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.
03/20/2022
Observers: Blake Weis, Annie Finch, Allison Zukewich, Cliff Hansen, Brian McBride, Sandy Graham
07:55 AM
08:15 PM
Min: -5 C, Max: -1 C
For the first few hours of the day the cloud cover was 80-100%, ridges were 10-20% obscured and it was lightly snowing on and off. In the morning ground wind was very light and ridge wind was moderate from the NNW. The weather began to clear around noon, and for the rest of the day cloud cover varied from 20-60% and the ridges were completely clear. Afternoon winds gusted to 35 km/h from the SW at ground level. At ridge level the clashing weather systems were blowing variably from both north and south, often very strong.
Migrants flew very high over the Fisher Range and the east side of the valley. None were detected to the west. There were two peak periods in the late morning/early afternoon and evening separated by a lull in the late afternoon.
136 (107a, 2j, 2sa, 25u)
6 Bald Eagles (2s, 2j, 1ui, 1u), 2 unidentified eagles
1-2 pm and 5-6 pm tied with 21 migrants each
144
2 Northern Goshawks & 1 Golden Eagle
1 Northern Shrike (j), 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1 American Robin, 1 White-winged Crossbill, 1 Western Meadowlark, 1 Red-winged Blackbird (f), 1 Brown Creeper
n/a
29
