Mount Lorette (08 Apr 2024) 41 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 08, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 13 | 72 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 13 | 16 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Golden Eagle | 38 | 160 | 1745 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 41 | 198 | 1871 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11 hours |
| Official Counter | Graeme Dunlop |
| Observers: | Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb |
Visitors:
About 14 people stopped by to chat. There were 2 visitors who helped spot during the afternoon.
Weather:
The temperature was 0 C at the start of observation, it rose to +5 by the middle of the day, then fell to +4 as we were leaving. Ground wind was from the SW and light in the morning, increasing from late morning with gusts around 20 km/h. Ridge wind appeared to be moderate from the W-SW. Cloud cover was around 50% at dawn with a brief light snow flurry, mostly cumulus and stratocumulus, decreasing to 20% cumulus from mid morning to early afternoon, before increasing again to 70% cirrostratus, cumulus and stratocumulus by late afternoon with occasional light snow. Some western ridges were shrouded in cloud from mid afternoon. No eagles were seen after 4p.m. so the count was ended at 6p.m. with heavy looking snow clouds building to the south and west.
Raptor Observations:
After a promising early start with 12 Golden Eagles seen between 08:00 and 08:30, movement was a steady trickle of 1 to 3 eagles per hour until about 14:00 when movement picked up slightly until the last eagles were seen at 15:50. Birds in the morning and early afternoon were using both east and west ridges, soaring and gliding. Later birds were seen mostly gliding quite high and fast over the eastern ridges and across to Mt Lorette. Days total was 41 migrants including 38 Golden Eagles (15a, 2sa, 1juv, 20u) and 3 Red-tailed Hawks (1 adult intermediate, 2u). Non-migrants included the resident Golden Eagles, 1 Red-tailed Hawk and 1 American Goshawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
8 Canada Geese, 15 Gulls (sp), 1 American Three-toed Woodpecker, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 15 Common Ravens, 4 Chickadee sp., 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2 Varied Thrushes, 100+ American Robins, 2 Mountain Bluebirds, 1 Northern Shrike, 5 Dark-eyed Junco
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
