooper’s Hawks (1a, 1j, 1u), 2a Red-tailed Hawks (1 light calurus and 1 dark harlani), and 64 Golden Eagles (44a, 5sa, 11j, 4u). The total movement observed across the ridge system between 0910 and 1907 was 234 migrants of 6 species that comprised 14 Bald Eagles (3a, 5sa, 6j), 43 Sharp-shinned Hawks (17a, 1j, 25u), 4 Cooper’s Hawks (1a, 1j 1), 5a Red-tailed Hawks (3 calurus: 2 light and 1 dark, and 2 dark morph harlani), 3 light Rough-legged Hawks and 165 Golden Eagles (99a, 16sa, 46j, 4u). The highest combined-site hourly count was 45 between 1700 and 1800. Other bird species seen were 2 Clark’s Nutcrackers, 2 Black-billed Magpies, 20 Common Ravens, 213 American Robins, 1 juvenile Cedar Waxwing, 1 Savannah Sparrow and 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers. A single Mourning Cloak butterfly was also seen on the wing.

11.08 hours (120.7) BAEA 14 (41), SSHA 43 (306), COHA 4 (48), RTHA 5 (94), RLHA 3 (12), GOEA 165 (438) TOTAL 234 (1031)

Friday, October 04 Steeples [Day 6] 1300-1730 (Vance Mattson, assisted by Virginia Rasch). The temperature was 10C, conditions were calm and cloud cover was 100% altostratus and cumulus. Only 2 migrants, 1 juvenile Bald eagle and 1 adult Golden Eagle, moved between 1545 and 1555, and no resident birds were seen.

4.5 hours (22.75) BAEA 1 (15), GOEA 1 (11) TOTAL 2 (54)