Mount Lorette (22 Sep 2022) 39 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 22, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 9 | 13 | 13 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Northern Goshawk | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 18 | 36 | 36 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: | 39 | 74 | 74 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11.22 hours |
| Official Counter | Ethan Denton |
| Observers: | Sandy Graham |
Visitors:
We were treated to 14 visitors, including Ian and Jim (both long-time associates of the count), who both stayed a while and helped spot.
Weather:
Though somewhat frosty in the morning, actual temperatures were quite nice, ranging from 0 to 18 degrees Celsius throughout the day. Periods of heavy cloud cover to the south threatened rain, but fortunately that never materialized. Winds were on the low end, even at ridge level.
Raptor Observations:
An excellent day for this early in the count, with 18 migrant Golden Eagles, 9 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 3 migrant and 1 resident Goshawks, 2 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, and one a piece of Merlin, Bald Eagle, and Northern Harrier. 2 birds were not identified to species level, in both cases because they disappeared behind the mountains within seconds of being spotted. In the morning through the early afternoon, most raptor traffic was split between the two ridgelines, but by mid-afternoon all our birds were going almost straight overhead.
Non-raptor Observations:
Tom (the resident American Dipper) serenaded observers for much of the morning and late evening, while a male Belted Kingfisher, some Common Mergansers, and around 100 migrating Robins were the other noteworthy sightings. A single Ruffed Grouse joined today’s observers in refuting the onset of fall, as it drummed away happily in the forest to the south of the site.
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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]
