Visitors:
48 people stopped to talk, and at least 7 stayed a while with binoculars to watch for migrants. Thanks to everyone who did, come back anytime!

Weather:
The temperature was 9 C at the start of observation, it rose to a high of 13, then fell to 11 by the end. Ridge wind was from the SW, gusting up to 80 in the morning but diminishing to 40 in the afternoon. Ground wind was also from the SW, usually gusting around 20 km/h, though some gusts were close to 30. The frequency of those gusts decreased in the afternoon, but the speed remained the same. The sky was almost clear in the morning, but cloud cover increased throughout the afternoon until the end of the count when it was 100% cumulus, stratus and stratocumulus. Around 3 PM low cloud started gathering over the Kananaskis Range to the west, occasionally sending sprinkles of rain towards the site. By 5 PM the storm overcame the mountains and began to enter the valley. The count was concluded at 5:20 PM as rain grew heavier and the eastern ridges were socking in.

Raptor Observations:
It wouldn’t be accurate to say migration began bright and early, because it was still quite dark when I saw the first Golden Eagle moving south over the valley at 7:45 AM, almost immediately after stepping out of my car. The count was up to 17 when I arrived at the site, and over 30 by the time I could look away from the sky long enough to set up the scope and start recording weather data. The early rush resulted in a high hourly count of 61 Golden Eagles between 8 and 9 AM. Movement became slower but steady around 9:30 AM, then built back up to a second peak between noon and 3 PM. Movement slowed again after 3 as the storm approached. The last 4 migrants were recorded after 5 PM, right before rain convinced us to leave the site. Almost all of the migrants were using the eastern ridges, some quite high. Ageing was impossible in most cases as migrants were tucked up gliding and kiting without stopping to soar, and silhouetted by the sunrise in the morning and by cloud in the afternoon.
The final count for the day was 182 Golden Eagles (9 a, 7 j, 3 sa, 9 ui, 154 u), 1 adult Bald Eagle, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Rough-legged Hawks, 1 unidentified eagle, and 1 small unidentified raptor. 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk that was hunting in the area but not moving south was recorded as a “resident” raptor.

Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds included 4 Common Mergansers, 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Northern Flicker, 2 Clark’s Nutcrackers, 15 Common Ravens, 1 Mountain Chickadee, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2 American Dippers, 6 American Robins, 82 Pine Siskins, 1 Lapland Longspur, and 1 Dark-eyed Junco. 2 White-tailed Deer were 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]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org – [Project Details]