The main observation site is the Hay Meadow, Mt. Lorette Site. The site is located in Kananaskis on the bank of the Kananaskis River. It has a view of the open valley. which allows excellent (though rather distant) viewing of the Fisher Range to the east. The bulk of the Golden Eagles and other raptors use this ridge as part of their preferred migration route.
Mt. Lorette Observations
See the seasonal count reports and daily summaries for historical observation counts. The following observations started in Fall 2021.
03/13/2022
Observers: Blake Weis, Annie Finch, Allison Zukewich
08:15 AM
07:30 PM
Min: -4 C Max: +1 C
On arrival to the parking lot it was snowing lightly and the ridges were 90% obscured. By 10 am it stopped snowing, then the ridges slowly cleared between 10 am and 12 pm. The east ridges remained clear for the rest of the day, but the west ridges were 10-40% obscured after 4 pm. That cloud hanging to the SW brought occasional flurries late in the day. It was an average wind day with gusts reaching 40 km/h in the afternoon at ground level. Ridge winds were light to moderate in the morning and moderate to strong in the afternoon.
Most migrants used the eastern ridges with variable height and flight method. Two Golden Eagles and one Bald Eagle detected near Hummingbird Plume Hill might have used the western ridges. The first migrant was at 12:53 pm and the last at 5:41 pm
16 (13 a, 3 u)
3 Bald Eagles (1 sa3, 1 j , 1 u)
8 Golden Eagles passed in less than a half hour between 2:14 and 2:38 pm
19
n/a
It was nice to see a few migrant songbirds returning and passing through.
1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1 Northern Shrike (juv), 1 European Starling, 1 American Robin, 20 Bohemian Waxwings, 2 Common Redpolls, 3 Red Crossbills (I recorded two call types which I'm pretty sure are 2 and 4), 1 Red-winged Blackbird (male)
Some spiders and stoneflies were out
30
