Mount Lorette (27 Sep 2025) 42 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 27, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 8 | 23 | 23 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 | 19 | 19 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 24 | 77 | 77 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Total: | 42 | 154 | 154 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.27 hours |
| Official Counter | Blake Weis |
| Observers: | Allison Zukewich |
Visitors:
40 People stopped to ask about the count. 11 stayed to watch for migrating raptors. Thanks to everyone who did, feel free to come back anytime!
Weather:
The temperature was 12 C upon arrival, it rose quickly to a high of 16, then fell slightly to 15 as we were leaving. Wind was gusty from the SW all day, reaching 20 km/h in the morning and approaching 40 at times in the afternoon at ground level. Ridge wind was similarly strong. The Nakiska Ridgetop weather station recorded gusts between 67 and 110. Cloud cover varied from 20 to 50% cumulus, altocumulus , and cirrus.
Raptor Observations:
Most migrants were taking advantage of the updrafts from strong SW wind to move very high and fast over the Fisher Range, usually 2-3 binocular fields of view above the mountains. A few Golden Eagles were high enough to disappear between the lowest layers of cumulus cloud. A couple hawks used to west ridges, and some Sharp-shinned Hawks were migrating low over the valley and hunting along the way. Identification and ageing the migrants was very difficult because of backlit conditions, wind shaking the scope, and migrants kiting and gliding high and fast without slowing to soar. Spotting conditions were improved greatly by clouds that persisted over the Fisher Range. Many of the migrants would have been nearly impossible to spot in a blue sky. The count for the day was 24 Golden Eagles (6 a, 2 j, 4 ui, 12 u), 8 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 unidentified Acciprine Hawks, 1 unidentified Buteo, and 1 small unidentified raptor. Local raptors included a Red-tailed Hawk hunting between Hummingbird Plume Hill and Mt. Lorette, and a Golden Eagle that briefly harassed a migrating Red-tailed Hawk near Old Baldy Hill before flying north.
Non-raptor Observations:
1 American Three-toed Woodpecker, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Clark’s Nutcracker, 17 Common Ravens, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 2 Boreal Chickadee, 5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 9 Golden Crowned Kinglets, 130 American Robins, 260 Pine Siskins, 8 Dark eyed-Juncos, 5 White-crowned Sparrows, 3 White-throated Sparrows, 1 Lincoln’s Sparrow, 2 Savannah Sparrows, 1 Swamp Sparrow and 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler.
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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 Trektellen.org – [Project Details]
