Mount Lorette (28 Sep 2025) 23 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 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 | 5 | 28 | 28 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| American Goshawk | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 22 | 22 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 5 | 82 | 82 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Total: | 23 | 177 | 177 |
| Observation start time: | 07:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Lori Anderson |
| Observers: | Brett McGrath, Tina Moore |
Visitors:
The site was busy with people all day. About 25 stopped to express interest in what we were doing. One highlight was meeting a young couple with two very young children. They were so enthusiastic that they spread out a picnic blanket, pulled out a bird book and binoculars, and eagerly tried to learn all they could about birds and nature. A big shout-out to them – Louis, Kelly, Alex, and Flora Jackson. Margaret and David Meisner also stopped by the site to help out. They used to volunteer to help Peter Sherrington many years ago.
Weather:
It was a beautiful fall morning with low-lying cumulus clouds covering all of the surrounding ridges. After 10:00 the cloud coverage slowly dissipated, and the peaks were revealed. For the rest of the day cloud coverage averaged about 30% cumulus, cirrus, cirrostratus, and a thin layer of haze, filling the sky all day. The temperature at the start of the count was 8°C and slowly rose to 14°C by 16:00. At the end of the count it was 13.5°C. Ground winds blew from the north all day, averaging about 8 km/h with recurrent gusts up to 15 km/h. Ridge winds averaged 13 km/h from the SW and started picking up at the end of the day with gusts to 40 km/h.
Raptor Observations:
Migration was slow today. The majority of the birds were found over Hummingbird plume, and flew over the west side of the valley. There were more accipiters and falcons than eagles. Visibility today was not optimal, to say the least, with thin fog in the air which affected our ability to find, identify and age the migrants. At the end of the day when the Ridge winds picked up, more birds were found over the eastern ridges. In total, we had 5 adult Golden Eagles, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooperâs Hawk, 3 American Goshawks, 3 Red-tailed Hawks. 1 Merlin, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 2 unidentified accipiters and 1 unidentified falcon. In addition to the migrants, we had a few resident appearances of Golden Eagles and American Goshawks. There was a Merlin seen hunting around the meadow and a Sharp-shinned Hawk located in a tree nearby.
Non-raptor Observations:
12 Common Ravens, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Common Goldeneye, 4 Clarkâs Nutcrackers, 1 Blue Jay, Mountain Chickadees, Boreal Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, American Robins, multiple flocks of Pine Siskins, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-crowned Sparrows, Lincolnâs Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Brown Creeper, 1 Northern Flicker, A large flock of geese and continuous flocks of small birds throughout the day.
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
