Mount Lorette (24 Mar 2025) 27 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 24, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 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 | 27 | 681 | 681 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 27 | 709 | 709 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11 hours |
| Official Counter | Lori Anderson |
| Observers: | Xavier Gorloo |
Visitors:
About 20 people stopped to inquire about our activities and the Lawrence Grassi Middle School brought one lucky class to observe. Many of the children even brought their own binoculars.
Weather:
The weather forecast was not great and called for a 30% chance of rain all day. A persistent squall was kept at bay to the south of the valley and was most likely the cause of the low count today. We were sprinkled with rain droplets and graupel throughout the day. The starting temperature was 3C, rising to 7C and back down to 4C at the end of the count. Moderate SW ground winds with quite a few gusts up to 15 Km/h and moderate ridge winds seemingly from the WNW. The eastern ridges were clear for most of the day except for a period when the southern storm conquered a few of them. The western ridges were compromised all day. The cloud coverage averaged about 80% cumulus, cirrus, and stratus.
Raptor Observations:
The first Eagle came at 12:54, then an hour later came the second. Between 16:00 and 18:00 we had the highest count. Many glided from Patrick to Lorette and others appeared at Lorette then glided in front and flew around to the back at the west edge near the beehive. The final count was 27 Golden Eagles (22 adults, 2 subadults, 3 unaged).
The resident golden eagles were extraordinarily active all day. We were kept on our toes through moments of courtship display and altercations with ravens amid countless flights in every direction. At one point two of them landed on an eastern ridge for a rest. The only other non-migrant seen was an adult bald eagle flying south.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other sightings were numerous ever-present Ravens, 17 Bohemian Waxwings, 1 Canada Jay, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 3 Common Mergansers, 2 Canada Geese. 3 White-tailed Deer and 1 Red Squirrel.
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
