Thursday, November 05 Vicki Ridge [Day 45] 0715-1530 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge). The temperature at 0715 was 7C, the high at 0900 was 9C and it was 6C at 1530 when the count was abandoned for the day. Winds were WSW all day 30-40 gusting 60 km/h to 1030, 30 gusting 50 km/h to 1400 and diminishing to 20-30 km/h after 1500. Cloud cover was 100% stratocumulus all day that produced continuous light to moderate rain throughout. The ridges remained clear but the only raptor seen was a large falcon that interacted briefly with a raven at the northern end of Kyllo Ridge at 1420 before flying fast to the east during a brief period of very light rain. This evening at 1812 I received an e-mail from David McIntyre that informed me that he had seen a female Peregrine Falcon perched in a roadside tree on the west side of Highway 507 about 1 km north of the Screwdriver Creek Road at 1455, that is 35 minutes after I saw a large falcon and about 4 km ENE of where I last saw it. There is a high probability that it was the same bird. The only other birds seen were 25 Common Ravens and 10 Bohemian Waxwings.

8.25 hours (448.9) (probable) PEFA 1 (9) TOTAL 1 (4679)

Thursday, November 05 Mount Lorette [Day 45] 0800-1300 (Graeme Dunlop assisted by Caroline Lambert). It rained all day and the count was abandoned at 1300. No migrant raptors were seen and a single Common Raven was the only bird recorded.

5 hours (480.4) TOTAL 0 (3128)

Thursday, November 05 Steeples (Vance Mattson). No observation. It was overcast at 1600 when Vance finished work so no observation was possible.

Wednesday, November 04 Vicki Ridge [Day 44] 0715-1745 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge; and Gord Petersen (1310-1715) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite).The temperature at 0715 was 7C, the high at 1200 and 1300 was 12C and it was 9C at 1745. Despite a continuing wind warning winds were WSW-W only 30-40 gusting 50-65 km/h all day. Steady moderate rain fell from 100% stratocumulus cloud to 0850 but by 0900 cloud cover was 70% cumulus and reached a low of 10% cumulus and altocumulus at 1000. The afternoon saw 70-100% cumulus, altocumulus and altostratus with dark stratocumulus clouds persistently to the west that produced frequent light rain showers. At Waterton 61 a total of 17 migrant raptors of 5 species moved between 0924 and 1706 and comprised 2a Bald Eagles, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2a Northern Goshawks, 4 light morph Rough-legged Hawks and 7 Golden Eagles (6a, 1j). The highest hourly counts were 4 (0900-1000 and 1200-1300).  The count at Waterton 68 of 5 species between 1327 and 1705 was 5 Bald Eagles (3a, 1sa2, 1j), 1a Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1u Cooper’s Hawk, 15 Rough-legged Hawks (12 light, 2 dark, 1u) and 1a Golden Eagle. The highest single-hour count was 11 between 1500 and 1600, an hour when no birds were seen at Waterton 61. The combined site count was 7 Bald Eagles (5a, 1sa2, 1j), 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks (2a, 1u), 1u Cooper’s Hawk, 2a Northern Goshawks, 19 Rough-legged Hawks (16 light, 2 dark, 1u) and 8 Golden Eagles (7a, 1j). Only two other bird species were seen: 192 Common Ravens of which 163 were at Waterton 68 and 55 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches at Waterton 61.

10.5 hours (440.6) BAEA 7 (304), SSHA 3 (957), COHA 1 (149), NOGO 2 (97), RLHA 19 (282) GOEA 8 (2511), TOTAL 40 (4678)

Wednesday, November 04 Mount Lorette [Day 44] 0700-1700 Bill Wilson assisted by Sandy Graham). A total of 8 migrants of 3 species was counted between 1227 and 1532 that comprised 5a Bald Eagles, 1u Northern Goshawk and 2 Golden Eagles (1a, j).

10 hours (475.4) BAEA 5 (165), NOGO 1 (63), GOEA 2 (2584) TOTAL 8 (3128)

Wednesday, November 04 Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation. Overcast all day.

Tuesday, November 03 Vicki Ridge [Day 43] 0715-1745 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge; and Gord Petersen (1300-1715) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0715 was 10C, the high at 1300 and 1400 was 16C and it was 12C at 1745. Winds were strong W-WSW all day 30-40 gusting 50-70 km/h in the morning and 40-60 gusting 70-90 and occasionally 100 km/h throughout the afternoon. Cloud cover was 90-30% altostratus that formed a Chinook Arch to the E and SE to 1330, and 30-10% altostratus, altocumulus and lenticular that gave sunny conditions for much of the rest of the day. At Waterton 61 there was a meagre count of 6 birds of 3 species between 0833 and 1243 that comprised 2 light morph Rough-legged Hawks, 3 Golden Eagles (2a. 1j) and 1a female Peregrine Falcon. At Waterton 68, by contrast, there was a steady movement of 20 migrants of 6 species between 1355 and 1705 that comprised 8 Bald Eagles (4a, 1sa3, 1sa2, 2j), 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Northern Goshawks (1a, 1j), 1 dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, 7 Golden Eagles (3a, 1j, 3a) and 1 probable male Prairie Falcon. Eight of the birds were seen between 1600 and 1700. The combined site count was 26 birds of 7 species that were seen between 0833 and 1705 and comprised 8 Bald Eagles (4a, 1sa3, 1sa2, 2j), 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Northern Goshawks (1a, 1j), 3 Rough-legged Hawks (2 light, 1 dark), 10 Golden Eagles (5a, 2j, 3a), 1a female Peregrine Falcon and 1 probable male Prairie Falcon. Only three other bird species were seen: 1 Clark’s Nutcracker, 90 Common Ravens of which 71 were at Waterton 68 and 15 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches. The unseasonably warm weather also produced a single flying Mourning Cloak butterfly at the Waterton 61 site.

10.5 hours (430.1) BAEA 8 (297), SSHA 1 (954), NOGO 2 (95), RLHA 3 (263), GOEA 10 (2503), PEFA 1 (8), PRFA 1 (5) TOTAL 26 (4638)

Tuesday, November 03 Mount Lorette [Day 43] 0715-1705 (George Halmazna assisted by Dan Parliament). The temperature reached 15C, but ridge winds gusting up to 165 km/h produced only 3u migrating Golden Eagles between 1206 and 1430.

9.83 hours (465.4) GOEA 3 (2582) TOTAL 3 (3120)

Tuesday, November 03 Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation. It was clear for most of the day but when Vance finished work at 1600 it was overcast and raining and no observation was possible.

Monday, November 02 Vicki Ridge [Day 42] 0710-1740 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson, assisted by Phil Nicholas (1210-1450), observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge; and Gord Petersen (1220-1710) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0710 was 10C, the high was 15C (1300-1500) and it was 12C at 1740. Winds were strong W-WSW all day 30-40 gusting 60 km/h to 0900 and 50-60 gusting 70-90 km/h for the rest of the day. Cloud cover was 60-70% altocumulus, lenticular and cirrus to 1100 and 40-20% altocumulus and lenticular for the rest of the day. At Waterton 61 the strong winds produced a very sporadic count of 17 birds of 5 species between 0750 and 1631 that comprised 2 Bald Eagles (1a, 1j), 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks (2a, 1u), 1a Cooper’s Hawk, 2 light morph Rough-legged Hawks, 8 Golden Eagles (7a, 1j) and 1 unidentified eagle. The highest hourly counts were 4 between 1100 and 1200, and 1300 to 1400, and only 1 bird was seen after 1435. Movement was more persistent at the Waterton 68 site where 21 migrants of 6 species moved between 1225 and 1710 that comprised 5 Bald Eagles (2a, 3j), 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1j Cooper’s Hawk, 1u Northern Goshawk, 5 Rough-legged Hawks (4 light, 1 dark) and 8 Golden Eagles (6a, 1j, 1u). The hourly counts after 1225 were 3, 3, 5, 6 and 4 during which time only 7 migrants were seen at Waterton 61. The combined site count of 38 migrants of 6 species that moved between 0750 and 1710 was 7 Bald Eagles (3a, 4j), 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks (2a, 2u), 2 Cooper’s Hawks (1a, 1j), 1u Northern Goshawk, 7 Rough-legged Hawks (6 light, 1 dark), 16 Golden Eagles (13a, 2j, 1u) and 1 unidentified eagle. The highest combined sites hourly counts were 7 (1300-1400 and 1400-1500). Other birds seen were 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 153 Common Ravens of which 128 were at Waterton 68, 1 American Robin and 1 Common Redpoll.

10.5 hours (419.6) BAEA 7 (289), SSHA 4 (953), COHA 2 (148), NOGO 1 (93), RLHA 7 (260), GOEA 16 (2493), UE 1 (32) TOTAL 38 (4612)

Monday, November 02 Mount Lorette [Day 42] 0745-1715 (Caroline Lambert assisted by Graeme Dunlop). Sixteen migrants of 2 species were seen between 0925 and 1553: 5 Bald Eagles (3a, 1sa, 1u) and 11 Golden Eagles (6a, 1sa, 1j, 3u). Apart from one Bald Eagle that moved fairly low to the south above the river the rest of the eagles moved extremely high above the Fisher Range buoyed by the very strong SW-WSW winds that blew all day.

9.5 hours (455.6) BAEA 5 (160), GOEA 11 (2579) TOTAL 16 (3117)

Monday, November 02 Steeples [Day 19] 1500-1630 (Vance Mattson observing at the Wolf Creek site). The temperature was 9C, it was calm and cloud cover was 20% altostratus that gave sunny conditions. No migrants were seen, but 3 resident Golden Eagles (2a, 1sa) were present.

1.5 hours (59.5) TOTAL 0 (123)

NOTE: CHANGE FROM MOUNTAIN DAYLIGHT TIME (MDT) TO MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME (MST) (- 1 HOUR)

Sunday, November 01 Vicki Ridge [Day 4] 0715-1745 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge; and Gord Petersen (1235-1710) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0715 was 6C, the high was 13C at 1600 and it was 10C at 1745. Winds were WSW-WNW all day, 30-40 gusting 50-60 km/h to 1100, 50 gusting to 70-80 km/h around noon, 20-30 gusting 50 km/h to 1600 and becoming light after 1700. Cloud cover was initially 30% altocumulus and lenticular but it rapidly increased to 80-100% altostratus, lenticular, altocumulus and cirrus which gave gloomy conditions to 1500 after which hazy sunshine prevailed. At Waterton 61 the day started well with 10 raptors moving before 0900 but the next 5 hours produced only 3 birds and a further 10 were seen after 1400. The rather disappointing count of 5 species between 0757 and 1710 was 2 Bald Eagles (both sa2), 2a Northern Goshawks, 1a dark morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk, 7 Rough-legged Hawks (6 light, 1u) and 11 Golden Eagles (8a, 3j). Movement was steadier at Waterton 68 where 38 migrants of 4 species moved between 1246 and 1637 comprising 9 Bald Eagles (2a, 1sa3, 3j, 3u), 4 Northern Goshawks (3a, 1j), 12 Rough-legged Hawks (10 light, 2 dark) and 13 Golden Eagles (6a, 1sa, 6u). Maximum hourly counts were 13 between 1400 and 1500, and 1500 to 1600. The combined sites count was 61 migrants of 5 species between 0757 and 1710 that comprised 11 Bald Eagles (2a, 1sa3, 2sa2, 3j, 3u), 6 Northern Goshawks (5a, 1j), 1a dark morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk, 19 Rough-legged Hawks (16 light, 2 dark, 1u) and 24 Golden Eagles (14a, 1sa, 3j, 6u).  The busiest combined site hourly count was 17 birds between 1400 and 1500. Other birds seen were 137 Common Ravens of which 83 were at Waterton 68), 20 Bohemian Waxwings at Waterton 61, 70 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches of which 40 were at Waterton 68, and a flock of 7 migrating Common Redpolls at Waterton 61. The flocks identified as Pine Siskins between October 26 and 28 were probably also redpolls.

10.5 hours (409.1) BAEA 11 (282), NOGO 6 (92), RTHA 1 (212), RLHA 19 (253), GOEA 24 (2477) TOTAL 61 (4574)

Sunday, November 01 Mount Lorette [Day 41] 0730-1715 (Lori Anderson assisted by Patrick Farley). A total of 33 migrants of 4 species was counted between 0850 and 1648. The flight comprised 3 Bald Eagles (1a, 1sa2, 1sa1), 1a male Northern Harrier, 1u unidentified Buteo and 26 Golden Eagles (12a, 2sa, 1j, 11u).

9.75 hours BAEA 3 (155), NOHA 1 (14), UB 1 (4), GOEA 26 (2568), UE 2 (27) TOTAL 33 (3101)

Sunday, November 01 Steeples [Day 18] 1130-1630 (Vance Mattson). The starting temperature was 1C but reached a high of 9C, it was calm and 60% thin altostratus cloud cover produced mainly sunny conditions. A total of 7 migrants of 4 species were counted that comprised 2a Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1a Northern Goshawk, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk and 3 Golden Eagles (2a, 1sa). The first 4 migrants moved between 1422 and 1440 and the remaining 3 between 1531 and 1550. Non-migrants were 3 Bald Eagles (2a, 1j) with the adults indulging in a spirited duel that produced at least 6 barrel-rolls, and a juvenile Golden Eagle.

5 hours (58) SSHA 2 (13), NOGO 1 (2), RLHA 1 (1), GOEA 3 (54) TOTAL 7 (123)