Mount Lorette (24 Sep 2023) 41 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 24, 2023 | |||
Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
Turkey Vulture | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Osprey | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 18 | 18 |
Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
American Goshawk | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Golden Eagle | 29 | 58 | 58 |
American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Merlin | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 6 | 6 |
Unknown Buteo | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Raptor | 2 | 5 | 5 |
Total: | 41 | 112 | 112 |
Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
Total observation time: | 10 hours |
Official Counter | Blake Weis |
Observers: | Jessica Banas |
Visitors:
Thanks to Jim St Laurent for joining us at the site and helping to spot raptors.
65 visitors stopped to engage, including a couple hiking groups and many families.
Weather:
The temperature was 10 C at the start of observation. It rose to a high of 14, then fell to 11 as we were leaving. Ground wind was light in the morning and gusted up to 20 km/h in the afternoon. Ridge winds were moderate almost all day with gusts reaching 49 km/h, with the exception of 12:00-13:00 where it was almost calm for a brief period of time. Cloud cover was 70-90% until late afternoon when it cleared slightly to 50%.
Raptor Observations:
The count included 29 Golden Eagles (10a, 6j, 2sa, 1ui, 10u), 1 Osprey, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 American Goshawk, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 4 Merlins, and 2 small unidentified raptors. Almost all the migrants used the eastern ridges with the majority being detected at Patrick or The Bumps. One sharp-shinned hawk used the western ridges and one Merlin flew low down the valley. Non-migrant raptors included an adult Golden Eagle, an adult American Goshawk and a Sharp-shinned Hawk that hunted near the meadow. Poor light and bad angles often hampered ageing.
Non-raptor Observations:
Larus sp. 5 (Migrating high above ridge level. California or Herring gulls.), Belted Kingfisher 1, Canada Jay 3, Common Raven 15, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Boreal Chickadee 1, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch 1, American Dipper 2, American Robin 80, Bohemian Waxwing 12, American Pipit 3, Red Crossbill 4, White-winged Crossbill 1, Pine Siskin 2, Dark-eyed Junco 1, White-crowned Sparrow 2, Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo – [Project Details]
Mount Lorette (23 Sep 2023) 17 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 23, 2023 | |||
Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
Turkey Vulture | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Osprey | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 15 | 15 |
Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
American Goshawk | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Golden Eagle | 12 | 29 | 29 |
American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 6 | 6 |
Unknown Buteo | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Raptor | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Total: | 17 | 71 | 71 |
Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
Total observation time: | 7 hours |
Official Counter | Neil Denton |
Observers: | Caroline Lambert, Lynn Macintosh |
Visitors:
72 visitors in groups of up to 20.
Weather:
Ridgetop Temperatures – Start temperature @ 9am: 5C – End temperature – @6pm: 6C – Daily High Temperature: 7C
Ground Level Temperatures – Start temperature @ 9am: 7C – End temperature – @6pm: 19C – Daily High Temperature: 19C Wind – Summary of ridge wind o Primarily S or SW gusting from 14 to 89 km/h (peak) – Summary of ground wind o Primarily S or SW gusts variable â from 10km/h to 24km/h – Cloud cover and precipitation o Partly sunny, broken clouds o Short, light rainfall in late afternoon o Visibility varied significantly with periods of low cloud making observing passing migrants difficult, to almost clear skies. Flat light, with a number of eagles first showing over Fisher, made aging â and in one case identifying to genus â challenging at times.
Raptor Observations:
It was a slow start for migrant raptors. All the migrants were seen over the Mt Lorette and the east ridge (with one oddity). The number of GOEA increased to 12, of which three were not aged – in part due to the flat light, and the fact that quite a few of the eagles first shoed south of the bumps. There was a decent amount of other raptors. The totals were 12 Golden Eagles (7AD, 2SA, 3U), 0 Bald Eagles, 2 American Goshawk, 2 accipiter sp., 2 Broad-winged Hawk, and one high flying raptor that was not possible to ID.
In addition, we had one Merlin in in the trees near the observation location.
Better yet was the curious case of the Turkey Vulture flying north from as far south as we could see until it disappeared to the north.
We observed one of the resident GOEA, and one American Goshawk behaving like a non-migrant.
Non-raptor Observations:
The most exciting bird of the day was a Turkey Vulture, closely matched by a Palm Warbler immediately behind the observation site.
3 Common Merganser 1 Ring-billed Gull 1 Golden Eagle (resident) 1 American Goshawk (resident) 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Merlin (resident) 4 Canada Jay 15 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 110 American Robin 175 Bohemian Waxwing 5 White-winged Crossbill 2 Pine Siskin 3 White-crowned Sparrow 1 Palm Warbler 1 Wilson’s Warbler
Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo – [Project Details]
Mount Lorette (22 Sep 2023) 20 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 22, 2023 | |||
Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Osprey | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Bald Eagle | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 5 | 15 | 15 |
Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
American Goshawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Golden Eagle | 6 | 17 | 17 |
American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Accipiter | 2 | 6 | 6 |
Unknown Buteo | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Total: | 20 | 54 | 54 |
Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
Total observation time: | 9.83 hours |
Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
Observers: | Chris Durtnall |
Visitors:
Apparently today was a “free pass” day in Kananaskis, to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the Kananaskis area, and quite a number of people were taking advantage of it. We had about 25 people stop by the site.
Weather:
The day started out frosty with a temperature of -1C, but it quickly rose to 18C and finished the day at 16C. Ground winds were light and variable all day, while ridge winds were mostly light from the south. There were no clouds until after noon, when cumulus clouds gradually crept in from the south, finishing with about 60% coverage.
Raptor Observations:
It was a slow day for migrant raptors. All the migrants were seen over the east ridge, most having to soar to gain altitude before gliding off to the south. Though there were not many Golden Eagles, there was a decent variety of other raptors. The totals were 6 Golden Eagles (3a, 1sa, 1j, 1u), 1 adult Bald Eagle, 3 Ospreys, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 American Goshawk, 2 accipiter sp., 1 dark morph Broad-winged Hawk, and one high flying buteo that was not possible to ID.
One adult Golden Eagle was seen flying northwest across the valley, and one juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was hunting near Hummingbird Plume.
Non-raptor Observations:
The most exciting bird of the day was a Northern Hawk Owl that flew high over the meadow early in the morning, going south. The American Dipper serenaded us on the way out with a beautiful song. Other birds were as follows: Common Merganser 2, Canada Jay 2, Common Raven 10, Black-capped Chickadee 4, American Robin 4, White-crowned Sparrow 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo – [Project Details]
Mount Lorette (21 Sep 2023) 21 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 21, 2023 | |||
Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 10 | 10 |
Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Golden Eagle | 10 | 11 | 11 |
American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Unknown Buteo | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Raptor | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Total: | 21 | 34 | 34 |
Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
Observation end time: | 17:30:00 |
Total observation time: | 9.5 hours |
Official Counter | Annie Finch |
Observers: | Emma Barry, Ethan Denton |
Visitors:
17 people stopped by the site today to chat and ask about the eagles. We were treated to the superb company and assistance of Cedar and Larry for the early part of the afternoon. Electing to spend a bit of his birthday with us, Ethan Denton also made a special appearance which, unsurprisingly, coincided perfectly with the peak raptor movement of the day.
Weather:
What a beautiful day in the valley! The morning started out calm and chilly at 2°C with a few clouds lingering at ground-level in the valley. The western ridges remained cloaked in cloud for the first few hours of the count; Mts Allan and Collembola remained obscured for the remainder of the morning. Rising from negligible in the early morning, ridge winds were steady at around 10 km/h from the S and SW between noon and 5 pm, which coincided with the majority of raptor movement. After 5 pm the winds dropped and reversed direction. Ground winds mirrored this pattern at slightly lower speeds. The sky overhead was clear blue all day. While the light never became overly harsh, the lack of clouds in the sky posed challenges for spotting and tracking birds. The temperature peaked at 15°C by 5 pm (making this the warmest day of the fall season so far), cooling slightly to 12°C when the count was concluded at 6:30 pm.
Raptor Observations:
Raptors made extensive use of both sides of the valley. No clear or preferred flight path emerged. The majority of the Golden Eagles used the east side of the valley, though the west side produced more raptors in general.
Migrant Eagles 10 Golden Eagles: 1a, 1j, 5u. While none resorted to powered flight, most made significant use of thermals to gain height. Two Golden Eagles were observed landing high on the eastern ridges; one juvenile remained perched at the very top of the Big Bump for over 30 minutes. Three GOEAs were observed in the 1 pm and 4 pm hours; at least one was observed per hour between 12 pm and 6 pm.
Migrant Raptors 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1a, 2u 1 Cooperâs Hawk: 1a 2 Red-tailed Hawk: 2u 3 Undifferentiated Buteos 2 Undifferentiated Raptors
Non-migrant Raptors Just before 1 pm, an adult Bald Eagle flew north out of the valley to Mt. Lorette. At 4:30 pm a Golden Eagle appeared over the Bumps, flew north over Patrick, and disappeared into the blue.
Non-raptor Observations:
It was a great day for non-raptors as well with many species migrating south through the valley. American Pipits were the most conspicuous, both flying over and stopping to walk around the site and adjacent pathway, affording excellent views of their adorable affect. Bohemian Waxwings took to the sky as the day warmed, flycatching over the river. As we were packing up at the end of the day, an American Dipper appeared and serenaded us to the accompaniment of the burbling river.
4 Common Merganser 2 Northern Flicker 1 Canada Jay 1 Blue Jay 2 Black-billed Magpie 20 Common Raven 1 Mountain Chickadee 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6 Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 Brown Creeper 1 American Dipper 24 American Robin 40 Bohemian Waxwing 65 American Pipit 3 Pine Siskin 3 Dark-eyed Junco 6 White-crowned Sparrow 2 Savannah Sparrow 2 Lincoln’s Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 2 Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 Wilson’s Warbler
Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo – [Project Details]
Mount Lorette (20 Sep 2023) 13 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 20, 2023 | |||
Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Golden Eagle | 1 | 1 | 1 |
American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Accipiter | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total: | 13 | 13 | 13 |
Observation start time: | 07:15:00 |
Observation end time: | 16:45:00 |
Total observation time: | 9.5 hours |
Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
Observers: | Lynette MacCulloch |
Visitors:
In spite of the inclement weather, nine people came by.
Weather:
The temperature started out chilly – the coldest day of the fall season so far – at 0C. Fortunately the sun appeared occasionally through the clouds and heated the air up to 8C, before falling to 6C at the end of the day. Also fortunately the weather wasn’t bad as forecast (which was rain all day), and there were only intermittent sprinkles of raindrops between sunny breaks. The ridges appeared and disappeared in the ever changing clouds – never completely clear, but never completed occluded until the end of the day. There was no wind in the morning, but it gradually built up during the day, coming and going with the clouds and showers. At one point we had a gorgeous rainbow over the river to the northeast, enhanced by the beautiful fall colours. Ridge winds were light in the morning from the SW, but swung around to the NE by noon and stayed from that direction, and light, to the end of the day. The count was terminated slightly early due to the clouds closing in and nothing but rain showing on the radar map.
Raptor Observations:
The day started out with a Peregrine Falcon powering its way along the east ridge. From 2pm to 4pm there was a burst of accipiter activity over the east side of the valley, with as many as six in the sky at once. The ones that were scoped and identified were Sharp-shinned Hawks – likely all were Sharp-shinned, but it was not possible to ID them all. Four Sharp-shinned Hawks were positively identified, and four remain as “Accipiter sp.”. Only one migrant Golden Eagle was seen, late in the afternoon, soaring over the Bumps and then gliding to the south.
Two raptors were deemed to be non-migrating – one Bald Eagle was seen heading north, and an American Goshawk flew low over the nearby forest. The recent name change will be hard to adjust to!
Non-raptor Observations:
There were several flocks of migrating birds – mostly robins and waxwings. The only identified waxwings were Bohemian. It was good to see the American Dipper again, and a Belted Kingfisher put in a brief appearance. Ravens gathered in the sky in groups, playing and doing barrel rolls and generally seeming to enjoy life, as usual. There was a minimum of 13 of those. Other birds were:
Canada Jay 3 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 American Robin 31 Bohemian Waxwing 9 Bohemian/Cedar Waxwing 30 American Pipit 1 White-winged Crossbill 2 Dark-eyed Junco 1 White-crowned Sparrow 1
Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo – [Project Details]