September 30 [Day 37] The temperature was 0C at 0800 but fell to -1C as steady snow started to fall at 0825 which persisted to early afternoon under light upslope (NE to E) winds. The ridges slowly started to clear after 1500 and the cloud cover fell to 20% at 1900 but the Livingstone Range to the north never fully cleared. Winds switched from E to SW gusting to15 km/h after 1800 when the temperature reached the day’s high of 1C before falling back to 0C at 1900. A single Merlin flew south at 0821 just before the heavy snow started and no further raptors were seen until 1557 when 2 Golden Eagles appeared out of the clouds and glided south quickly followed by a Sharp-shinned Hawk. A dark morph Rough-legged Hawk and 2 more Golden Eagles, the last at 1822, completed the day’s count of 7 birds. 8.67 hours (458.13) SSHA 1 (831), RLHA 1 (6), GOEA 4 (512), MERL 1 (21) TOTAL 7 (2278)
September Summary No full days were lost to the weather with only counts on September 20 and 30 being adversely affected by weather. All 30 days in the month were spent in the field (371.4 hours) both days and hours being monthly records for the site and 5.88% and 15.33% above the 2006-8 average respectively. The combined species count of 2115 was 5.49% above average and was the second highest September count. Seven species achieved September record counts while 4 equaled previous high counts. New highs were set by Osprey (44: +181%), Cooper’s Hawk (262: +61.4%), Northern Goshawk (82: +79.6%), Broad-winged Hawk (44: +238%), Rough-legged Hawk (6: +157%), American Kestrel (55: +143%) and Peregrine Falcon (40: +87.5%), while highs were equaled by Swainson’s Hawk (2: +20%), Ferruginous Hawk (3: +200%), Merlin (21: +43.2%) and Prairie Falcon (10: +25%). Two further species, Northern Harrier (59: +24.6%) and Sharp-shinned Hawk (772: +4.84%), occurred in higher than average numbers. Only 3 species occurred in lower than average numbers: Bald Eagle (30: -9.09%), Red-tailed Hawk (137: -9.87%) and, most significantly, Golden Eagle (503: -25.59%).
Mount Lorette [Day 10] (George Halmazna) The weather was much better at Lorette with the temperature rising to 9C from a low of -3C, winds generally light becoming NE 6-10 gusting 15 km/h at noon and becoming light again after 1500. Cloud cover was 100% altostratus in the morning reducing to 50% cumulus in the early afternoon and increasing again to 80% cumulus and altostratus by the end of the day, all giving good observation conditions. The first migrant raptor was a Cooper’s Hawk at 1050 and the first of the day’s 76 Golden Eagles was recorded at 1115 with the last moving south at 1759. Up to around 1400 birds migrated very low and generally below ridge level, but after 1400 all birds moved very high well above the ridge. Maximum movement was 1300-1400 when 36 migrants were seen. The total of 98 migrant raptors was the second highest total of the season and comprised a season high 9 species. The most common songbird migrants were 60 Ruby-crowned Kinglets and 44 American Robins. 12.5 hours (134.67) BAEA 4 (10), NOHA 2 (3), SSHA 9 (38), COHA 1 (7), NOGO 2 (11), RTHA 2 (15), RLHA 1 (3), GOEA 76 (355), PRFA 1 (2) TOTAL 98 (449)