October 11 [Day 47] (Valley View site) It was a similar day to yesterday with the temperature briefly reaching -6C at 1200 from a start of -13C and falling to -12C at 1900. Ground winds were variable but generally light and the upper flow was light E all day. Cloud cover was 100% stratus until 1300 after which it began to slightly break reducing to 70% altocumulus and altostratus at 1900. There were a few light snow flurries in the morning but the ridges essentially remained clear all day. The first raptor was an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk at 0844 and the first Golden Eagle was at 1052 but they didn’t begin to move steadily until after 1130. Because of the light winds Golden Eagles moved to the south both on the Livingstone Ridge to the east and Bluff Mountain to the west and occasionally over the valley, and the flight peaked between 1400 and 1500 when 38 birds were seen. The last of the day’s 124 Golden Eagles (92a,8sa,15j,9u) went south at 1730. This is only the 3rd time this month that the Golden Eagle count has exceeded 100 birds and the species total is currently 728 birds below the 2006-8 cumulative average for this date. The only Red-tailed Hawk seen was an adult dark morph “Harlan’s Hawk” that soared low overhead much to the delight of the observers. 12 hours (557.88) BAEA 1 (79), NOHA 1 (89), SSHA 1 (916), NOGO 2 (95), RTHA 1 (175), GOEA 124 (1303) TOTAL 130 (3272)
Mount Lorette [Day 19] (Bill Wilson) The temperature rose to -6C from a low of -12C and fell to -10C by 1900. Ground winds were variable and light and ridge winds appeared to be light to moderate and mainly W. Cloud cover was 100% stratocumulus to 1100 after which it gradually cleared until it was cloudless by 1900. There was 10 cm of fresh snow on the ground and light snow persisted early in the morning. The western ridges were mainly obscured by cloud all day, and the Fisher Range to the east was variably obscured 10-30% for most of the day. It was a good day of raptor movement dominated by Golden Eagles that provided 236 of the day’s 248 migrants. The first bird seen was a Merlin at 0915 and the first Golden Eagle moved at 1055 with 191 of the Golden Eagles seen between 1300 and 1700, maximum passage being 61 from 1500-1600. The last Golden Eagle was a bird going to roost at 1829 and the last raptor of the day was the 7th Bald Eagle which is the highest count for the species so far this season. A female Red-breasted Merganser was only the second record for the site and a high-flying Pacific Loon was the first for the season. 11 hours (230.59) BAEA 7 (23), SSHA 1 (44), COHA 1 (10), NOGO 1 (17), GOEA 236 (1158), MERL 2 (3) TOTAL 248 (1292)