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.
03/14/2022
Observers: Lori Anderson, Glenn Webber.
07:45 AM
05:15 PM
Min: 3 C Max: 6.5 C
At 8:52 the first golden eagle appeared at Lorette gliding and soaring over McGillivray and onwards to the North. The majority of the birds repeated this same pattern. They seemed to be coming from behind the Fisher Range. The words that come to mind to describe today are Wind, Strong gusts, and Snow. The ground winds blew from the WSW between 10-20 km/h and average gusts of 25 km/h. The winds at ridge level were very strong, producing snow plumes. Some blue sky did appear at intervals in the morning amid the cumulous, altocumulus, altostratus cloud formations, and the sprinkling of light snow that blew in from the southwest. The western ridges averaged 36 % coverage until 13:00 after which that increased to 80-100%. The eastern ridges were clear until 13:00 when the menacing southern front let a squall in and the ridges suffered varying degrees of snowy cloudiness. The whole valley’s atmosphere changed after 13:00 when snow fell upon the land and no more migrating raptors were to be seen. We kept searching didn’t give up hope until 17:00. On the way home, we even stopped at Sibbald Creek, enticed by a bit of blue sky, but only found Ravens.
7 (6 adults, 1 unidentified)
1 Bald eagle (adult)
11:00- 12:00 produced 4 migrants
8
1 Golden Eagle (adult), 1 Bald Eagle (juvenile), 1 Northern Goshawk (adult).
1 Killdeer, 1 Northern Flicker, 3 Canada Jays, 1 American Robin, 1 American Crow, 2 Canada Geese, 8 Common Ravens.
A resident Golden Eagle performed arabesque territorial dive-bombing tactics in front of 2 Ravens at Mount Lorette.
25
