Mount Lorette (30 Mar 2025) 58 Raptors
Alberta, Canada
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 30, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day’s Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 14 | 39 | 39 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 42 | 877 | 877 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 58 | 929 | 929 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10 hours |
| Official Counter | Dan Parliament |
| Observers: | Xavier Gorloo |
Visitors:
Approximately 25 Visitors
Weather:
The temperatures varied between -9 degrees and +4 degrees Celsius throughout the day. The ground winds were initially calm (1-5 km/hr) and gradually increasing to 20-28 km/hr in the mid afternoon. The ground wind direction changed from the West to North in the afternoon. The ridge winds were assessed as low increasing to high. The day was generally sunny and warm, but at about 4 PM changed to cold and blustery.
Raptor Observations:
A total of 58 migrant raptors were observed. The Golden Eagle passage included 42 birds (27 adults and 15 unaged). The flight pattern was very erratic throughout the day and presented a challenge to the observers. The flight pattern commenced low through the face of Patrick with considerable flapping, followed by flight over the West ridges. At 1 PM a total of six Golden Eagles were observed in a kettle over Hummingbird Plume. The pattern shifted again at 2 PM to Lorette (which was partially obscured by cloud). The Patrick flight resumed at 3 PM, but at extremely high elevations with fast gliding and a monochrome gray sky making aging difficult to impossible. A surprising number of migrating Bald Eagles were observed at 14 (13 adult, 1 subadult). A total of five were observed at one time in a kettle East of Lorette. A single adult Red-tailed Hawk and a single unidentified Buteo were also counted. Many thanks to David F in the morning and Cindy P in the afternoon for assisting in the count. Special thanks to Xavier who shovelled out the site area after the snowfall of the past few days !
Non-raptor Observations:
American Goshawk x 1 (Resident), Hairy Woodpecker x 1, Pileated Woodpecker x 2, Northern Shrike x 1, Canada Jay x 1, Common Raven x 14, Black-capped Chickadee x 4, Mountain Chickadee x 2, European Starling x 1, Varied Thrush x 1, American Robin x 43, Trumpeter/Tundra Swan x 20,
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Mount Lorette information may be found at: eaglewatch.ca
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
