Mount Lorette (30 Mar 2023) 66 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 30, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 85 | 85 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 1 | 11 | 11 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 61 | 1428 | 1428 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 66 | 1541 | 1541 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12.58 hours |
| Official Counter | Ethan Denton |
| Observers: | Rick Robb |
Visitors:
28 of which 9 stopped to talk
Weather:
A warmer day, getting up to +5 by the late efternoon. Ground winds were largely from the NE, and increased gradually throughout the day. It was sunny and mostly cloudless.
Raptor Observations:
Following two big days, the Goldens slowed down a bit, with just above 60 birds passing today. Most appeared over the western ridge between 10:00 and 12:00, but the few that we saw in the afternoon had mostly switched to the Eastern side. Additonal raptors included one migrant Goshawk, a small accipitor which vanished quickly, and 3 Bald Eagles.
The resident pair of Goldens were active, with one regularly pursuing migrants out of his territory. The resident Goshawk was also quite active, and made several appearances.
Non-raptor Observations:
Apart from the usual handful of Robins, Siskins, Juncos, and Chickadees, it wasn’t too busy. In the late afternoon a flock of about 70 Snow Geese passed high over the bumps. Tom the resident American Dipper popped by as the sun was setting, but didn’t stay for long.
Report submitted by Ethan Denton (ethan@suechick.com)
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 (29 Mar 2023) 212 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 29, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 7 | 82 | 82 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 204 | 1367 | 1367 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 212 | 1475 | 1475 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Cindy Parliament, Dan Parliament, Sandy Graham |
Visitors:
Three people came with binoculars during the busiest part of the day, which was extremely helpful. With two extra observers for a few hours, we had seven pairs of eyes on the sky, at least for a while. About seven other people stopped to enquire about the activity.
Weather:
It was another mild and mostly sunny day at the site, with a few cirrus clouds and a slight haze that made tracking eagles over the west ridge tricky. The temperature started at -15C, rose to +5C by late afternoon, and finished at 0C. Ground winds were light all day, picking up a bit from the north-northeast at the end of the day. At one point both of us heard the sound of a train blowing its horn, which could only have been a train passing Seebe Dam – the sound was presumably carried up the valley by the wind. Ridge winds were light as no snow was seen blowing off the ridges.
Raptor Observations:
And thick and fast they came at last, and more and more and more, all hopping through the frothy clouds, and scrambling to the north. Or something like that (apologies to Lewis Carroll). After weeks of below average numbers, the last few days have closed the gap between this year’s low numbers so far and what is normal to date, at least a bit.
The light winds resulted in the eagles having to use a combination of soaring and powered flight most of the time. Most of the day the movement was on the west ridge, with an odd one or two on the east ridge to keep us on our toes. At one point there was a kettle of about 18 eagles over Nakiska, and very soon after those eagles had moved on, another one of 22 eagles formed. In the three hours from 11:00 to 14:00 there were 35, 36, and 63 Golden Eagles respectively. Right at the end of the day, soon after 18:00, there was a flurry of activity on the east ridge, and at one point we had 14 eagles soaring over Mt Lorette. So beautiful and mesmerizing to watch!
The end totals for migrant raptors were 204 Golden Eagles (126a, 8sa, 5j, 2ui, 63u), 7 Bald Eagles (5a, 2j), and one unidentified eagle.
In addition, the local Golden Eagle was busy doing display dives on the west ridge, and a couple of adult Bald Eagles were hunting in the area, as was a Northern Goshawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
There was disappointingly little activity in the way of other birds. It’s about time Mountain Bluebirds showed up, but they are still missing. Other birds were: Hairy Woodpecker 1, Canada Jay 1, Common Raven 9, Black-capped Chickadee 3, Mountain Chickadee 1, American Robin 3, Pine Siskin 4, Dark-eyed Junco 1 (singing!)
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 (28 Mar 2023) 261 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 28, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 9 | 75 | 75 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 248 | 1163 | 1163 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 261 | 1263 | 1263 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12 hours |
| Official Counter | Ethan Denton |
| Observers: | Lynette MacCulloch |
Visitors:
We had 12 visitors today, 3 of whom stopped to help spot for significant amounts of time.
Weather:
It was overcast in the morning, but cleared quickly into blue skies with a scattering of (mainly cumulus) clouds. We started out at -14, which rose to 0, but it never really felt cold, because there were almost no ground level winds. Ridge winds seemed calm until about 13:30 or so, and increased steadily from there. By 16:00 the eagles were generally moving quite quickly.
Raptor Observations:
An excellent day for migrant raptors, with 248 Goldens, 9 Bald Eagles, and the first Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks of the season. The eagles preferred the western ridge early on, switching notably around 14:00 to a flight path high above the eastern side of the valley. A powerful thermal over Old Baldie caught many of our migrants in the afternoon, with as many as 26 Golden Eagles using it at one time! A small number of Goldens snuck by on the west side too in the later afternoon, dropping from Mt. Kidd in front of Boggart, and vanishing along a gully behind the southern side of Nakiska.
We also observed 1 resident GOEA, 3 resident Bald Eagles, and a resident Goshawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
Aprroximately 50 American Robins flew up the valley in several small groups, and a Varied Thrush made a single pass across the meadow. In the afternoon, a migrating Killdeer paused on the river before resuming its journey north, towards Hummingbird Plume.
Report submitted by Ethan Denton (ethan@suechick.com)
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 (27 Mar 2023) 17 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 27, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 | 66 | 66 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| 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 | 15 | 915 | 915 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 17 | 1002 | 1002 |
| Observation start time: | 06:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Lori Anderson |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
In spite of the snow, about eleven very happy visitors stopped by to find out about the eagles.
Weather:
It snowed almost all day. The temperature started out cold at -8C and stayed almost the same until it the snow thinned out at 16:00, and a bit of sun helped to reach a high of -5C. The ground winds blew between 6-11 Km/h.gusting to 18 Km/h from the North all day, varying between NNW, N, and NNE. It was difficult to see what the ridge winds were doing. When the Eastern ridges were a bit visible, the clouds barely moved but seemed to be pushed from the SE. Later in the day, the clouds on the Western ridges moved from the NNW. At sunset the temperature lowered to -6.5, the winds weakened and the weather vane changed to the South.
Raptor Observations:
Luckily, some Raptors could be located when the snow and clouds cleared periodically in some key locations. All but one were found traveling near Lorette, or on the Fisher range gliding low, flapping, and soaring to maintain height. The final tally was fifteen Golden Eagles (6a, 2sa, 7u), and two Bald Eagles (1a, 1ui). Non-migrating Raptors: A resident Golden displayed repeatedly on the slopes of Old Baldy and a resident adult Goshawk cried out while hunting across the river, giving a beautiful show of strength and artistry.
Non-raptor Observations:
5 American Robins, 7 Ravens (three are always together), 2 Dark-eyed Juncos sp., 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 2 Canada Geese, 5 White-winged Crossbills, and Squirrels. The end of this turbulent day was epic. Everything changed suddenly. Four white-tailed deer moved calmly into the meadow. The winds died down, shifted to the South and a black silhouette of the last Golden Eagle moved west, high into the clouds, ending today’s movie.
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 (26 Mar 2023) 105 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 26, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 6 | 64 | 64 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| 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 | 95 | 900 | 900 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 105 | 985 | 985 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Annie Finch |
| Observers: | Allison Zukewich |
Visitors:
About 35 people stopped to chat about the count. Three came during the peak around 4pm and helped spot eagles.
Weather:
The valley sparkled in the morning from a layer of frost over 10cm of fresh powder. From -8 C in the morning, the temperature rose to 0 before falling back down to -1 by sunset. Winds were light at ground level for most of the day, with some gusts over 15km/h in the last hour as snow moved in. Wind direction was variable throughout the day, shifting several times per hour, with wind from the north slightly more than half the time. The clouds were wonderful. Early morning cirrus and altocumulus clouds gave way to constantly morphing cumulus and stratus fractus later in the day, making for favourable locating and identifying conditions (when not subject to backlighting issues).
Raptor Observations:
Both sides of the valley were active, though rarely simultaneously. Migrants slightly favoured the western ridges before noon, then the east ridges until about 4pm when a rush of over 20 Golden Eagles moved from Mt. Kidd to Olympic Summit, soared, and continued north. Unfortunately, by this point in the day these birds were backlit and flying in and out of low clouds, making most of them impossible to age. By 5 pm migration had moved bay to the eastern ridges, where it remained for the rest of the day. Migrants early and late in the day primarily used powered flight; many afternoon migrants made use of thermals above Olympic Summit and Old Baldy. Migration peaked in the 4pm hour with 30 Golden Eagles (and one UE); we observed a total of 66 Golden Eagles (and that one UE) between 3pm and 6pm.
Migrating Raptors: 95 Golden Eagles (52a, 1s, 1 ui, 41u); 6 Bald Eagles (5a, 1j); 4 Unidentified Eagles.
Non-migrating Raptors: 2 adult Golden Eagles, 1 adult Bald Eagle. No sign of the resident Northern Goshawks.
Non-raptor Observations:
The usual trio of chickadee species were sweet on the walk in to the site. Robins, siskins, and juncos provided the dayâs soundtrack. Two dippers flew past the site in a highly-charged interaction, the nature of which was not apparent. A lone starling flew through the site late in the day; its plump body and transparent wings seemed out of place against the snow.
Complete avian observations: ebird.org/checklist/S131937607
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]
