Mount Lorette (08 Oct 2022) 86 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 20 | 33 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 6 | 35 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 6 | 17 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 14 | 23 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 83 | 426 | 581 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Total: | 86 | 507 | 758 |
| Observation start time: | 06:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11.33 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Deb Hornsby |
Visitors:
About 20 people stopped to chat with us. One very helpful and enthusiastic visitor brought a scope and binoculars.
Weather:
Yet another day with cloudless skies and light winds. The temperature was a bit cooler to start than previous days, at -2C, but the sun soon warmed things up and it reached a high of 19C, cooling rapidly to 10C when the sun went behind the west ridge. The ridge winds swung around the compass, going from northwest to northeast to southeast to south. It was only when the ridge winds had built up and were coming from the southwest that the migration picked up.
Raptor Observations:
The first eagles were spotted shortly after 10am. These were using thermals to gain height over Mt Lorette, difficult to see against the blue sky and in slight haze, then flying low along the east ridge, often using powered flight, continuing a pattern from previous days. As the day wore on and the ridge winds strengthened, the eagles were able to maintain the height gained from soaring on thermals over Mt Lorette, and glided quickly along the east ridge without much need for more soaring. The count was 83 Golden Eagles (43a, 10sa, 10j, 20u) and one Sharp-shinned Hawk. Two eagles were unidentified.
One resident adult Golden Eagle was seen hunting near Collembola in the morning, and a Northern Goshawk, presumed resident, flew north down the river in front of us.
Non-raptor Observations:
The Ruffed Grouse was drumming nearly all day. The dipper was conspicuous in his absence, but the Belted Kingfisher put in an appearance again. Other birds were: 2 Common Mergansers, 1 Great Horned Owl, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Canada Jay, 2 Black-billed Magpies, 5 Common Ravens, 3 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Brown Creeper, 1 Varied Thrush, 5 American Robins, and one Purple Finch.
Predictions:
Prediction: a cold front is forecast to come through late Monday. This should result in strong southwest winds and substantial raptor movement over the next few days.
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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 Dunkadoo – [Project Details]
