Mount Lorette (24 Oct 2022) 153 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 60 | 73 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 18 | 47 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 13 | 24 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 18 | 25 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 22 | 31 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| Golden Eagle | 149 | 1870 | 2025 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 2 | 13 | 15 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 10 | 11 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 14 | 18 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Total: | 153 | 2077 | 2328 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Lori Anderson |
| Observers: | Sandy Graham |
Visitors:
Not too many people stopped by today maybe because of the weather for the past few days. A big shout out to Kirsten and her two twin sons Nikolas and Patrick who were visiting from Edmonton where they have been involved with some recent Owl banding projects. We appreciate their eagle eyes and passion. And once again, a huge thank you to James Bannon and Theresa Gawron for spending the whole day with us to help out with spotting and following the birds. It was a very busy day! In addition, about another eight people stopped by, including a man from Tennessee who stayed and observed for a long time until he could no longer withstand the cold.
Weather:
The day started out with a temperature of -1C and rose to 3C, where it remained for five hours. The ground winds started out low and later became a bit stronger with some noticeable gusts. WSW and SW Ridge winds were fairly strong, averaging around 60 km/h with gusts to 106 at the highest. Cloud coverage averaged about 80% with Cumulus Alto Status and some Cirrus. The Eastern ridges were clear all day and the farther Western ridges had some snowfall all day. During the last hour, some of the snowfall from the southwest reached the site but just a sprinkling.
Raptor Observations:
The first bird of the day, a Sub adult Golden Eagle, appeared low to the west of Mount Lorette and soared to a great height above Lorette after which it started its journey across to Patrick. It flew into the face of Patrick and found its way up into the big smile and then on to the Fisher Range. This was the same Route use by many of todayâs migrants. At one point later in the day they started flying higher and were not seen until they reached the Fisher Range. Many migrants would fly in front of the middle peak of the North Fisher Range and then go behind it only to come out again and fly in front of the rest of the peaks until they finally crossed to Fisher south. The final count was 149 Golden Eagles (75a, 18sa, 11j, 45u), 1 Coopers Hawk, 2 Merlins acting like little pests and nipping at eagle tails and wings, and one large Falcon harassing an Eagle as it journeyed south along the Fisher range.
Non-raptor Observations:
One Downy Woodpecker drumming, Two Varied Thrushes, (one was on the path again as we left the site), Four Loons flying together, and one flying alone later on. Eight Ravens, Two Canada Jays, One Boreal Chickadee, Three Black-capped Chickadees, One Red-breasted Nuthatch, One American Dipper, and another six Chickadees sp.
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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]
