Mount Lorette (15 Mar 2023) 34 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 15, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 26 | 26 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern 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 | 33 | 143 | 143 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 34 | 174 | 174 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11.58 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Sandy Graham |
Visitors:
There were 25 visitors, including one hiking group of 6 and another of 12. One person came with binoculars and spotted several eagles during the few hours she was with us – thanks, Tina!
Weather:
The day started with almost no clouds and a chilly temperature of -15C. The sun was warm when it appeared over the ridge and the temperature quickly rose, reaching a high of -1C and dipping to -3C at the end of the day. Cloud cover gradually increased to about 70% coverage, mostly cumulus clouds, which allowed for good viewing conditions. There was little ground wind, and there appeared to be little ridge wind as well, as there was almost no snow pluming off the ridges. Upper clouds moved slowly from the west and then northwest.
Raptor Observations:
In spite of there being little sign of ridge winds, nearly all the eagles seen were gliding high above the east ridge. Early in the day they were going almost overhead, and as the day wore on more of them were seen soaring to gain height over the east ridge before gliding to Lorette. After a flurry of activity at 10:00, the main movement didn’t begin until after 14:00. After that the movement was relatively steady, with a peak around 17:00.
The tally was 33 migrating Golden Eagles (32a, 1u) and one adult Bald Eagle. The last eagle of the day was a Golden Eagle that flew from the east ridge over our heads towards Mt Kidd – we wondered if this was one of the resident eagle pair.
Non-raptor Observations:
The only non-raptor bird seen that was a spring migrant was a Canada Goose that flew in and sat on the river for a while before flying off again. Besides that, the other birds were: Hairy Woodpecker 1, Canada Jay 2, Common Raven 6, Black-capped Chickadee 2, White-winged Crossbill 1, Pine Siskin 6
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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]
