Mount Lorette (25 Oct 2023) 20 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 56 | 58 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 105 | 135 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 27 | 31 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 18 | 23 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 1 | 12 | 12 |
| Golden Eagle | 14 | 2398 | 2555 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 9 | 13 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 26 | 44 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 8 | 9 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 9 | 14 |
| Total: | 20 | 2689 | 2938 |
| Observation start time: | 12:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 5 hours |
| Official Counter | Annie Finch |
| Observers: | Lynette MacCulloch |
Visitors:
Three visitors stopped by to chat about the count.
Weather:
The start of the count was delayed until 1:00 pm due to poor conditions. The temperature was -7°C for the first few hours, rising to -6°C for the remainder of the day. Cold ground winds out of the north made for chilly observing conditions at the site. However, we did enjoy the best aging conditions I have experienced so far this fall; the only unaged eagle was one that we were unable to relocate after it flew in front of Patrick immediately after it was spotted. Cloud cover fell from 50% to 0% throughout the afternoon, though the east and west ridges remained mostly shrouded in cloud all day. Ridge winds were low-to-calm. Some wayward flakes fell at the site but not enough to really say it was snowing.
Raptor Observations:
Migrant Eagles Two Golden Eagles were waiting for us in the sky over the west side of the valley as the low clouds finally parted. They spent time soaring and gliding back and forth between the walls of cloud until a path south appeared. After these first two early birds, all other raptors were observed on the east side of the valley. Many flew low in front of Patrick using powered flight.
14 Golden Eagles: 8a, 3sa, 1j, 1ui, 1u 3 Bald Eagles: 3a
Migrant Raptors 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1u 1 Rough-legged Hawk: 1a (dark morph) 1 Unidentified Raptor: small falcon/accipiter flying low over the valley
Non-migrant Raptors An adult Bald Eagle flew north over the river in mid-afternoon.
Non-raptor Observations:
We observed a remarkable number of waterfowl flying south over the valley, unsurprising given Lac des Arcs had frozen over (Barrier Lake remained open, though shrouded in steam fog). A Northern Shrike pursued a Dark-eyed Junco near the site, the latter appeared to prevail. 600 Canada Goose — Flying south over the valley in flocks of 60+ 4 Trumpeter/Tundra Swan 200 duck sp. 1 Northern Shrike 2 Canada Jay 5 Common Raven 1 American Dipper 1 American Robin 1 Dark-eyed Junco
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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]
