November 15 [Day 55] (George Halmazna, Cliff Hansen after 1530) It was a pleasant day for the last day of the count with the temperature reaching a high of 5.5C at 1200 from a low of -2C and it remained at 5C at 1700. Ground winds were light and variable, while ridge winds were strong WSW-SSW all day with a peak gust of 120 km/h at 1300. Cloud cover was 90% cumulus at the start and thickened throughout the day reaching 100% cumulus and altostratus after 1600 and the ridges were clear all day. Despite the conditions no migrant raptors were seen making this just the second active count day this season to draw a blank, the other being the first day of the count on September 20. In compensation there were some non-raptor migrants seen including 22 Canada Geese, 1 Dark-eyed Junco, 13 Common Redpolls, 4 Pine Siskins and 5 Evening Grosbeaks, and a Northern Shrike was also present at the site. A northern cold front is forecast to arrive overnight bringing cold temperatures and snow for at least the next week so it is appropriate to finish the count today. 9.5 hours (578.63) No migrant raptors.

MOUNT LORETTE FINAL COUNT (September 20 to November 15, 2010)
DAYS 55
HOURS 578.63

TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) 0
OSPREY (OSPR) 4
BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 165
NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 6
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 67
COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 15
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 34
Unidentified Accipiter (UA) 16
BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 1
SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 0
RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 44
FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 1
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 23
Unidentified Buteo (UB) 9
GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 3222
Unidentified eagle (UE) 12
AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 2
MERLIN (MERL) 2
GYRFALCON (GYRF) 0
PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 4
PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 4
Unidentified Falco (UF) 1
Unidentified raptor (UU) 10

TOTAL 3642

November 14 [Day 54] (Bill Wilson) It was the warmest day since November 7 reaching 8C at 1300 and 1400 from a low of -1C, and it was still 5C at 1710. Ground winds were light and variable in the morning and W 3-10 gusting 20 km/h in the afternoon, and ridge winds were strong, mainly SW all day gusting to 117 km/h in the morning and to 124 km/h in the afternoon. Cloud cover was 100% cumulus and altostratus to 0830 bringing snow flurries to the west that persisted to 0930, but by 1100 it had cleared to 5% cumulus before it again gradually increased reaching 80% cumulus by 1700. Mounts Lorette and MacGillivray and the western ridges were periodically obscured during the morning flurries, but all peaks and ridges were clear in the afternoon. A total of 16 migrant raptors moved between 1023 and 1612 with hourly high counts of 4 birds between 1100 and 1200 (3 Bald Eagles and 1 Golden Eagle), and 1500-1600 (1Bald Eagle and 3 Golden Eagles). The flight comprised 7 Bald Eagles (6a, 1u) and 9 Golden Eagles (5a, 3j, 1u). Non-raptor migrants included 2 adult Herring Gulls, 28 Common Mergansers in two flocks, 3 Belted Kingfishers and the third Pine Grosbeak of the season. 10 hours (569.13) BAEA 7 (165), GOEA 9 (3222) TOTAL 16 (3642)

November 13 [Day 53] (Ron Dutcher) The temperature high was 4C between 1100 and 1500, rising from a low of 0C at 0900 and falling to 3C at 1700. Ground winds were moderate to strong W to variable gusting to 50 km/h and ridge winds were strong SW-WSW gusting to 142 km/h in the morning and 162 km/h in the afternoon. Cloud cover was 60% cumulus at 0900 reaching 100% at 1300, thinning to 10% at 1500 after which it again thickened to 50% cumulus and altostratus. Raptor movement was very sparse with only 4 adult Golden Eagles seen with single birds occurring at 0955, 1034, 1230 and 1604. 8.83 hours (559.13) GOEA 4 (2313) TOTAL 4 (3626)

November 12 [Day 52] (Terry Waters) The temperature reached a high of 4C at 1400 from a low of 0C and was 2C at 1600. Ground winds were light S-SW all day and ridge winds were strong WSW in the morning gusting to 150 km/h and moderate SW in the afternoon gusting to 90 km/h. Initial cloud cover was 100% stratus gradually breaking up to 20% cumulus at 1400 before increasing again to 50% at the end of the day. A total of 18 migrant raptors moved between 0920 and 1550 with highest hourly counts of 4 birds between 1400 and 1500, and 1500 to 1600. The flight comprised 1 adult Bald Eagle, 1 unaged Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 1 unidentified small Accipiter and 14 Golden Eagles (7a, 1sa, 6u). Other birds included 15 Canada Geese, 14 Bohemian Waxwings and 5 White-winged Crossbills, and the Northern Hawk-Owl again visited the site from 1100 to 1130. 8 hours (550.3) BAEA 1 (158), SSHA 1 (67), NOGO 1 (34), UA 1 (16), GOEA 14 (3209) TOTAL 18 (3622)

November 11 [Day 51] (Cliff Hansen) It was another cool day with a temperature of -9C at 1000 which rose to 1.5C at 1400 and was 0C at 1700. Ground winds were SW 5-10 gusting 20 km/h between 1200 and 1500, but before and after that period they were variable and light, and ridge winds were SW to SSW moderate in the morning gusting to 50 km/h and strong in the afternoon gusting to 84 km/h. Cloud cover was 80-90% all day: cirrus in the morning with altocumulus and lenticular cloud developing in the afternoon. Raptor movement was restricted to the period 1443-1534 during which time 2 adult Bald Eagles and 6 Golden Eagles (4a, 2sa) moved south. The highlight of an otherwise rather slow day was, however, the season’s first Northern Hawk-Owl that visited the site between 1615 and 1700 and which for 15 minutes was vigorously mobbed by a couple of Grey Jays. 7.75 hours (542.3) BAEA 2 (157), GOEA 6 (3195) TOTAL 8 (3604)

November 10 [Day 50] (Cliff Hansen) It was again cool with a starting temperature of -8C which rose to 0.5C at 1300 and briefly to the day’s high of 2C at 1400. Ground winds were variable and light, not exceeding 5 km/h, while ridge winds were light to moderate NE to 1100 after which they were mainly moderate SSW-SW gusting to 78 km/h. An initial cloud cover of 100% altocumulus reduced to 50% cumulus at noon and it was cloudless after 1500. Raptor movement was slow and sporadic with a juvenile Bald Eagle at 1006, 2 Cooper’s Hawks (1a, 1u) at 1142 and 2 adult Golden Eagles at 1206. There was then a long break until 1630-1653 when 4 more Golden Eagles passed, none of which could be aged because the light conditions reduced them to silhouettes. The only notable song bird was a single Common Redpoll, which have been anything but common this fall. 9.33 hours (534.55) BAEA 1 (155), COHA 2 (15), GOEA 6 (3189) TOTAL 9 (3596)

November 9 [Day 49] (George Halmazna) Cool air persisted with a high temperature of only 1.5C at 1300 from a low of -5C, and it sporadically snowed for the first 2 hours of the count. Ground winds were calm to very light in the morning becoming SW in the afternoon still mainly light but gusting to 20 km/h at 1400, while ridge winds were SW-SSW all day mainly moderate but occasionally gusting to 120 km/h in the morning and to 84 km/h in the afternoon. An initial cloud cover of 90% stratus gradually reduced throughout the day to 40% stratus and cumulus. There was again a fairly strong raptor movement with a total of 46 birds recorded between 0816 and 1542 with maximum hourly counts of 9 birds in each of the 3 hours between 1000 and 1300. With the exception of 2 adult Northern Goshawks all migrants were eagles: 14 Bald Eagles (9a, 5j) and 30 Golden Eagles (26a, 4j). There were few passerine migrants but a late American Pipit was notable, and the morning snow produced fresh Canada Lynx tracks near the site. We were planning to finish the count on November 10 but because of the movement of 100 raptors during the last 2 days we shall try to find observers to extend the count to at least Sunday November 14. 10.5 hours (525.22) BAEA 14 (154), NOGO 2 (33), GOEA 30 (3183) TOTAL 46 (3587)