September 22 [Day 29] For the first day of autumn it didn’t feel very autumnal with the temperature at 0800 10C rising to 22C at 1600, and it was still 20C at 1900. Winds were WNW-W all day generally 20-30 km/h and only occasionally gusting 40 km/h, and cloud cover was 10-30% cirrus and altostratus for most of the day, briefly increasing to 70% very diffuse cirrus at 1600 before becoming cloudless after 1730. Despite 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks coming through at 0854 morning movement was slow with only 10 birds seen before noon. The pace quickened considerably in the afternoon peaking at 34 birds between 1600 and 1700 and the last of the day’s 134 migrants, a Cooper’s Hawk harassing the last migrant Golden Eagle, moved at 1856. Once again Sharp-shinned Hawks (69) dominated the flight although most went unaged as they flew high against a largely blue sky. Golden Eagles (22: 4a, 8sa, 10j) moved steadily throughout the afternoon, and there was a fair sprinkling of other raptors including a juvenile Peregrine Falcon that glided low overhead at 1304 dangling what appeared to be a broken leg. All the 12 Red-tailed Hawks were of the race calurus, with 11 light morphs (4a, 7j) and 1 adult dark morph. There was a strong and varied songbird movement, especially during the early morning, including 29 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Brown Creeper (the first for the season [#84], only the second seen on the ridge and a first September record), 18 Golden-crowned and 28 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 17 Mountain Bluebirds, 1 Townsend’s Solitaire, 48 American Robins, 12 Cedar Waxwings, 24 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 4 White-crowned Sparrows, 17 Dark-eyed Juncos and 51 Pine Siskins. The first bird of the day was the first Great Horned Owl of the season [#83] flying near the parking area at 0700. 12.67 hours (362.01) BAEA 2 (17), NOHA 3 (65), SSHA 69 (614), COHA 14 (188), NOGO 5 (54), UA 2 (19), RTHA 12 (118), GOEA 22 (186), AMKE 3 (35), PEFA 1 (24), UU 1 (4) TOTAL 134 (1433)
Mount Lorette [Day 3] (Cliff Hansen) The temperature ranged from 3C up to an amazing 26C at 1700, ground winds were generally S light and ridge winds also appeared to be light although the absence of cloud all day made it difficult to assess. The day’s 3 migratory Golden Eagles flew S between 0935 and 1019, and that was it for what was otherwise a very pleasant day! 12.67 hours (37.67) GOEA 3 (72) TOTAL 3 (94)