Friday, November 13 Vicki Ridge [Day 50] 0720-1720 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge. The temperature was -3C at 0730, the high was -0.5C at 1300 and it was then -1C for the rest of the day. Winds were strong W 30-50 gusting 60-70 km/h all day except at 1400 when they reached 90 km/h. Cloud cover was mainly 100% stratus that periodically and briefly reduced to 80-90% in the afternoon. Light snow fell for most of the day and became increasingly heavy after 1430 with both ridges becoming obscured at times. Only 4 migrants were seen between 1318 and 1522: 1u Northern Goshawk, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk, 1 unidentified eagle and 1u Peregrine Falcon. The only other birds seen were 38 Common Ravens and the flock of 22 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches (including 2 littoralis) that again fed close to the Waterton 61 site.

10 hours (494.8) NOGO 1 (101), RLHA 1 (287), UE 1 (34), PEFA 1 (10) TOTAL 4 (4752)

Friday, November 13 Mount Lorette [Day 52] 0800-1630 (Blake Weis assisted by Rick Robb). Ridge winds were generally over 100 km/h, but the Fisher Range was completely clear and light snow only fell to noon and at the end of observation. Only one migrant was seen, however, an adult Bald Eagle that flew south high above the river at 1314.

8.5 hours (540.6) BAEA 1 (205) TOTAL 1 (3202)

Friday, November 13 Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation (weather). It was heavily overcast all day and snowed for most of the day.

Thursday, November 12 Vicki Ridge [Day 49] 0715-1725 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge, and Gord Petersen (1327-1650) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0715 was -6C, the high at 1300 was -1.5C and it was -4C at 1725. Winds were W 50-60 gusting 70-85 all day and cloud cover was 30-80% cumulus, lenticular, altostratus and cirrus in the morning and 90-100% altostratus, cumulus, lenticular, cirrocumulus and cirrus throughout the afternoon that gave gloomy conditions accentuated by blowing snow and persistent very light snow. At Waterton 61 a total of 16 migrant raptors of 3 species moved between 0752 and 1557 comprising 3 Bald Eagles (2a, 1j), 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk and 12 Golden Eagles (10a, 1sa, 1j) with 4 of the birds moving between 1500 and 1600. Waterton 68 produced 7 migrants of 3 species between 1334 and 1552 that comprised 3 Bald Eagles (2a, 1j), 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk, 2a Golden Eagles and 1 unidentified eagle: 4 of the birds were seen between 1400 and 1500. The combined sites count was 23 migrants of 3 species that moved between 0752 and 1557 and comprised 6 Bald Eagles (4a, 2j), 2 light morph Rough-legged Hawks, 14 Golden Eagles (12a, 1sa, 1j) and 1 unidentified eagle. Other birds seen were 1 Black-billed Magpie, 108 Common Ravens (60 at Waterton 61 and 48 at Waterton 68), 26 Bohemian Waxwings, 2 female Pine Grosbeaks and a flock of 22 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches (including 2 littoralis) that fed close to the Waterton 61 site for most of the day.

10.16 hours (484.8) BAEA 6 (329), RLHA 2 (286), GOEA 14 (2544), UE 1 (33) TOTAL 23 (4748)

Thursday, November 12 Mount Lorette [Day 51] 0815-1645 (Graeme Dunlop assisted by Glenn Webber). Another windy day produced 10 migrant eagles comprising 5a Bald Eagles and 5 Golden Eagles (3a, 1j, 1u) that were seen between 1030 and 1530.

8.5 hours (532.1) BAEA 5 (204), GOEA 5 (2610) TOTAL 10 (3201)

Thursday, November 12 Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation (weather). When Vance finished work at 1600 the mountains were still mainly shrouded, as they were all day.

Wednesday, November 11 Vicki Ridge [Day 48] 0730-1730 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge, and Gord Petersen (1230-1655) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0730 was -11C, the high at 1500 was -6C and it was -12C at 1750. Winds were unhelpful E-ESE 10-20 km/h that switched to light W at 1730 but too late to be useful. Cloud cover was 100% stratus to 1335 when it reduced to 80% cumulus and stratocumulus, and light persistent snow fell to 1355 when there was 3 cm of fresh snow on the ground. The ridges remained clear throughout and by 1400 the sky cleared to 50% cumulus and at 1500 and 1600 10% cumulus gave welcome sunshine before 20-30% cumulus and altocumulus appeared after 1700. The generally light upslope winds proved unfavourable for migration and only 1a Bald Eagle and 2a Northern Goshawks were seen at Waterton 61 between 0908 and 1552, and a single adult Bald Eagle at 1506 at Waterton 68. By way of compensation there was a good variety of other bird species that comprised 144 Canada Geese that were seen moving well west of Waterton 68 in flocks of 60, 24, 11 and 49, 3 Canada Jays, 2 Steller’s Jays, 1 Clark’s Nutcracker, 3 Black-billed Magpies, 62 Common Ravens of which 43 were seen at Waterton 68, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 56 Bohemian Waxwings, 3 Pine Grosbeaks (1 male, 2 females), 63 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches and 8 Common Redpolls.

10 hours (474.6) BAEA 2 (323), NOGO 2 (100) TOTAL 4 (4725)

Wednesday, November 11 Mount Lorette [Day 50] (Bill Wilson). Light snow fell to 1000 after which it was clear for the rest of the day. A total of 14 migrant raptors of 3 species were seen between 1217 and 1705 that comprised 4 Bald Eagles (3a, 1j), 1j dark morph harlani Red-tailed Hawk and 9 Golden Eagles (7a, 1j, 1u). Winds were WSW to SW all day, light to 1500 after which they gusted between 30 and 60 km/h. It is interesting to note that only 3 birds were seen before 1458, with the remaining 11 birds migrating after 1458 when the wind velocity increased.

9.16 hours (523.6) BAEA 4 (199), RTHA 1 (68), GOEA 9 (2605) TOTAL 14 (3191)

Wednesday, November 11 Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation (weather). The forecasted sunny skies never appeared and the mountains and valley were shrouded in low cloud all day, with periodic light snow.

Tuesday, November 10 Vicki Ridge [Day 47] 0815-1400 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge, including 1299-1310 at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0815 was -5C, the high at 1100 was -1C and it was -3C when the count was abandoned for the day at 1400. Winds were W 30-40km/h throughout that gusted 50-65 km/h between 0900 and 1100, and cloud cover was 60-70% altocumulus and cumulus to 1045 which gave mainly sunny conditions before dark stratus began to move from the NNE and by 1130 it had blanketed the area. Light snow began to fall at 1200 which became moderate by 1400 and obscured all the ridges. A total of 5 migrants of 3 species were recorded between 0925 and 1158 that comprised 1a Northern Goshawk, 1 light morph Rough-legged Hawk and 3 Golden Eagles (1a, 1sa, 1j). At 0930 the goshawk and an adult and a juvenile Golden Eagle soared high above Vicky Ridge in bright sunshine and raised our hopes of a decent movement but it was not to be! Other birds seen were 6 Black-billed Magpies, 30 Common Ravens and 25 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches that fed at the Waterton 61 site and included 2 birds of the coastal mountains race littoralis (“Hepburn’s Rosy-Finch”).

5.75 hours (464.6) NOGO 1 (98), RLHA 1 (284), GOEA 3 (2530) TOTAL 5 (4721)

Tuesday, November 10 Mount Lorette (George Halmazna assisted by Dan Parliament). No observation (weather). Snow all day with the mountains obscured.

Tuesday, November 10 Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation (weather). Snow and low overcast cloud obscured the mountains all day.

Monday, November 09 Vicki Ridge [Day 46] 0730-1730 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge; and Gord Petersen (1304-1705) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). The temperature at 0730 was -8C, the high at 1400 was -3.5C and it was -6C at 1730. Winds were WSW-W all day 40-50 gusting 70-85 km/h that created serious blowing snow both in the valley and on the ridges all day. It was cloudless to 1100 when 10-30% cirrus developed for the rest of the day, with traces of cumulus after 1600. At Waterton 61 a total of 17 migrants of 4 species were counted between 0946 and 1638 that comprised 6 Bald Eagles (4a, 1j, 1u), 2a calurus Red-tailed Hawks (1 light, 1 dark), 8 Golden Eagles (7a, 1j) and 1 Prairie Falcon. The highest hourly count was 6 between 1000 and 1100. At Waterton 68 a total of 20 migrants of 3 species were seen between 1338 and 1658 that comprised 11 Bald Eagles (10a, 1j), 1 dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, and 8a Golden Eagles. The hourly high count was 11 (1400-1500). The combined site total was 37 migrants of 5 species seen between 0946 and 1658 that comprised 17 Bald Eagles (14a, 2j, 1u), 2a calurus Red-tailed Hawks (1 light, 1 dark), 1 dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, 16 Golden Eagles (15a, 1j) and 1 Prairie Falcon. The highest combined site hourly count was 12 between 1400 and 1500. Other bird species seen were 1 female Hairy Woodpecker, 121 Common Ravens of which 85 were seen at Waterton 68, 1 Brown Creeper, 3 female Pine Grosbeaks, 25 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches of which 19 fed close to the Waterton 61 site, and 32 migrating Common Redpolls.

10 hours (458.9) BAEA 17 (321), RTHA 2 (214), RLHA 1 (283), GOEA 16 (2527), PRFA 1 (6) TOTAL 37 (4716)

Monday, November 09 Mount Lorette [Day 49] 0810-1715 (Caroline Lambert assisted by Graeme Dunlop). A total of 23 migrant raptors of 4 species were recorded between 0857 and 1621 that comprised 9 Bald Eagles (7a, 1sa, 1u), 1a Northern Goshawk, 1j light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk, 1 unidentified Buteo, 10 Golden Eagles (6a, 1sa, 3j) and 1 unidentified eagle.

9.08 hours (514.5) BAEA 9 (195), NOGO 1 (67), RTHA 1 (67), UB 1 (5), GOEA 10 (2596), UE 1 (29) TOTAL 23 (3177)

Monday, November 09 Steeples (Vance Mattson) No observation because of work commitments.