RMERF counts, October 31 and October summaries

Wednesday, October 31 Mount Lorette [Day 38] 0830-1840 (Caroline Lambert, assisted by Joel Duncan). The temperature at 0830 was 3C, the high was 6C from 1400 to 1700 and it was 5C at the end of observation. Ground winds were SW 0-10 gusting 15-20 km/h in mid-afternoon, and ridge winds were strong all day, W to 1400 then NW. Cloud cover was 100% cumulus and altostratus to 1000 that gradually reduced to 70% cumulus at the end of the day. The eastern ridges were clear but the west was occluded to an average of 40% all day. All migrants today were eagles comprising 7 Bald Eagles (4a, 1j, 2u), 29 Golden Eagles (17a, 2j, 10u) and 2 unidentified eagles. The birds moved between 0955 and 1733 and all glided high and fast above the Fisher Range ridge. Movement was steady throughout and the maximum hourly count was 9 Golden Eagles between 1200 and 1300. Other birds seen included a flock of 60 Canada Geese, 3 Northern Pintails flying high to the south, 1 Northern Pygmy-Owl that called early in the morning, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1 juvenile Northern Shrike, 15 European Starlings, 75 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 7 White-winged Crossbills, 20 Pine Siskins and 1 Dark-eyed [Oregon] Junco. Thirty-four visitors were at the site today.

10.16 hours (399.2) BAEA 7 (161), GOEA 29 (2516), UE 2 (29) TOTAL 38 (2917)

October summary (variance from 1993-2017 valid counts (20) in parenthesis) DAYS 28 (-6.5%), HOURS 298.5 (-5.8%), TUVU 0, OSPR 0 (-100%), BAEA 149 (+4.7%), NOHA 1 (-81%), SSHA 33 (-55%), COHA 3 (-71.1%), NOGO 20 (-31%), BWHA 0 (-100%), SWHA 1 (+2000%), RTHA 16 (+13.9%), FEHA 0 (-100%), RLHA 28 (-32.1%), GOEA 2243 (-19.9%), AMKE 0 (-100%), MERL 2 (-55.3%), GYRF 2 (-23.5%), PEFA 2 (-41.7%), PRFA 0 (-100%), UA 6 (+93.9%), UB 2 (-24%), UE 22 (+657.4%), UF 3 (+125%), UU 4 (+78.2%) TOTAL 2537 (-19.4%)

Wednesday, October 31 Vicki Ridge [Day 35] 0815-1815 (Peter Sherrington, observing from the Waterton 61 wellsite and Gord Petersen observing from the Waterton 68 wellsite, 1340-1750). The temperature was 1C at 0815, the high was 5C at 1500 and 1600 and it was 3C at 1815. Winds were WSW 30-40 gusting 50 km/h reaching 60 km/h around 1600. Cloud cover was 100% cumulus and altostratus to 1530, 70% cumulus at 1600 that dwindled to 10% at the end of observation. Very light snow fell continuously until 1340 but the ridges remained clear and it did not appear to impede migration. Movement was slow and sporadic between 0946 and 1807 but produced a reasonable total of 59 migrants of 4 species. The count was 15 Bald Eagles (12a. 1sa, 1j, 1u), 1 adult male Northern Goshawk, 14 light morph Rough-legged Hawks, 28 Golden Eagles (18a, 4sa, 3j, 3u) and 1 unidentified eagle. The total includes 18 migrants seen by Gord Petersen between 1406 and 1739 at the western edge of Kyllo Ridge near the Waterton 68 wellsite that comprised 2 adult Bald Eagles, 4 light morph Rough-legged Hawks, 11 Golden Eagles (5a, 2sa, 3j, 1u) and 1 unidentified eagle. Maximum hourly passage was 13 between 1400 and 1500 that included 10 Golden Eagles and again between 1700 and 1800 that included 8 Rough-legged Hawks. Other birds seen included 1 adult Northern Shrike, 2 Clark’s Nutcrackers, 305 Bohemian Waxwings in 5 flocks, 290 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches in 5 flocks and 96 Pine Siskins.

10 hours (317.8), BAEA 15 (314), NOGO 1 (93), RLHA 14 (402), GOEA 28 (2490), UE 1 (5) TOTAL 59 (4322)

October summary (last year’s count in parenthesis) DAYS 28 (29), HOURS 253.8 (241.98), TUVU 0 (0), OSPR 3 (4), BAEA 297 (186), NOHA 4 (10), SSHA 362 (382), COHA 40 (46), NOGO 80 (65), BWHA 11 (19), SWHA 0 (0), RTHA 122 (164), FEHA 6 (2), RLHA 392 (486), GOEA 2309 (1694), AMKE 4 (5), MERL 8 (9), GYRF 4 (2), PEFA 4 (10), PRFA 3 (4), UA 7 (5), UB 24 (16), UE 4 (14), UF 1 (2), UU 3 (0) TOTAL 3688 (3125)

Wednesday, October 31 Steeples [Day 37] 1515-1730 (Vance Mattson). The temperature was 8C, winds were moderate S, cloud cover was 90% stratus and cumulus and the ridges were partially obscured throughout the observation period. No migrant or resident raptors were seen.

2, 25 hours (159.8) TOTAL 0 (425)

October summary DAYS 27, HOURS 120.8, TUVU 0, OSPR 2, BAEA 75, NOHA 10, SSHA 49, COHA 2, NOGO 6, BWHA 0, SWHA 0, RTHA 39, FEHA 0, RLHA 3, GOEA 130, AMKE 2, MERL 2, GYRF 1, PEFA 0, PRFA 0, UA 0, UB 0, UE 2, UF 0, UU 1 TOTAL 324