Fall Count 2021 Concluded

The Fall 2021 Migration Count has concluded and ran from Sep 20th to Nov 15th with observers at the Mount Lorette site daily. This was the 29th consecutive year of vigilant recording. We thank all the sites’ principle observers and assistants in their daily viewing and reporting, a recognition to Rosemary with organizing the count and Peter Sherrington. His complete analysis and presentation will be forthcoming for this count. Please join RMERF for the 2022 Spring Count, Mar 1st – Apr 22nd!
Fall Count 2021

The Fall 2021 Migration Count has commenced and runs from Sep 20th until Nov 15th with observers at the Mount Lorette site daily — including viewing equipment available to the public. If interested in visiting the site, we suggest that you visit after 3pm. We see the majority of the migrating eagles in the later afternoon. This is the 29th consecutive year of vigilant recording. Mount Lorette site, Observation map.
Related links: Count Reports
Observations
Total Migratory Raptors: 3,520
11/15/2021
Season:Fall 2021
No count due to poor weather conditions. Snow and rain are forecast for the entire day.
11/14/2021
Season:Fall 2021
No count due to poor weather conditions.
11/13/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Blake Weis, Annie Finch
It was a blustery day with wind gusting to 40 km/h and ground level and up to 93 at ridge level. Cloud cover was 30% cumulus for the first few hours but increased to 80-100% for the rest of the day as sheets of altostratus passed over. Eagles moved through in a slow trickle for most of the day starting at 9:38 am and ending at 4:15 pm. All of them used the eastern ridges and none were especially high despite the strong wind.
11/12/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb
The sun did not make an appearance today. Initially the east ridge was clear while the west ridge was partially obscured, and a couple of early migrants kept hopes up. Light rain fell off and on throughout the morning, and gradually became more constant while the clouds became gradually lower, eventually obscuring both ridges. The count was abandoned early at 4pm.
11/11/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Graeme Dunlop, Ruth Morrow
Overcast and calm morning. Cloud layer gradually thinned and broke-up throughout the day becoming clear by mid-afternoon. Ground and ridge-level winds were calm to light SW all day. Slow raptor movement. All birds flew over the Fisher Range close to ridge level.
11/10/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Bill Wilson, Brian McBride and Cliff Hansen
A nice mix of sun and cloud all day, with ground winds mostly SSW 5-10 occasionally gusting to 20 or 30 km/h and ridge winds SW to W 30 to 50, gusting up to 80 km/h. Despite the "light" ground winds, though, what wind there was was feeling very chilly by the end of the day.
11/09/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:George Halmazna, Dan Parliament
Overcast and calm morning with windy afternoon and slow clearing. Strong ridge winds, mainly on the west side of the valley. There was no migration of Golden Eagles today. Two Bald Eagles only were flying south direction low on the east side of the valley.
11/08/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Lori Anderson, Blake Weis
It was a good day for November, although it seemed so quiet with very few birds in the area, a reminder that deep winter is on its way. Snow fell lightly at intervals from 9:00 to 14:00. Ground winds 5-10 km/h with gusts up to 30km/h. Ridge winds 34 to 60 km/h with gusts from 60-107 km/h. The Eastern ridges were clear all day and all of the migrants were found on that route. The Western ridges were partially obscured all day with a storm system insisting from the S/SW for most of the day. Cloud cover was usually about 80% Cumulous and Alto Cumulous but varied between 40 and 100%.
11/07/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Caroline Lambert, Blake Weis
The forecast of "mainly sunny" was mainly wrong, as we barely saw the sun all day. The west ridge was mostly obscured all day, and the east ridge oscillated between being obscured and completely clear. The weather radar map showed a narrow band of snow that seemed to persist throughout the day around the watch site, with no snow anywhere to the north or south. Snow fell off and on all day. In spite of the conditions, two migrants were seen during a break in the snow.
11/06/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Blake Weis, Annie Finch
Cloud cover varied from 30-80%. Wind gusted from the SW up to 30 km/h at ground level and 80 and ridge level. Those weather conditions were good for observation and migration but few raptors turned up to take advantage of them
11/05/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb
Conditions were entirely favourable for migration with strong westerly winds and clear ridges, but this had no impact on the birds, as very few migrants were seen. The temperature was warmer than normal, and a Chinook arch was present over the east ridge for much of the day, which would have aided in spotting eagles had there been any to spot. A late Mountain Bluebird hunted energetically over the meadow all day, but otherwise the day was completely unremarkable.
11/04/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Graeme Dunlop, Ruth Morrow
A mix of sun and cloud with some light rain. Much darker clouds to the south and west for most of the day. SW winds. Calm at ground level in the morning, stronger in the afternoon. Ridge winds strong all day with some gusts over 100 km/h. Slow day for raptors.
11/03/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Bill Wilson, Brian McBride and Cliff Hansen
It was a pleasant day with 90% to 100% cloud and light ground winds (usually 5-10 km/h, occasionally 20 or even 30 km/h) and winds aloft WSW 20-30 gusting 50-80 km/h. No precipitation. The cloud provided excellent conditions for locating migrants but tough conditions for aging them. Fortunately, many passed in front of dark rock at some points in their passage, making it much easier to age at least these ones.
11/02/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:George Halmazna, Dan Parliament
Very nice day for November. Chinook cloudiness in the morning with clearing in the afternoon. Ridge wind from SW all day. From 50-81 km in morning hours to 25-40 km in mid-afternoon. Eagles flew over Fisher Range from 10 to 17:00 hrs.
11/01/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Lori Anderson, Blake Weis.
The cloudless morning was bitter cold. When the long-awaited Sun finally touched the valley at 10:00, everything glittered like diamonds on the frosty white land, and steam evaporated on the river creating a fantasy dreamland! There was little to no wind at ground level and the ridges only received between 6 and 17 km/h SW/SSW all day with no gusts. Needless to say, there was very little raptor movement and much flapping from the few who dared make the trek. The nice thing was that we got some closer views of the eagles as they travelled from Lorette to the Fisher Range.
10/31/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Bill Wilson and Ian Dowson
It was a beautiful, cloudless day with almost no wind (0 to 5 km/h, getting up to about 10 km/h for only a couple of hours). Smoke from somewhere made the ridges a bit hazy until about mid-day. Ridge winds were very light. Half the hourly readings at Nakiska Ridgetop were "calm", and the other five were no more than 6 km/h. All Golden Eagles crossed the face of Patrick; none were observed above the summit. One of the Golden Eagles landed four times for 1 to 5 minutes each time as it crossed the face of Patrick, and another landed once for about a minute. Most used a flap-glide-flap-glide flight style, so they had to work to get where they were going. Several also …
10/30/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Blake Weis, Annie Finch
It was a sunny day with very little wind and about 10 cm of fresh snow on the ground. In the afternoon the western ridges were partially obscured by low cumulus from snow-making on Nakiska. The sky was totally clear otherwise. Raptor migration picked up later in the day as most of the birds were recorded after 3 pm. The last few passed just after sunset. All migrants used the eastern ridges and most of them were detected over Patrick and the Fisher Range. With the lack of wind migrants were usually moving low and slow with much soaring. They were well lit from below by sun reflecting off snow which (finally) made excellent conditions for ageing.
10/29/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Caroline Lambert
Low clouds hung over the ridges all day, with intermittent rain/snow. No observation was conducted.
10/28/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Graeme Dunlop, Ruth Morrow
Cloudy day with dark rain/snow clouds to the south and west. Ridges became increasingly obscured through the day and rain began falling in late afternoon. Count was ended at 17:15 pm. Only 5 Golden Eagles were seen.
10/27/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Bill Wilson, Brian McBride, Dennis Tostowaryk
A pleasant mix of sun and cloud, although with a chilly wind gusting to 20 or as high as 40 km/h.
10/26/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:George Halmazna, Dan Parliament
A windy day with flurries developing on SW and W sides of the valley from 13:00 hrs. Rain with snow in higher elevation moved over the valley after 16:45 hrs. All ridges were obscured after 17:20 hrs. Eagles were migrating for 8 hours, from 9-17:00 hrs and all were flying over Fisher Range. 1st Golden Eagle flew at 9:11 hrs and last at 16:51 hrs.
10/25/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Lori Anderson, Ian Dowson
Apart from a rainy period from 10:00- 12:00 and a few strong gusts of wind, it was a great fall day. Ground winds blew from the south and the SW/WSW ridge winds ranged from 40-80 km/h with gusts up to 115 km/h. Most migrants preferred the Eastern Route and appeared over Patrick or North Fisher. An adult Northern Goshawk flew down and came within a few meters of the site offering a great view of its steel blue/grey plumage.
10/24/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Graeme Dunlop, Ethan Denton
A cool, cloudless morning. Clouds gradually increased through the afternoon becoming 100% stratus by evening. Ground and ridge winds light S to SW. After a quiet morning Golden Eagles suddenly began appearing at noon. Between 13:00 and 15:00 129 Golden Eagles were seen. Movement slowed after 16:00. Most birds used the eastern flightpath.
10/23/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Blake Weis, Annie Finch
We started the count later than usual due to heavy rain in the morning. By 11 am it had turned to light rain and the ridges were still obscured. The low cloud slowly lifted off the mountains between 2 and 5 pm and the rain stopped around 4 pm. The first migrant was seen at 1:16 pm soaring low below the cloud in front of Patrick. It ramped up from there into a big rush late in the day. The last migrant passed just before sunset at 6:23 pm. Continuing the Saturday trend most of them were difficult to age silhouetted by heavy cloud cover. The highlight of the day was a black swift which few south down the valley around 4:50 pm. That species …
10/22/2021
Season:Fall 2021
Observers:Caroline Lambert, Rick Robb
It was overcast and gloomy for most of the day, although the lack of sun did not stop the temperature from being abnormally warm. Few raptors were seen until mid-afternoon. A few sprinkles of rain were felt between noon and 3pm, but it was not enough to wet the ground. However, once the rain (if it can be called that) had passed, some blue sky was seen and a steady stream of raptors ensued until almost sunset.
RMERF Daily Fall Count Starting Soon

Please join RMERF for the 2021 Fall Count, Sep 20th – Nov 15th!
For past count details and reports, please refer to the Daily Count Resources
Eagle numbers soar in Calgary – Calgary Herald
“Sightings of bald eagles in Calgary have been soaring in recent weeks, with some birdwatchers spotting as many as 20 of them in a single day along the Bow River near the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.”
See the full article from the Calgary Herald.
Join the RMERF fall count (September 20 to November 15) to see the count numbers for bald eagles and golden eagles and compare with the activity from the spring.
RMERF Daily Spring Count Concluded

The Spring 2021 Migration Count has concluded and ran from Mar 1st to Apr 22nd with observers at the Mount Lorette site daily. This was the 29th consecutive year of vigilant recording. We thank all the sites’ principle observers and assistants in their daily viewing and reporting, a recognition to Rosemary with organizing the count. A complete analysis and presentation will be forthcoming for this count. Please join RMERF for the 2021 Fall Count, Sep 20th – Nov 15th!
Related links: Daily Count Resources
RMERF Daily Spring Count Blog

The Spring 2021 Migration Count has commenced and runs from Mar 1st until Apr 22th with observers at the Mount Lorette site daily — including viewing equipment available to the public. If interested in visiting the site, we suggest that you visit after 3pm. We see the majority of the migrating eagles in the later afternoon. This is the 29th consecutive year of vigilant recording. Mount Lorette site, Observation map.
PRESENT COUNTS: Mount Lorette Count Summary, 2021 Spring
Related links: Daily Count Resources
Beaver Mines and Steeples, November 15
Sunday, November 15 Vicki Ridge [Day 52] 0715-1725 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite on the western flank of the ridge, and Gord Petersen (1237-1650) at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge at the Waterton 68 wellsite). It was a suitably horrible day to end the fall 2020 count with a temperature of -2C at 0715, a brief high of 2C at 1400 and 0C at 1725 when the count ended. Winds were strong WSW all day 40-50 gusting on occasion to 80-90 km/h. Cloud cover was initially 20% cumulus but after 0840 it was mainly 100% stratus and cumulus that occasionally and briefly reduced to 70% cumulus at 1315 and 1600. Light to moderate snow persisted throughout the day that occasionally became heavy and obscured both ridges. At Waterton 61 only 4 migrants of 3 species were seen between 0759 and 1352 that comprised 1j Bald Eagle, 1a Northern Goshawk, and 2a Golden Eagles. The count at Waterton 68 was more sustained with 11 migrants of 3 species moving between 1259 and 1630, with 6 of the birds seen between 1616 and 1630. The count was 5a Bald Eagles, 1a Northern Goshawk and 5 Rough-legged Hawks (3 light, 1 dark, 1u). The combined sites count of 15 migrants of 4 species between 0759 and 1630 comprised 6 Bald Eagles (5a, 1j), 2a Northern Goshawks, 5 Rough-legged Hawks (3 light, 1 dark, 1u) and 2a Golden Eagles. Other birds were 3 Black-billed Magpies, 280 Common Ravens (144 at Waterton 68 and 136 at Waterton 61) that took full feeding advantage of the Sunday slaughter of ungulates, and 4 Pine Grosbeaks.
10.16 hours (515) BAEA 6 (355), NOGO 2 (106), RLHA 5 (300), GOEA 2 (2569) TOTAL 15 (4823)
November summary with variance compared to the 2017-2019 three-year average. (New high counts for the month in bold). 12 days (-14.3%), 106.5 hours (+9.3%) TUVU 0, OSPR 0, BAEA 84 (-43.6%), NOHA 0, SSHA 9 (+237.5%), COHA 3 (first November records), NOGO 20 (+17.6%), BWHA 0, SWHA 0, RTHA 4 (+300%), FEHA 0, RLHA 66 (+70.7%), GOEA 116 (-44.2%), AMKE 0, MERL 0, GYRF 0, PEFA 3 (+200%), PRFA 2 (=), UA 0, UB 0, UE 3 (-43.8%), UF 0, UU 0 TOTAL 310 (-27.4%).
Sunday, November 15 Mount Lorette [Day 54] 0800-1530 (Lori Anderson assisted by Caroline Lambert). Observation was initially at the Hay Meadow site until steady snow obscured the ridges at 1000 at which time the observers moved to the Lusk Creek site where it was clear until 1530 when snow arrived and ended the count. No migrants were seen at Hay Meadow but 9 birds of 4 species moved between 1125 and 1500 at Lusk Creek that comprised 2a Bald Eagles, 2u Northern Goshawks, 1 unidentified Buteo and 4 Golden Eagles (2a, 1sa, 1u).
7.5 hours (556.6) BAEA 2 (207), NOGO 2 (69), UB 1 (6), GOEA 4 (2819) TOTAL 9 (3216)
November summary with variance compared to the 1993-2019 (excluding 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008) 22-year average. (New high counts for the month in bold). 14 days (-1.3%). 120.2 hours (-6.7%) TUVU 0, OSPR 0, BAEA 55 (-22.9%), NOHA 1 (+200%), SSHA 0, COHA 0, NOGO 6 (-64.6%), BWHA 0, SWHA 0, RTHA 2 (+200%), FEHA 0, RLHA 0, GOEA 77 (-22%), AMKE 0, MERL 0, GYRF 0, PEFA 0, PRFA 0, UA 0, UB 3 (+950%), UE 4 (+250%), UF 0, UU 0 TOTAL 148 (-65.8%).
Sunday, November 15 Steeples [Day 23] 1400-1630 (Vance Mattson). Observation was from Diorite Creek which is 22 km NW of the usual Mount Bill Nye site. The temperature was 5C, winds were strong SW and cloud cover was 60-80% cumulus which allowed some sunny conditions. No migrants were seen but 2 resident adult Bald Eagles were observed as well as a resident juvenile Golden Eagle that engaged in active “play” for much of the observation period. It maneuvered in the strong winds and planed motionless while scanning the terrain. Most dramatically it broke a branch from the top of a tree which it carried in both talons for over an hour, dropping it and retrieving it with stoops on four occasions. It was a nice end to an abbreviated and mostly uneventful count.
2.5 hours (71.5) TOTAL 0 (125)
November summary. 6 days (18.5 hours) BAEA 2, SSHA 2, NOGO 1, RLHA 1, GOEA 3 TOTAL 9
FINAL SUMMARY COUNTS, FALL 2020 | |||
(NOTE: all numbers provisional pending final reports)
|
MOUNT LORETTE September 20-November 15
Variance cf. average 83-96, 98-01, 03-05, 09-19 (22 years) |
VICKI RIDGE September 20-November 15
Variance cf. average 2017-2019 (3 years of complete counts) |
STEEPLES
October 01-November 15 Variance cf. average 2009-2019 (11 years) |
DAYS | 54 (-0.6%) | 52 (=) | 23 (-29.7%) |
HOURS | 566.6 (-0.4%) | 515 (+15.7%) | 71.5 (-43.8) |
TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) | 0 (-100%) | 6 (+500%) | 0 (-100%) |
OSPREY (OSPR) | 6 (+127.6%) | 6 (-21.7%) | 0 (-100%) |
BALD EAGLE (BAEA) | 207 (-10.7%) | 355 (-12.8%) | 46 (-68.7%) |
NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) | 14 (+40%) | 26 (+62.5%) | 0 (-100%) |
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) | 102 (-20.5%) | 958 (+52%) | 13 (-67.6%) |
COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) | 22 (+4.3%) | 149 (+80%) | 0 (-100%) |
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) | 69 (+59.6%) | 106 (+1.3%) | 2 (-59.3%) |
Accipiter sp. (UA) | 6 (+79.6%) | 7 (+23.5%) | 0 (-100%) |
BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) | 4 (-27.3%) | 19 (-26%) | 0 (-100%) |
SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) | 2 (+450%) | 3 (+80%) | 0 |
RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) | 68 (+112.5%) | 215 (+17.9%) | 4 (-84.8%) |
FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) | 0 (-100%) | 2 (-71.4%) | 0 |
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) | 26 (-46.1%) | 300 (-36.1%) | 1 (-83.6%) |
Buteo sp. (UB) | 6 (+55.3%) | 8 (-52%) | 0 (-100%) |
GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) | 2619 (-21.8%) | 2569 (+2.6%) | 54 (-60.1%) |
Eagle sp. (UE) | 29 (+369.1%) | 34 (+92.5%) | 2 (+29.4%) |
AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) | 2 (-13.7%) | 16 (-5.9%) | 1 (-62.1%) |
MERLIN (MERL) | 11 (+49.4%) | 25 (+27.1%) | 0 (-100%) |
GYRFALCON (GYRF) | 2 (-25.4%) | 1 (-78.6%) | 0 (-100%) |
PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) | 6 (+7.3%) | 10 (-23.1%) | 0 (-100%) |
PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) | 4 (+79.6%) | 6 (=) | 0 (-100%) |
Falco sp. (UF) | 8 (+363.2%) | 1 (-50%) | 0 |
Unidentified Raptor (UU) | 3 (-22.4%) | 1 (-40%) | 0 (-100%) |
16 species | 18 species | 7 species | |
TOTALS | 3216 (-17.8%) | 4823 (+6.1%) | 125 (-43.2%) |