Mount Lorette (23 Mar 2023) 111 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 23, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 5 | 53 | 53 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 1 | 9 | 9 |
| 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 | 104 | 572 | 572 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 111 | 641 | 641 |
| Observation start time: | 06:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 20:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Bill McKeeman, Ethan Denton |
Visitors:
Not many people came by today. Of those, seven stopped to talk.
Weather:
The seemingly endless blue skies finally gave way today to layers of cumulus and cirrus clouds, but not until the last couple of hours of observation. For most of the day it was a challenge to find migrants in the blue, especially as there was a bit of haze as well. Ground winds were light in the morning, increased a bit during the day and tapered off in the evening. The temperature started at -9C, reached a high of +5C, and dropped to 0C at the end of the day. It was difficult to determine ridge winds, but they appeared to be light, from the west, for most of the day as there was much soaring needed for the migrants to make any progress. The ridge winds appeared to increase as the day went by.
Raptor Observations:
Not many migrants were spotted in the morning, and in the afternoon the numbers gradually increased as the wind became more favourable for migration. The highest hourly number, 35, occurred between 17:00 and 18:00. In the morning the migrants were mostly on the west ridge. It was difficult to spot any on the east ridge initially, but quite a few were picked up over Mt Lorette, some appearing to have come from Patrick, and some appearing to have gone over our heads. Late in the day most migrants were flying high over the east ridge, but there were still a few appearing on the west ridge too. Overall it was quite challenging with birds on both sides of the valley and overhead, with no consistent path until the last hour or so.
The final tally of migrants was 104 Golden Eagles (89a, 15u), one Northern Goshawk, five Bald Eagles (4a, 1sa), and one small accipiter. It is interesting to note that more than 1/3 of the Golden Eagles that have been seen so far this season were seen in the last two days.
There were three non-migrant raptors: one Golden Eagle, one Northern Goshawk, and one Bald Eagle.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were: Canada Goose 3, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 1, Black-billed Magpie 1, Common Raven 7, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Boreal Chickadee 2, European Starling 1, American Robin 1, Pine Grosbeak 1, White-winged Crossbill 5, Pine Siskin 6, Red-winged Blackbird 1
Report submitted by ()
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]
