Mount Lorette (07 Apr 2026) 6 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 07, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 14 | 76 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 9 | 17 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 3 | 53 | 1079 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Total: | 6 | 94 | 1218 |
| Observation start time: | 11:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6 hours |
| Official Counter | Graeme Dunlop |
| Observers: | Peter Christensen |
Visitors:
8
Weather:
The start of the count was delayed until 1200 due to poor visibility and snowfall, at times heavy. The clouds began to lift about 1145 and it was quite sunny for much of the afternoon, with occasional brief flurries of light snow. The temperature at 1200 was -4C, the high at 1600 was 1C. Ground level winds were quite variable, initially light NE but then shifting to light SW for the rest of the day. There were some impressive snow plumes blowing off Mt Kidd and Mt Lorette indicating a strong NW to WSW airflow at ridge level. Cloud cover was mostly cumulus and stratocumulus. Thicker stratocumulus persisted to the south for most of the day. No Golden Eagles were seen after 1530 so the count was ended at 1800.
Raptor Observations:
Only 6 migrants were observed: 1 adult Bald Eagle, 1 adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 American Goshawk, 3 Golden Eagles (3u); all the eagles were seen gliding high above the eastern ridges. We had some nice views of the resident Golden Eagle and it was observed spending lots of time and energy chasing another Golden Eagle around the eastern ridges; it was joined by a third bird, perhaps in a territorial dispute.
Non-raptor Observations:
The most unusual bird of the day was an early Savannah Sparrow foraging at the parking lot. Other birds included 2 Canada Geese, 8 Mallards, 2 Common Mergansers, 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2 Northern Flickers, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 8 Common Ravens, 4 Black-capped Chickadees, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 1 Boreal Chickadee, 1 Golden Crowned Kinglet, 1 American Dipper, 45 European Starlings, 2 Varied Thrushes, 22 American Robins, 5 Bohemian Waxwings, 8 Redpolls and 2 Dark-eyed Juncos. We also had some good views of a Mink exploring along the opposite riverbank.
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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]
