Mount Lorette (21 Mar 2026) 91 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 21, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 7 | 27 | 27 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American 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 | 83 | 370 | 370 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 91 | 410 | 410 |
| Observation start time: | 15:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.52 hours |
| Official Counter | Blake Weis |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Thanks to Marney & Charleigh, and to the manager of the local hostel for stopping by to spot some eagles. Come back anytime! There were no other visitors.
Weather:
The temperature was a steady 0 C during observation. Wind was very light to calm from the NE-NW at ground and ridge level. High wind shifted to moderate from the SW late the day. Cloud cover was 80-100% cumulus, stratus, and stratocumulus. Ridges were variably obscured between 20 and 100%. Occasional snow squalls passed through, but they didn’t last long and didn’t drop enough snow to accumulate.
Raptor Observations:
In the morning the cameras on the Nakiska ski hill showed nothing but snow and low clouds. The forecast seemed to indicate more of the same for the rest of the day, so I cancelled the count. When I checked again in the afternoon the snow had stopped and the sky was clearing slightly. I still wasn’t expecting much to be moving, but I decided to go to the site anyway just in case. It’s a good thing I did, because the short count produced 91 migrants including 83 Golden Eagles (34 a, 4 sa, 1 ui, 44u), 7 Bald Eagles (6 a, 1 sa), and 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk. Light north wind makes poor flying conditions, so most migrants were moving low and slow with much soaring and flapping and very little gliding or kiting. All were on the east ridges, and most of them (63) were counted in the 4-5 PM hour. No local raptors were observed.
Non-raptor Observations:
The Northern Pygmy-owl was heard on and off in the afternoon, and later seen near the site. One of the local Canada Jays seemed to be following it and harassed it at least once. Other birds were 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Northern Flicker, 2 Common Ravens, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 11 European Starlings, 3 Varied Thrushes, 15 Bohemian Waxwings, and 9 Dark-eyed Juncos (6 Oregon, 3 u).
Predictions:
The return of strong SW wind during what’s usually the peak week of migration means tomorrow has potential to be a very high count.
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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]
