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Mount Lorette (18 Apr 2023) 3 Raptors

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Mount Lorette
Alberta, Canada

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 18, 2023
Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 0 42 128
Northern Harrier 0 2 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 9 9
Cooper’s Hawk 1 5 5
Northern Goshawk 0 9 20
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson’s Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 23 24
Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 5
Golden Eagle 2 316 1755
American Kestrel 0 1 1
Merlin 0 4 5
Gyrfalcon 0 0 0
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 3 5
Unknown Buteo 0 0 1
Unknown Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Eagle 0 10 20
Unknown Raptor 0 2 2
Total: 3 430 1983
Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 19:00:00
Total observation time: 12.63 hours
Official Counter Caroline Lambert
Observers: Lynette MacCulloch

Visitors:
A group of 16 hikers came by early in the morning, but few people were seen after that. Only six more stopped to talk. Perhaps the gloomy weather and threat of rain deterred people from coming out.

Weather:
The temperature started out cool at -7C, rose to a high of 4C, and was 3C at time of departure. Cloud coverage started out as 80% cirrostratus and gradually thickened and lowered as it became thin 100% altostratus, leaving the sky flat and grey most of the day, often with the sun visible through it. Late in the day the clouds lowered some more and began to obscure the ridges. Some sort of precipitation was forecast during the day, but none materialized. Ground winds were light and variable. Ridge winds appeared low in the morning but grew stronger during the day, allowing the local birds to move around without too much powered flight.

Raptor Observations:
Only two migrant Golden Eagles were seen (1sa, 1j), both mid-morning, using powered flight to make their way slowly to the north along the west side of the valley. Around noon a Cooper’s Hawk flew along the same path, and that was it for migrants.
There were several non-migrant Golden Eagles seen – two on the west ridge, and two on the east ridge. These were seen at various times of the day, sometimes displaying, sometimes perched high on the ridge, sometimes flying off somewhere (but not in a migration direction). All four were seen in a short period of time, so it is thought the ones on the east ridge are a different pair from those on the west ridge. A light adult Red-tailed Hawk was seen several times during the day hovering over Skogan Pass. An adult Bald Eagle appeared to be hunting near Patrick. Goshawks were seen twice – once flying low up the river with a prey item.

Non-raptor Observations:
After the weak sun had had enough time to defrost the meadow, the meadow was alive with passerines. 17 robins were counted at one point. Initially there was just a pair of Mountain Bluebirds, but by late in the morning they were joined by four more, for a total of two males and four females. The non-raptor list is: Canada Goose 5, Mallard 4, Common Merganser 2, Ruffed Grouse 1, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 1, Common Raven 9, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Mountain Chickadee 1, Red-breasted Nuthatch 2, American Dipper 1, European Starling 1, Mountain Bluebird 6, Varied Thrush 1, American Robin 17, American Pipit 1, White-winged Crossbill 5, Dark-eyed Junco 4


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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]