Mount Lorette, Beaver Mines and Steeples, March 24

March 24 [Day 23] (Bill Wilson, assisted by Patrick Farley) 0645-2020. The temperature at 0700 was -2C, rose to a high of 7C at 1500 and was 3C at the end of observation. Ground winds were mainly south and occasionally SSW or SSE, 2-10 gusting to 29 km/h, and ridge winds were moderate SW all day. Cloud cover was initially 30% cirrus then 70-100% altostratus and cumulus for the rest of the day that gave hazy sunshine throughout. The eastern ridges were clear to 1900 after which Mounts Lorette and McGillivray developed cloud drape, and the west was clear to 1600 after which it was up to 10% obscured. There was another strong day of pure eagle movement with 11 Bald Eagles (7a, 3sa, 1u) and 257 Golden Eagles (137a, 6sa, 8j, 106u) moving between 0753 and 1925. All the birds were moving high and most were located over Mount Lorette after having presumably glided very high from the Fisher Range. Movement was steady throughout the day with high hourly counts of 47 (46 Golden Eagles) between 1300 and 1400 and 49 Golden Eagles between 1600 and 1700. Other birds present included 1 Killdeer, 1 Northern Pygmy-Owl, 1 Varied Thrush, 5 American Robins, 1 Western Meadowlark and 45 Common Redpolls. Fifteen Elk were in the meadow early in the morning, and 26 visitors to the site enjoyed the spectacular eagle migration.

13.58 hours (245.5) BAEA 11 (117), GOEA 257 (1721) TOTAL 268 (1884)

Beaver Mines [Day 27] (Peter Sherrington) 1030-1800. The temperature at 1030 was 7C, rose to a high of 10C at 1400 and 1500 and was 6C at the end of observation. Winds were moderate W-WSW throughout, 20-30 gusting to 40 km/h, and cloud cover was 100% altostratus and cumulus apart from 1400-1600 when it was 50-60% altocumulus, cumulus and cirrostratus. Movement was very slow with migrants generally soaring and gliding very high with only 34 birds of 7 species seen between 1111 and 1758, with 19 of the migrants occurring after 1600. The flight was 8 Bald Eagles (6a, 2j), 1u Northern Harrier, 1u Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1u Northern Goshawk, 5 Red-tailed Hawks (4a calurus, 3 light, 1 dark; and 1 undifferentiated dark bird), 17 Golden Eagles (15a, 1j, 1u) and 1 adult Prairie Falcon.

7.5 hours (206.5) BAEA 8 (182), NOHA 1 (4), SSHA 1 (6), NOGO 1 (26), RTHA 5 (19), GOEA 17 (831), PRFA 1 (4) TOTAL 34 (1151)

Steeples (Vance Mattson) [Day 9] 1330-1730. Vance observed from close to the Bill Nye site where the temperature was 6C, it was calm, with 100% altostratus cloud cover that partially obscured the ridges. A total of 15 raptors were seen between 1435 and 1707 comprising 5 Bald eagles (4a, 1j), the season’s first Sharp-shinned Hawk, an unaged bird, and 9 Golden Eagles (7a, 2j). The movement was slow but regular. Non-migrants consisted of 2 Golden Eagles (1a, 1j), 1 adult Bald Eagle and 3 adult calurus Red-tailed Hawks (2 light, 1 dark), all of which were seen throughout the count period.

4 hours (37.5) BAEA 5 (68), SSHA 1 (1), GOEA 9 (301) TOTAL 15 (376)

MOUNT LORETTE SUMMARY COUNT (March 1 to April 22)

DAYS 23

HOURS 245.5

TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) 0

OSPREY (OSPR) 0

BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 117

NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 0

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 2

COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 0

NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 4

Accipiter sp. (UA) 0

BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 0

SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 0

RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 3

FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 0

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 21

Buteo sp. (UB) 2

GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 1721

Eagle sp. (UE) 9

AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 0

MERLIN (MERL) 2

GYRFALCON (GYRF) 1

PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 0

PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 0

Falco sp. (UF) 1

Unidentified Raptor (UU) 1

TOTAL 1884