Mount Lorette (26 Mar 2023) 105 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 26, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 6 | 64 | 64 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| 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 | 95 | 900 | 900 |
| 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 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 105 | 985 | 985 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Annie Finch |
| Observers: | Allison Zukewich |
Visitors:
About 35 people stopped to chat about the count. Three came during the peak around 4pm and helped spot eagles.
Weather:
The valley sparkled in the morning from a layer of frost over 10cm of fresh powder. From -8 C in the morning, the temperature rose to 0 before falling back down to -1 by sunset. Winds were light at ground level for most of the day, with some gusts over 15km/h in the last hour as snow moved in. Wind direction was variable throughout the day, shifting several times per hour, with wind from the north slightly more than half the time. The clouds were wonderful. Early morning cirrus and altocumulus clouds gave way to constantly morphing cumulus and stratus fractus later in the day, making for favourable locating and identifying conditions (when not subject to backlighting issues).
Raptor Observations:
Both sides of the valley were active, though rarely simultaneously. Migrants slightly favoured the western ridges before noon, then the east ridges until about 4pm when a rush of over 20 Golden Eagles moved from Mt. Kidd to Olympic Summit, soared, and continued north. Unfortunately, by this point in the day these birds were backlit and flying in and out of low clouds, making most of them impossible to age. By 5 pm migration had moved bay to the eastern ridges, where it remained for the rest of the day. Migrants early and late in the day primarily used powered flight; many afternoon migrants made use of thermals above Olympic Summit and Old Baldy. Migration peaked in the 4pm hour with 30 Golden Eagles (and one UE); we observed a total of 66 Golden Eagles (and that one UE) between 3pm and 6pm.
Migrating Raptors: 95 Golden Eagles (52a, 1s, 1 ui, 41u); 6 Bald Eagles (5a, 1j); 4 Unidentified Eagles.
Non-migrating Raptors: 2 adult Golden Eagles, 1 adult Bald Eagle. No sign of the resident Northern Goshawks.
Non-raptor Observations:
The usual trio of chickadee species were sweet on the walk in to the site. Robins, siskins, and juncos provided the dayâs soundtrack. Two dippers flew past the site in a highly-charged interaction, the nature of which was not apparent. A lone starling flew through the site late in the day; its plump body and transparent wings seemed out of place against the snow.
Complete avian observations: ebird.org/checklist/S131937607
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]
