Mount Lorette (30 Mar 2024) 129 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 30, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 8 | 59 | 59 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Golden Eagle | 116 | 1552 | 1552 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 13 | 13 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 129 | 1640 | 1640 |
| Observation start time: | 07:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 19:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11.83 hours |
| Official Counter | Blake Weis |
| Observers: | Cameron Harvey |
Visitors:
44 Visitors stopped to talk. Thanks to the 5 people who stopped to help spot migrants!
Weather:
The temperature was -13 C at the start of observation, it rose to +3 by the middle of the day, then fell to +1 as we were leaving. Ground wind was from the SW and light in the morning but a bit blustery in the afternoon with gusts around 20 km/h. Ridge wind was moderate to strong from the S-SW. The sky was nearly cloudless until 3 PM, when a sheet of altostratus moved in, covering most of the sky. The cloud cover was very helpful for spotting the high-flying migrants but created backlit conditions which made ageing difficult.
Raptor Observations:
Most of the morning and afternoon was slow, but there was a big rush starting around 4 PM which included 100 of the days 129 migrants. Almost all of them were using the east ridges and the east side of the valley. Migrants late in the day were usually flying very high. The count consisted of 116 Golden Eagles (68a, 3sa, 5ui, 40u), 8 adult Bald Eagles, 1 unidentified eagle, 2 Red-tailed Hawks and 2 Merlins.
Resident raptors included an adult Golden Eagle that was doing display dives near the Fisher Range late in the day. An Adult American Goshawk was soaring over Hummingbird Plume Hill, and an Adult Bald Eagle was flying low along the river.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included: 1 American Three-toed Woodpecker, 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 9 Common Ravens, 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 10 European Starlings, 6 American Robins, 50 Bohemian Waxwings, and 1 Common Redpoll. A mink was spotted swimming in the river in the afternoon. One white-tailed deer was also seen.
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
