November 1 [Day 67] (Valley View site) The time changed 1 hour earlier at 0200 this morning. All times cited are now Mountain Standard Time (MST) whereas previously they were Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). At 0700 the barometric pressure had risen 10 hPa from yesterday’s close and rose another 4 hPa by 1745 today producing a pleasant day for the beginning of November. The temperature rose to a high of 5C at 1200 from a low of 0C and returned to 0C at 1800. Ground winds were variable but mainly NW to NE light occasionally gusting to 20 km/h, ridge winds were moderate varying between W and NW, and it was cloudless to 1000 after which cumulus developed reaching a maximum of 70% between 1200 and 1530 after which it again diminished to 5%. A total of 117 raptors migrated between 0733 and 1710, which is the second highest November total ever at the site (after 123 on November 1, 2006) and is only the second November count over 100. The 33 Bald Eagles (20 adults, 5 subadults and 8 juveniles) equals the second highest count so far this season, the 7 Northern Goshawks (all adults) is the highest count since September 25, and the total of 74 Golden Eagles (54 adults, 7 subadults, 13 juveniles) is the 3rd highest November count for the site. Movement was fairly strong throughout the day with 10 birds moving before 0800 and maximum movement was 19 between 1500 and 1600. The stable weather also produced the first songbird movement for a while which included 2 Townsend’s Solitaires, 1 American Robin, 50 Bohemian Waxwings, 192 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 5 Pine Grosbeaks and 5 Pine Siskins. 11 hours (783.04) BAEA 33 (304), NOGO 7 (129), RLHA 3 (52), GOEA 74 (3802) TOTAL 117 (6220)
Mount Lorette [Day 39] (Bill Wilson) The temperature reached a high of 2.5C from a low of -5C and fell back to -1C at 1750. Ground winds were generally light and variable occasionally gusting to 20 km/h and ridge winds were moderate WNW all day. Cloud cover was 60-70% cumulus to 1100 after which it quickly diminished to 5% until 1600 when it increased to 20%. The raptor movement of 53 birds was dominated by 48 Golden Eagles (33a,1sa,6j,8u) which moved between 0808 and the very late time of 1733, with 10 of the birds moving between 1600 and 1700. There was also a good movement of around 400 Canada Geese to the south above the Kananaskis Valley, and a juvenile Herring Gull was the first gull seen in a while. 10.58 hours (450.99) BAEA 4 (91), NOGO 1 (25), GOEA 48 (2235) TOTAL 53 (2481)