Mount Lorette (14 Nov 2023) 5 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 14, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 | 44 | 128 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 138 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Golden Eagle | 3 | 174 | 3078 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 45 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Total: | 5 | 219 | 3540 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.42 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
About a dozen people stopped to ask about the count.
Weather:
A couple of centimetres of fresh, wet snow was on the ground this morning, sticking to everything and resisting melting in the sun. It wasn’t so sticky at higher elevations as the west ridge was veiled most of the day in snow blowing off the ridges. The temperature started at -2C, rose to +1C and was -1C at the end of the day. Ground winds were blustery, mostly from the southwest, with periods of calm interspersed with gusts up to 40kph. Ridge winds were very strong in the morning, decreased to moderate around noon, then rose again in mid-afternoon with Nakiska reporting WSW wind at 98kph gusting to 131kph. The sky was an ever-changing mix of open blue sky with cumulus, altostratus, and cirrus clouds.
Raptor Observations:
Ridge winds were suitable most of the day for migrating raptors, however, only five were seen, 3 adult Golden Eagles, and 2 immature Bald Eagles. The Golden Eagles all sailed effortlessly over the east ridge, while the Bald Eagles flew high over the east side of the valley.
One adult Bald Eagle flew low up the river, presumably the local one we’ve seen almost daily.
Non-raptor Observations:
There were few other birds around: 2 Canada Jays, 1 Black-billed Magpie, about 8 Common Ravens, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, and just 1 Bohemian Waxwing
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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]
