Mount Lorette (21 Oct 2022) 109 Raptors

Visitors:
12 people stopped by today to learn about the count and watch me get brief views of distant raptors.

Weather:
The temperature ranged from 1C at the beginning of the count to 2C at the end, with an intervening high of 3C. The winds were variable and thankfully mild. The clouds were fantastic—high cirrus clouds in waves and ripples and hexagons, low clods* of fog clinging to the mountainsides, and cumulus mounds rushing in between.
*not a typo, I really mean clods

Raptor Observations:
What a day! The count commenced today at 11:00am MDT with the breakup and movement of the morning’s low cloud cover. The real excitement began at 12:11pm when the smiles of Patrick appeared, and the first ridge-scan of the day revealed a Golden Eagle gliding south. A few more passed through the field of view afforded by the opening in the clouds before it closed minutes later. The clear air and diffuse light provided excellent viewing, and some aging was possible. This pattern of waiting for a ridge-line to appear, counting all the eagles before it closed, then waiting for another opening produced 66 Golden Eagles in three hours. All the raptors in this period were located along the east ridges from Mt. Patrick to Mt. McDougall; Lorette was shrouded in clouds except for a fleeting exposure of the Pyramid. The western ridges were likewise continuously obscured but for a few peaks peeking out; no raptors were observed over the western ridges. After 3:00pm another avenue for observation opened as the cloud ceiling to the northwest lifted. Many eagles (including balds) seemed to fly up the Kananaskis River valley somewhat high, then turn to fly south along the Fisher Range. This afforded us more time to catch and count eagles as they approached, though proved just as difficult for aging as fleeting views between the clouds. Three adult Golden Eagles, one solo and later a duo, flew south low along the middle of the valley, almost directly over the site.
Migrant Raptors: 101 Golden Eagle (18 adult, 1 subadult, 1 undifferentiated immature, 81 unknown age); 2 Bald Eagle (2 adult); 3 Rough-legged Hawk (3 adult light-morph); 3 unidentified raptors.
Non-migrant Raptors: A resident Northern Goshawk flew west across the valley in the mid-afternoon.

Non-raptor Observations:
The usual suspects were about, including the Type 2 Red Crossbills. A male Belted Kingfisher hunted and chattered along the river for most of the day; the American Dippers were conspicuous in their absence.
60 Canada Goose 7 Common Merganser 1 Northern Goshawk 1 Belted Kingfisher — Male 2 Canada Jay 2 Black-billed Magpie 3 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 1 Mountain Chickadee 4 Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 Brown Creeper 2 American Robin 1 American Pipit 30 Red Crossbill (Ponderosa Pine or type 2) 1 Dark-eyed Junco

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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]