Mount Lorette (04 Apr 2025) 3 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 04, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 2 | 58 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 2 | 60 | 998 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 3 | 68 | 1082 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.17 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Sofia Preece |
Visitors:
A conference at a local hotel resulted in a number of groups of conference attendees passing by the site towards the end of the day. Each group of about 15 had a guide that was familiar with the area. In all, about 75 people stopped by.
Thanks to Ed for keeping us company while there was nothing to count.
Weather:
It was a beautiful day out at the count site, after a chilly start with the temperature at -10C. With no clouds to block the heat of the sun, and little wind, it soon warmed up and by mid-afternoon was 6C, dropping to 3C at the end when the sun was behind the west ridge. Ground wind was light most of the day with a few gusts up to 20kph in the late afternoon. Judging by the blowing snow on the ridges, there was no ridge wind early in the day, but it was blowing quite strongly from a westerly direction late in the day.
Raptor Observations:
The beautiful spring weather was offset by a surprising dearth of birds of any kind, particularly migrating raptors. Only two migrant Golden Eagles were seen all day – one juvenile being escorted away by ravens on the west ridge, and a lone adult that soared high over Patrick before zooming off to Lorette. One Sharp-shinned Hawk made an appearance.
The resident Golden Eagles showed up a couple of times during the day.
Non-raptor Observations:
20 or so American Robins made a welcome distraction in the meadow throughout the day. Besides the robins and the usual ravens, other birds were few and far between: one Black-billed Magpie, two Black-capped Chickadees, one Mountain Chickadee, and three European Starlings.
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
