Fall Count 2021

Although at ground level it was calm (and unseasonably warm again) to start with, ridge winds told a different story. By 8am the ridge winds were over 70 kph and gusting up to 100 kph, and stayed around that level all day. Ground winds picked up as well, threatening to topple unprotected chairs and scopes, and cause any loose object to disappear over the river. The few eagles that were seen were flying very high and very fast over the east ridge.

It was a warm, sunny day with beautiful fall colors. In the afternoon there were strong ridge winds from the SW which is favorable for migration, but flying conditions seemed inconsistent. The birds were often quite high but never stetted into a regular flight path. This inconsistency, along with a wide lenticular cloud hanging over the Fisher Range, made detection and identification difficult during peak migration.

Although the temperature started out at freezing, it quickly rose through the day to a balmy and unseasonable 18ºC at the end, when high cirrus clouds had given way to what appeared to be a Chinook arch. There was a trickle of birds during the morning, with several juvenile eagles using thermals to make slow forward progress. The more experienced adults waited until afternoon, when the wind had picked up, and there was a steady stream of them from 2pm onwards. All migrants were found along the east ridge.

Nice sunny day. The ground winds were mainly light from W/NW. Ridge winds moderate from the SW. 30% to 60% cirrus and cumulus clouds A nice variety of raptors were seen today, most birds flew high over the Fisher Range which made identification of some smaller raptors quite challenging.

Generally a nice day, a bit windy at times but not bad. 70% to 100% cloud, but for most of the day the sun shone through.

Very nice sunny day with moderate wind and up to 50% cloud cover. But hardly any bird activity. We observed no eagles today.

It was a gorgeous sunny/cloudy fall day. The ground winds were mainly S/SW from Calm to 5 km/h with a few gusts up to 10 km/h. Ridge winds averaged 27 kms/h from the SW. Today must have been the national migratory day for Robins and Bohemian Waxwings. More than 100 Robins passed before 9 am and more than 300 by the end of the day. It seems that 2 Merlins have taken up residence in the meadow and we were gifted with a gruesome view of one of them feasting on its prey at the riverbank. The two Broad-winged Hawks were harassed by some local Ravens who nipped at them as they passed by above the eastern ridges. A very brave Red-breasted Nuthatch kicked an …