Mount Lorette (29 Mar 2023) 212 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 29, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 7 | 82 | 82 |
| 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 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 204 | 1367 | 1367 |
| 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 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 212 | 1475 | 1475 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Cindy Parliament, Dan Parliament, Sandy Graham |
Visitors:
Three people came with binoculars during the busiest part of the day, which was extremely helpful. With two extra observers for a few hours, we had seven pairs of eyes on the sky, at least for a while. About seven other people stopped to enquire about the activity.
Weather:
It was another mild and mostly sunny day at the site, with a few cirrus clouds and a slight haze that made tracking eagles over the west ridge tricky. The temperature started at -15C, rose to +5C by late afternoon, and finished at 0C. Ground winds were light all day, picking up a bit from the north-northeast at the end of the day. At one point both of us heard the sound of a train blowing its horn, which could only have been a train passing Seebe Dam – the sound was presumably carried up the valley by the wind. Ridge winds were light as no snow was seen blowing off the ridges.
Raptor Observations:
And thick and fast they came at last, and more and more and more, all hopping through the frothy clouds, and scrambling to the north. Or something like that (apologies to Lewis Carroll). After weeks of below average numbers, the last few days have closed the gap between this year’s low numbers so far and what is normal to date, at least a bit.
The light winds resulted in the eagles having to use a combination of soaring and powered flight most of the time. Most of the day the movement was on the west ridge, with an odd one or two on the east ridge to keep us on our toes. At one point there was a kettle of about 18 eagles over Nakiska, and very soon after those eagles had moved on, another one of 22 eagles formed. In the three hours from 11:00 to 14:00 there were 35, 36, and 63 Golden Eagles respectively. Right at the end of the day, soon after 18:00, there was a flurry of activity on the east ridge, and at one point we had 14 eagles soaring over Mt Lorette. So beautiful and mesmerizing to watch!
The end totals for migrant raptors were 204 Golden Eagles (126a, 8sa, 5j, 2ui, 63u), 7 Bald Eagles (5a, 2j), and one unidentified eagle.
In addition, the local Golden Eagle was busy doing display dives on the west ridge, and a couple of adult Bald Eagles were hunting in the area, as was a Northern Goshawk.
Non-raptor Observations:
There was disappointingly little activity in the way of other birds. It’s about time Mountain Bluebirds showed up, but they are still missing. Other birds were: Hairy Woodpecker 1, Canada Jay 1, Common Raven 9, Black-capped Chickadee 3, Mountain Chickadee 1, American Robin 3, Pine Siskin 4, Dark-eyed Junco 1 (singing!)
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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]
