Mount Lorette (24 Mar 2024) 158 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 24, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 6 | 45 | 45 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Golden Eagle | 150 | 1289 | 1289 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 158 | 1357 | 1357 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Blake Weis |
| Observers: | Glenn Webber |
Visitors:
30 visitors stopped to talk. Thanks to Jim, Chris, Isaiah, and one other person for helping to spot migrants!
Weather:
The temperature was -10 C at the beginning of observation, it warmed to -1 in the afternoon, then fell to -3 by the end. Ground wind was from the NW, usually below 10 km/hr with some gusts between 10 and 20. Ridge wind was from the N-NE, 40 km/h or lower. Until 2 PM Low cumulus cloud covered most of the west ridges and part of the east ridges. Cloud cover in the sky varied between 10 and 30%. There was no precipitation.
Raptor Observations:
The count for the day was 150 Golden Eagles (94 adults, 6 sub-adults, 50 unaged), 6 Bald Eagles (5 adults & 1 sub-adult), 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, and 1 Red-tailed Hawk. Almost half of them passed in two hours between 12:45 PM and 2:45 PM. Movement was slower but steady after that. Until 4 PM almost all of them were on the western ridges and over the west side of the valley, where backlit conditions made ageing difficult. Between 4 and 5 PM migrants were spotted on both ridges. After 5 they had transitioned to the eastern ridges, where they usually flew low, passing in front of or behind the Fisher Range.
Local raptors included one Golden Eagle that was soaring around the southern flank of Olympic Summit before flying south, one adult Bald Eagle, and one adult American Goshawk doing a display flight over the west side of the valley.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included: 30 White-headed gull sp. flying high over the Fisher Range, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 2 Canada Jays, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 7 Common Ravens, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 2 Boreal Chickadees, 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 3 American Robins, and 1 Song Sparrow. 7 White-tailed deer were also seen.
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
