Mount Lorette (29 Sep 2026) 10 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 29, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 11 | 11 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 7 | 152 | 152 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Total: | 10 | 219 | 219 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Caroline Lambert |
| Observers: | Allison Zukewich, Linda Hickey |
Visitors:
There were a number of people who walked by the site, including a tour group of 11 early in the day, but few stopped to chat.
Weather:
The change in weather previously predicted by the mare’s tails and sundog and dropping barometric pressure happened today. Clouds hanging over the mountains could be seen from some distance away on the drive in. The west ridge of the valley was partially or mostly obscured with clouds and mist all day. A blustery southwest wind blew raindrops from these clouds continuously in our direction throughout the day. We didn’t get wet, but the optics had to be covered after each use. The temperature stayed in a narrow range, starting at 8C, rising to 10C, and ending at 8C. A little blue sky was seen occasionally between the stratus and cumulus clouds. The east ridge stayed clear until the end of the day when McDougall started to disappear into the mist, and clouds descended on Lorette. Ground wind was constant in the range 5-15kph. Ridge winds were mostly from the southwest at around 40kph (much calmer than the hurricane force winds that were recorded on Nakiska during the night!), and the high wind appeared to be coming slowly from the west.
Raptor Observations:
Expectations were not high for seeing migrant raptors today, especially as the weather radar showed a wide band of rain and snow to the north of us. And not much was seen. The first migrant raptor was a Red-tailed Hawk at 1300. Only seven Golden Eagles were seen, 3a, 1sa, 1ui, 2u, the last at 1840. One juvenile Bald Eagle and an unidentified eagle that slipped past were the only other migrants seen.
Only three non-migrants were seen. A Merlin was seen hunting over the east ridge. Late in the afternoon we saw a Golden Eagle doing display dives over the right shoulder of Mt Lorette. We then noticed another Golden Eagle sitting below him on one of the lower ridges of the mountain. Was the first eagle one of the locals trying to defend his territory from an intruder, or showing off his moves to his mate? We’ll never know.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds were one Common Merganser on the river, two loons that were flying north, the Belted Kingfisher, a Downy Woodpecker, various Common Ravens, one Ruby-crowned Kinglet, nine American Robins, and one Pine Siskin was heard. At the parking lot in the morning a flock of eight California Gulls was heading south.
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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]
