Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Visitors:
60 people stopped to talk, and 9 stayed with binoculars to watch migration.

Weather:
The temperature was -4 C at the start of observation, it rose to 12, then fell to 7 at the end. Ground wind was light with a few gusts around 15 km/h in the afternoon. Ridge wind was also low, mostly below 20 with gusts only reaching 30 near the end of the day. Cloud cover was between 40 and 60% most of the time. Observing conditions were generally good to excellent.

Raptor Observations:
Migrants passed by steadily between 9:40 AM and 6:45 PM. The 1-2 PM hour had the highest count with 36. Movement was mostly low along the eastern ridges, but a few eagles and Rough-legged Hawks did use the western route. The light wind forced most raptors to flap and soar, though stronger wind in the last hour allowed some eagles to glide a bit higher up. The count was 159 Golden Eagles (54 adults, 48 juveniles, 4 sub-adults, 15 undifferentiated immature, 38 unaged), 12 Bald Eagles, 19 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 6 Rough-legged Hawks, 1 unidentified eagle and 2 small unidentified raptors. Resident raptors included an adult Bald Eagle flying north, and two Sharp-shinned Hawks that were hanging around high on the Fisher Range harassing migrating raptors.

Non-raptor Observations:
1 Ruffed Grouse, 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Northern Shrike, 3 Canada Jays, 7 Common Ravens, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 2 American Dippers, 1 American Robin, 25 Pine Siskins, 1 Dark-eyed Junco, and 1 Mourning Cloak butterfly.

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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

Visitors:
27

Weather:
The temperature was -4C at 0745, the high was 11C at 1700 and it was 4C at 1900. Ground winds were mostly calm, occasionally light SW. Ridge winds were moderate SSW-WSW for most of the day, becoming strong between 1600 and 1700 gusting to 60km/h. Cloud cover was 20% cirrus at dawn, increasing to 80% cirrus and cirrostratus at 1100 before decreasing through the afternoon to 10% at sunset. Observing conditions were moderate in the morning becoming excellent from early afternoon.

Raptor Observations:
The count was 444 birds of 5 species between 0740 and 1855 that comprised 4 Bald Eagles (3a, 1sa,), 2 American Goshawks (1a, 1u), 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks (3a, 2u), 2a light calurus Red-tailed Hawks, 1 unknown Buteo, 430 Golden Eagles (187a, 8sa, 17j, 1ui, 217u). 6 Golden Eagles were seen before sunrise and a further 34 were seen before 0840. There was a two-hour hiatus between 0900 and 1100 when only 6 birds were counted. Numbers then increased and remained high for the rest of the day. 156 Golden Eagles were seen between 1200 and 1500 and the highest hourly count occurred between 1700 and 1800 with 82 Golden Eagles. Only a single bird was seen on the western ridges all day. In the morning, most birds were located at or near Mt Lorette before gliding over to the Fisher Range, sometimes flapping hard to maintain speed but usually dropping well below ridge level after crossing the valley. This made the locating/tracking/ageing process quite challenging. By early afternoon birds were usually seen soaring over Mt Lorette, often in loose groups of 4 to 7 eagles, before gliding high and fast over the east ridges. The last Golden Eagles were seen at 1840.

Non-raptor Observations:
Canada Geese 9, Ruffed Grouse 1, Northern Flicker 1, Northern Shrike 1, Canada Jay 3, Common Raven 15, Black-billed Magpie 2, Black-capped Chickadee 2, American Dipper 1, American Robin 100+, Red Crossbill 12

Report submitted by ()
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]