Mount Lorette (27 Oct 2022) 16 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 27, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 63 | 76 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 18 | 47 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 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 | 15 | 1965 | 2120 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 13 | 15 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 11 | 12 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 14 | 18 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| Total: | 16 | 2178 | 2429 |
| Observation start time: | 07:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Bill McKeeman |
Visitors:
In spite of the wind warning, there were quite a few people out hiking. About 20 stopped to talk to us.
Weather:
Environment Canada issued a Wind Warning for today, and they weren’t kidding. Ridge winds were from the southwest at around 100kph, sometimes up to 121kph, with gusts up to 166kph. Ground winds were initially averaging around 35kph, with gusts over 60kph, causing us to scramble to make sure our equipment was not being knocked over or blown away. This continued for several hours, until a weather system (i.e. lower clouds and snow) approached and the wind died down. The temperature was fortunately relatively mild, ranging from 3C to 7C and ending at 5C. The sun shone briefly in the middle of the day, but for the most part cumulus clouds were racing across the sky from the west, becoming stratus by the end with sleet falling.
Raptor Observations:
A few eagles were not timid about the wind. Although the few that we saw were moving extremely fast (fastest I’ve ever seen), they were being tossed about quite a bit. Once again, it was an unusual day in that the highest hourly number of migrants (4) was seen in the first hour, and numbers gradually dwindled until the last Golden Eagle at 3pm, when the weather started gradually closing in. The speed and variability of flight, plus the lack of light in the morning, made aging virtually impossible. The end result was 15 Golden Eagles (2a, 1sa, 12u) and one unaged Bald Eagle.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were mostly quiet on this blustery, windy day. One Bald Eagle was hanging out by the river, two Common Mergansers drifted down the river late in the day, not many ravens were seen (about four), the dipper passed by quickly, and on the walk in there were two Golden-crowned Kinglets and a Brown Creeper.
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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]
