Mount Lorette (20 Oct 2025) 30 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 20, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 45 | 49 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 166 | 196 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 10 | 14 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 13 | 19 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 18 | 40 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 15 | 15 |
| Golden Eagle | 26 | 1826 | 1968 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 1 | 9 | 14 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Total: | 30 | 2124 | 2369 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9 hours |
| Official Counter | Dan Parliament |
| Observers: | Neil Denton |
Visitors:
The valley was quiet for hikers, but 15 interested visitors came to the site to learn more about raptor migration.
Weather:
The opening temperature was -2 C increasing to +3 C at 1600 hrs (MDT), and continuing to the closing. The ground winds were from the SW at 1-5 km/hr increasing at noon to 6-10 km/hr with occasional gusts to 25 km/hr. The ridge winds were assessed as from the NW at “medium” which is between (11-40 km/hr). The high winds were initially from the SW switching to WSW in the late afternoon and increasing to 60+ with gusts to 100 km/hr. The sky was only 20 % cloud covered but increasing to 80 % at the end of the count day.
Raptor Observations:
The raptor migration flight consisted of 30 birds, consisting of 26 Golden Eagles (16 Adults, 6 Juveniles, and 4 Unaged), 3 Bald Eagles (2 adult, and 1 Subadult), and 1 Merlin(unaged). One resident adult Bald Eagle flew overhead hunting at 1710 hrs (MDT). Twenty Common Ravens were observed cavorting about above the East ridges of Patrick. Throughout the day the Common Ravens appeared in various numbers, requiring the observers to be alert for any migrating raptors mixed in with the flock. Most of the Golden Eagle migrants were harassed to some degree by the Common Ravens. A large number of the migrants were first observed over the Bumps or Fisher Range, as it appeared as the birds flew behind the East ranges to eventually rise above the Bumps. The remaining migrants flew low across Patrick with some flapping and soaring to gain elevation.
Non-raptor Observations:
Most of the non-raptor species appeared in the morning. The non-raptor species were 1 Ruffed Grouse, 3 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 2 Boreal Chickadee, 1 Downy Woodpecker, 25 Common Raven, 1 American Robin, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 European Starling, 1 Pine Siskin, 2 White-throated Sparrow and one unexpected Pacific Wren.
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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 Trektellen.org – [Project Details]
