Mount Lorette (03 Oct 2025) 77 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 03, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 4 | 9 | 39 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| American Goshawk | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 | 8 | 30 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 58 | 109 | 251 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Total: | 77 | 148 | 393 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Graeme Dunlop |
| Observers: | Tiina Moore |
Visitors:
30. Thanks to Guy Kerr for joining the count team.
Weather:
A sunny and quite warm day. The temperature at 0800 was 1C, the high at 1500 was 15C and it was 10C at 1815. Ground winds were SW-W all day 0-20 km/h, ridge winds were SW to WSW, light to moderate with strong gusts from 1300 to 1800. It was cloudless to 1000 when cirrus and cirrostratus cloud began to form and then generally increased through the day reaching 100% altostratus, cirrostratus and cumulus by 1730. Observing conditions were good to excellent throughout.
Raptor Observations:
The count was 77 birds of 8 species between 0905 and 1720 that comprised 1 Osprey, 3 Bald Eagles (2a, 1sa), 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks (2a, 2u), 1a Cooperâs Hawk, 3 American Goshawks (1a, 1juv, 1u), 4 Red-tailed Hawks (3a, 1u), 58 Golden Eagles (28a, 3sa, 3juv, 24u), 1u Merlin, 1 unidentified small Falcon and 1 unidentified raptor. The highest hourly count was between 1500 and 1600 with 23 raptors. The first 4 Golden Eagles were seen separately between 0900 and 1000 all soaring in the same spot just to the north of Mt Allan. Most of the subsequent eagles were seen on the Fisher Range, usually gliding across from Mt Lorette but many also seeming to appear above the eastern ridges as though they had approached from the north east. When the ridge winds were strongest through much of the afternoon most of the Golden Eagles were flying quite high, soaring and gliding, making locating the birds quite challenging. A few Golden Eagles were observed slowly gliding into the winds high over Mt Lorette towards Mt Kidd before angling back towards the Fisher Range and flying very high over our heads.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included:- Downy Woodpecker 1, Black-billed Magpie 1, Clark’s Nutcracker 8, American Crow 13, Common Raven 45, Ruby-crowned Kinglets 4, American Robin 300, Pine Grosbeak 1, White-winged Crossbill 15, Pine Siskin 950
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
