October 27 [Day 62] (Valley View site) There was 8 cm of fresh snow on the ground at 0745 and steady snow continued to 1200 bringing a further 4cm. Flurries continued after 1200 but the ridges began to clear after 1300 as SW winds to 20 km/h developed, raising the temperature briefly to 4C from the low of -1C. The ridges never fully cleared and at 1545 the wind changed to NNE bringing more snow that became heavy after 1700 again completely obscuring the ridges and dumping another 7 cm of snow by 1800. The period of partial clearing saw a movement of 16 raptors between 1308 and 1528, with birds moving south from Bluff Mountain after 1500 as the Livingstone Ridge again became obscured by cloud. Three female Cassin’s Finches were the first recorded since September 21. 10.33 hours (728.12) NOGO 2 (117), GOEA 14 (3456) TOTAL 16 (5769)
Mount Lorette [Day 35] (George Halmazna) Weather conditions at Lorette were much more conducive to raptor migration with the temperature ranging from -1C to 4C, light ground winds and moderate SW winds on the ridges that changed to N after 1500 bringing low cloud that obscured what had hitherto been a mainly clear Fisher Range ridge. Cloud cover was 80-100% stratus all day and although there was 40 cm of fresh snow on the ground at 0745 the rest of the day was snow-free until flurries developed after 1500. Both the first and last migrant raptors of the day were Rough-legged Hawks at 1004 and 1447 respectively, but the bulk of the day’s 113 migrants were Golden Eagles (104: 89a,15j), 43 of which moved between 1300 and 1400. The highlight of the day was a grey morph Gyrfalcon which was the first recorded at the site this season. 10.5 hours (404.83) BAEA 4 (82), SSHA 1 (56), RLHA 3 (16), GOEA 104 (2137), GYRF 1 (1) TOTAL 113 (2367)