Mount Lorette (22 Sep 2026) 9 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 22, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| 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 | 4 | 4 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 9 | 24 | 24 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Alan Hingston, Linda Hickey, Peter Christensen |
Visitors:
About 25 people stopped by. Thank you to veteran observer Alan Hingston for helping out all day.
Weather:
It was an unusually warm day for the season. A Chinook arch hung over the valley and gradually dissipated as the day wore on. The temperature started out at 9C, rose to a high of 16C and was 14C when we left. Ground wind was mostly calm in the morning and gradually built up, but was never very strong. Later in the day the ground wind was coming from the northeast. Ridge winds were mostly from the south at 20-30 kph. The Chinook arch was replaced by cumulus clouds that moved slowly from the west across the valley.
Raptor Observations:
The first Golden Eagle was not seen until 17:50! Two more immediately followed the first, and a fourth one was spotted around 18:20, for a total of four (2a, 1sa, 1u). All flew along the east ridge, the last one needing to flap to make progress.
Other migrants were an adult Bald Eagle, two Northern Harriers, one American Goshawk, and one small unidentified raptor slipped by on the east ridge. One of the harriers and the goshawk flew high over our heads; all the others were on the east ridge.
Several local birds were spotted – an adult American Goshawk and later an immature goshawk, two Red-tailed Hawks, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were two Ruffed Grouse (one was drumming), a Northern Flicker, the usual abundant Common Ravens, at least 18 American Crows, three Black-capped Chickadees, three Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a few Pine Siskins, and a Common Yellowthroat. A Common Merganser floated down the river, the dipper passed by once, and a Belted Kingfisher flew past a couple of times. Several American Robins were spotted, and, possibly the highlight of the day – a Barred Owl was seen capturing a vole.
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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]
