Mount Lorette (06 Mar 2026) 47 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 06, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 43 | 96 | 96 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 47 | 110 | 110 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9.33 hours |
| Official Counter | Ethan Denton, Ethan Denton |
| Observers: | Tiina Moore |
Visitors:
About 25 people walked the trail, a number of whom stopped to chat or help watch for raptors.
Weather:
A relatively nice day saw temperatures between 0 and 5 degrees, a mix of sun and cloud and pressure holding fairly steady throughout. Clouds were primarily cumulous and gathered behind the western ridge before drifting east towards the plains. Ground level winds proved briefly bothersome in the afternoon, but typically stayed around 1-3 Beaufort. The ridge winds were not observed as the Nakiska weather station website did not update today, but high winds blew clouds west at a steady pace all day.
Raptor Observations:
The unseasonal abundance of Golden Eagles not only continued, but actually more than doubled from yesterday. We finished with a total of 43 (28 adult, 15 unknown). Almost all GOEAs passed very high on the eastern flank, which combined with a mostly blue sky to make aging difficult. The first GOEA passed shortly after 11:00, and the hour block with the most birds was 15:00-16:00.
Three subadult Bald Eagles followed the same flightpath as their Golden counterparts, and an unidentified raptor (RLHA?) vanished behind the ridgeline before a concrete ID could be obtained.
The adult Goshawk cruised the eastern flank of the valley for much of the morning but was not seen after 11:00.
Non-raptor Observations:
Highlights for other birds included a male Hairy Woodpecker, small scattered flocks of White-winged Crossbills and Pine Siskins, a pair of Red Crossbills, and a Northern Pygmy-Owl which was heard singing a distance away. Two Big Horned Sheep summitted Mt. Patrick at 10:45 or so.
Report submitted by Ethan Denton (ethan@suechick.com)
Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org – [Project Details]
