October 16 [Day 26] (Ron Dutcher) It was a cold start to the day with a temperature of -7C the lowest so far this season, which rose to 4C between 1400 and 1600 and was 2C at the end of the day. Ground winds were variable SE to N all day while ridge winds were SSW-SW light to moderate, and cloud cover was initially 80% cirrus and cirrocumulus reducing to 30% around noon before gradually increasing to 60% by the late afternoon, generally providing excellent observing conditions. A total of 83 migrant raptors of 6 species moved between 1101 and 1820 with a peak movement of 38 birds between 1400 and 1500. The flight comprised 3 adult Bald Eagles, 1 adult Sharp-shinned Hawk, 3 adult Northern Goshawks, 1 unidentified Accipiter, 3 light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks (1a, 2u), 2 Rough-legged Hawks (1 light, 1 dark), and 70 Golden Eagles (46a, 8sa, 8j, 8u). There was almost no passerine movement, but a very fresh track of a Grey Wolf in the 3 cm of fresh snow at the site was the non-bird highlight of the day. 10.33 hours (291.99) BAEA 3 (79), SSHA 1 (53), NOGO 3 (22), UA 1 (11), RTHA 3 (38), RLHA 2 (17), GOEA 70 (2082) TOTAL 83 (2351)

This was the day of the Festival of Eagles at Canmore which for the first time was held downtown and not at the Collegiate High school as has previously been the case. This put us further away from the Fairholm Range along which most movement occurs, but in compensation the weather was the best that it has been for the Festival in several years and the mainly cirrus cloud cover made finding migrants fairly easy, although it was not possible to age most birds at the distance from which we were observing. A total of 42 migrants of 5 species were recorded between 1155 and 1629 comprising 3 Bald Eagles (1a, 2sa), 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Northern Goshawk, 3 Rough-legged Hawks and 34 Golden Eagles. Most of the birds moved to the SE along the Fairholm Range before crossing the Bow Valley after which they would have been picked up by Ron and his crew over Mount Lorette about 10 to15 minutes after leaving us. The great advantage of the new Festival location was demonstrated by the fact that it attracted over 2000 visitors during the day.