December 9 [Day 100] The last day of the count saw strong NW winds all day gusting to 80 km/h in the afternoon, temperatures that ranged from -7C to -6C and 100% altostratus cloud that gave way to 70-80% lenticular/altostratus cover after 1500. The first adult Bald Eagle moved along the ridge at 1038 followed by 2 more at 1437 and 1447. The final bird of the count was another adult Bald Eagle gliding high to the south above the ridge at 1605: the 700th Bald Eagle and the 8289th migrant raptor of a very successful season.
This was the first year that the count has extended into December at the site and 6 days (47 hours) yielded a total of 78 migrant raptors: 69 Bald Eagles, 2 Northern Goshawks, 4 Rough-legged Hawks and 3 Golden Eagles. Doubtless a few Bald Eagles will continue to move south over the next couple of weeks but I had to leave for Calgary with Barbara on Sunday evening so she can start her radiation treatment on Monday. Next spring we shall conduct a full count at the Piitaistakis-South Livingstone site for the first time, starting around the middle of February, the exact date dependant on weather conditions at the time. 8.08 hours (1048) BAEA 4 (700) TOTAL 4 (8289)

FINAL COUNT (August 25 to December 9) (percentage difference from fall 2006 in parenthesis)

DAYS 100 (+19%)
HOURS 1048 (+17.5%)

OSPREY (OSPR) 17 (+54.5%)
BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 700 (+45.2%)
NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 56 (-26%)
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 1219 (-2.2%)
COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 191 (-13%)
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 166 (+7.8%)
Unidentified Accipiter (UA) 57 (+26.7%)
BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 13 (+30%)
SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 1 (-50%)
RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 188 (-34%)
FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 4 (+300%)
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 83 (-41%)
Unidentified Buteo (UB) 2 (-67%)
GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 5445 (+23.75%)
Unidentified eagle (UE) 12 (+100%)
AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 37 (+12.1%)
MERLIN (MERL) 27 (-40%)
GYRFALCON (GYRF) 9 (+50%)
PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 35 (+94.4%)
PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 18 (+28.6%)
Unidentified Falco (UF) 2 (-33%)
Unidentified raptor (UU) 7 (-50%)

TOTAL 8289 (+14.85%)

Principal Observers: Peter Sherrington (89.5 days), Raymond Toal (6 days), Bill Wilson (3 days) Denise Coccioloni-Amatto (1 day) and Vance Mattson (0.5 days) with the skillful assistance of Keith McClary (45 days), Denise Coccioloni-Amatto (38 days), Raymond Toal (23 days), Karola Michalsky (10 days), Doug and Teresa Dolman (6 days), Dawn Hall (5 days), Alan Hingston (3 days), Elly and Arnie Weisbrot (3 days), Nel Van Kamer (3 days), Bill Wilson (3 days), Joel Duncan (2 days), Vance Mattson (2 days), Doug Pederson (1 day) and many of the other 300+ people who visited the site during the season.

Acknowledgements: To Enbridge, our principal sponsor and to members and supporters of the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation for their continuing financial support, and to members of the Crowsnest Conservation Society for their support and many contributions to the success of the project. To Judy and Rick Cooke for again generously providing accommodation in their cabin at Lee Lake to mid-September and to Peter and Adele McKiernan for housing and feeding me in late September until we moved into our new house in Beaver Mines. To Merilyn Lidell for organizing our first Crowsnest Pass Eagle Festival on September 29 and to Doug Pederson who designed and produced the splendid car decal commemorating the fall 2007 count. To my wife, Barbara, who despite health challenges and a house move in the middle of the count continued to provide me with unstinting logistical support and encouragement.

December 8 [Day 99] The sky was cloudless all day with a temperature range of -19C to -6C and light SW to N winds at ground level with occasional blowing snow on the ridge in the afternoon indicating moderate west winds aloft. Only 4 adult Bald Eagles went south between 1311 and 1528 suggesting that we are now finally running out of migrants and tomorrow will be the last day of the fall 2007 count. A single Common Redpoll flying overhead was the first finch recorded in December which is surprising considering that we recorded a total of 11,188 finches of 9 species migrating along the ridge up to the end of November. 8.75 hours (1039.9) BAEA 4 (696) TOTAL 4 (8285)

December 7 [Day 98] Clear skies overnight allowed the temperature to fall to -17C, and cloud cover didn’t exceed 20% cumulus all day, with the temperature climbing to -7C under sunny skies. The ground wind was less than 8 km/h NE-S all day and was often calm, while the upper flow was a steady light southerly all day. The first migrant raptor was an adult Bald Eagle at 1216 which was followed by a steady procession of another 34 Bald Eagles all but one of which (a juvenile) was adult. Sixteen of the birds moved between 1300 and 1400 and another 9 from 1500 to 1600, and the last flapped to the south at 1631. The total of 35 birds was the second highest daily Bald Eagle count of the season and only 1 less than the highest count on November 05, and was the highest raptor count since November 11. It was also the highest December RMERF single day Bald Eagle and total raptor count ever. 9 hours (1031.2) BAEA 35 (692) TOTAL 35 (8281)

December 6 [NO OBSERVATION] The weather forecast called for clearing by late morning so at 0800 when the ridge was clear and only very light snow was falling the prospect for movement appeared good. As the morning progressed, however, the snow became heavier, cloud progressively obscured the ridge and I finally gave up at 1230. To be fair, this is only about the 100th time this season that the Environment Canada forecast has been wrong!

December 5 [Day 97] It was a strange day for temperatures starting at 3C, quickly dropping to -6C briefly at 0945 and equally quickly recovering to 3C where it remained until around 1430 when it again rapidly dropped, reaching -13C by 1640. Ground winds were generally W-SW and light until noon after which they gusted to 25 km/h, and upper winds were moderate westerly changing to NW after 1500. Cloud cover was 90-100% all day but the mountains stayed clear until after 1600 when they began to disappear in cloud as light snow developed. Probably owing to the snow reported farther north raptor movement was very slow and sporadic, but the resident Golden Eagle family was conspicuous in the morning hunting the ridges and an adult briefly displayed once. 8.67 hours (1022.2) BAEA 2 (657), NOGO 1 (166), RLHA 2 (83) TOTAL 5 (8246)

December 4 [Day 96] The temperature ranged from a very pleasant 6C at 0830 to 9C at noon and back to 6C at 1700 under moderate to strong westerly winds. With the exception of occasional cloud drape the mountains were clear all day and 70% to 90% cumulus cloud cover provided good viewing conditions. Raptor movement was steady between 0852 when the first Bald Eagle went south and the last migrant Golden Eagle at 1635. The combined species total of 28 and the Bald Eagle count of 22 were both new high single day December counts for a RMERF site, and four species of migrant raptor (and a non-migrant Prairie Falcon) represented good diversity for December. This is a migration that doesn’t seem to want to quit! 8.58 hours (1013.5) BAEA 22 (655), NOGO 1 (165), RLHA 2 (81), GOEA 3 (5445) TOTAL 28 (8241)

December 3 [NO OBSERVATION] About 35 cm of snow fell yesterday and today under strong west winds the temperature rose above freezing and rain fell most of the day: the mountains remained obscured.

December 2 [NO OBSERVATION] Heavy snow all day with all mountains obscured making observation impossible.

December 1 [Day 95] Snow and low cloud obscured the mountains until noon, when the Livingstone Ridge cleared enough to attempt a count starting at 1230 when the temperature was -17C with light westerly winds. Light snow continued all afternoon and the ridges were periodically draped with low cloud but 2 adult Bald Eagles made it through before I finally gave up at 1615 with the temperature at -19C. 3.75 hours (1004.9) BAEA 2 (633) TOTAL 2 (8213)

November 30 [Day 94] It was a cool start to the day with -22C at 0730 but the wind was less than 5 km/h all day and the temperature rose to -7C by 1400 under mainly cloudless skies: a sparkling late November day. It was as well it was pleasant as there was no sign of raptor movement all morning and I was beginning to think that it might be appropriate to finish the count today when at 1229 a Bald Eagle moved south along the ridge quickly followed by four others before the hour was out. The next two hours yielded 14 and 9 migrants respectively and when the last Golden Eagle went south at 1610 I had counted a total of 36 migrants of 4 species, the highest combined species count at the site since November 11. The Bald Eagle seen at 1231 was the 607th of the season equaling the second highest ever RMERF count for the species (Plateau Mountain, 1997) and the one at 1526 surpassed our previous highest ever count of 628 at Mount Lorette in 2000. An American Robin perched close by at 1430 was a pleasant surprise for the time of year. In contrast to last year’s November count when the weather only allowed 23 count days before I was driven from the field by a blizzard on the 29th, this year we counted every day during the month and only 3 days were significantly curtailed because of weather. The 30 days and 280 hours spent in the field are 30.4% and 32% higher than last November respectively, but despite this the 703 migrants counted is 25.3% lower than last year mainly because the total of 337 Golden Eagles is 48.5% lower than last year’s record November count of 654. By contrast the 282 Bald Eagles (+28.8%), 34 Northern Goshawks (+17.2%), 28 Rough-legged Hawks (+21.7%) and 7 Gyrfalcons (+75%) are all higher than last year, and Northern Harrier (1), Cooper’s Hawk (1) and Red-tailed Hawk (5) were recorded in November for the first time at the site this year. 9.25 hours (1001.2) BAEA 26 (631), NOGO 1 (164), RLHA 2 (79), GOEA 7 (5442) TOTAL 36 (8211)

November 29 [Day 93] At 0730 it was -11C, light N-W winds and overcast with light snow falling, but the ridges were visible and by 0840 there were small patches of blue sky. By 0915, however, everything closed in and I left at 1010, but returned to the site at 1400 just as the snow was ending and the clouds dispersing, with a temperature of -9C and a light W wind. After 1530 the clouds completely disappeared, as did the wind, allowing the temperature to fall to -15C by 1700. Two adult Bald Eagles flapped their way south along the ridge at 1438 and a single adult Bald Eagle flew low to the south at 1523 to complete the day’s raptor migration. At 1638 the resident juvenile Golden Eagle flapped low and slowly to the west to roost on Bluff Mountain. 5.75 hours (991.9) BAEA 3 (605) TOTAL 3 (8175)

November 28 [Day 92] The temperature ranged from -6C to -2C at 1300 and back to -6C at 1700, with a mainly northerly wind gusting to 20 km/h making it seem much cooler, and an upper flow from the NW-N all day. Cloud cover was 100-60% cumulus, altostratus and cirrus giving hazy sun conditions for much of the day. Early in the day it looked as if there was a prospect of good raptor movement as 2 Golden Eagles and a Bald Eagle went south before 0902, but there was a long gap until after 1500 when 5 Bald Eagles and a Golden Eagle moved along the ridge between 1506 and 1549, the 2 Bald Eagles at 1522 bringing the season’s total to 600. The last bird of the day, a Bald Eagle, went south at 1626. 9.67 hours (986.15) BAEA 7 (602), GOEA 4 (5435) TOTAL 11 (8172)

November 27 [Day 91] (Raymond Toal) The ridges were in cloud all day with 100% overcast skies, light NE winds and occasional periods of snow. No migrant raptors were seen. 5.75 hours (976.48) TOTAL 0 (8156)

November 26 [Day 90] (Raymond Toal) A cold front from the north that was forecast to pass south over the site tomorrow actually arrived early this morning with the temperature -5C at 0800 that gradually dropped during the day and reached -13C at 1700. The only time that the sky and ridges completely cleared was 1300 to 1500 when the temperature briefly regained -5C under sunny skies, but for the rest of the day the sky was overcast and the ridges were generally shrouded in cloud, with a light westerly wind all day that never exceeding 5-10 km/h. Two adult Bald Eagles that moved south along the ridge at 1223 and 1226, and 3 adult Golden Eagles that followed the same route between 1503 and 1603 were the only migrant raptors observed with the help of Denise and Karola. A flock of about 30 Canada Geese flying south at 0816 and 10 White-winged Crossbills were the only non-raptor migrants seen. 9 hours (970.73) BAEA 2 (595), GOEA 3 (5431) TOTAL 5 (8161)

November 25 [Day 89] The early morning was similar to yesterday with a temperature of -10C and W-NW winds gusting to 40 km/h but today was cloudless until 1000 which allowed me to periodically unfreeze my face by looking towards the sun for a few minutes. The wind continued W-WNW 20-45 km/h all day and mainly cumulus cloud developed after 1000 giving good observing conditions. By 1400 the temperature had reached -6C before falling back to -9C at 1700. Once again there was no early raptor movement with the first bird, an adult Northern Goshawk, not appearing until 1132, and subsequent movement was slow and sporadic despite the apparently ideal conditions: perhaps we are finally running out of birds! The last two Bald Eagles moved high to the south in fading light at 1624 and 1638. There was some early finch movement with 12 Red Crossbills, 19 White-winged Crossbills and 2 Common Redpolls flying south before 1000, and at 1715 I flushed 2 Ruffed Grouse on the descent for a first November sighting although I had seen tracks a couple of weeks ago. Raymond and Denise will be watching from the Valley View (Frank) site for the next couple of days so I can accompany Barbara to Calgary for some preliminary procedures before her radiation treatment starts in December. 9.92 hours (961.73) BAEA 6 (593), NOGO 1 (163), GOEA 1 (5428) TOTAL 8 (8156)

November 24 [Day 88] It was a chilly start to the day with the temperature -10C to -9C until 1100 with 20km/h N-WNW winds blowing straight into my face. At 1150 the wind shifted to westerly with maximum gusts of 90 km/h around 1400 and subsequently dropped to 60 km/h, raising the temperature to a high of -3.5C at 1500. A Chinook Arch of thick altostratus cloud made the cold morning even gloomier until it moved to the east at 1100 leaving a sky of thin altostratus, cirrus and lenticular cloud with mainly sunshine for the rest of the day. To add to the misery of the morning the first raptor, a Rough-legged Hawk, did not appear until 1146, and the second, an adult Golden Eagle was not seen until 1306. After that, however, movement was steady with the last of the 9 adult Golden Eagles seen moving south at 1641 and the last of 5 Bald Eagles following it 5 minutes later at 1646. The combined species count of 16 was not bad for late November. The finch count comprised 1 Grey-crowned Rosy Finch, 1 Pine Grosbeak, 3 White-winged Crossbills and 9 Common Redpolls but only the crossbills and a few of the redpolls appeared to be migrating. 10 hours (951.81) BAEA 5 (587), NOGO 1 (162), RLHA 1 (77), GOEA 9 (5427) TOTAL 16 (8148)

November 23 [Day 87] The temperature was a balmy -6C at 0800 but a W-WNW wind gusting 30 km/h tempered the potential pleasantness of the situation. The wind steadily increased in velocity reaching 45 km/h at 1700 and the temperature reached a high of -4C at 1200. Cloud cover ranged from 30% to 100% altocumulus and cirrus providing excellent viewing conditions. There was again no early raptor movement with the first bird, a Prairie Falcon, not coming through until 1118, but subsequently there was a slow but steady flow of mainly Golden Eagles, with the last bird, an adult Bald Eagle moving through at 1645. The 11 Golden Eagles was the highest daily count for the species since November 11 and with the exception of one juvenile all the birds were adults. There was a small early morning movement of passerines comprising 1 Snow Bunting, 3 Grey-crowned Rosy finches and 5 Common Redpolls. 10 hours (941.81) BAEA 2 (582), GOEA 11 (5418), PRFA 1 (18) TOTAL 14 (8132)

November 22 [Day 86] It was -10C at 0800 with a NW wind gusting to 25 km/h, but at 1015 the wind dropped to 0-5 km/h from the NNW and remained light W-NW until 1615 when it increased to 20km/h from the west. Initial cloud cover was 70% altostratus which progressively disappeared leaving cloudless skies after 1330, allowing the temperature to rise to -6C. The light winds combined with a northerly upper flow were not conducive to raptor movement and only 4 migrants, 2 adult Bald Eagles and 2 light morph Rough-legged Hawks, came through between 1138 and 1339. All the birds flapped extensively and attempts to soar were generally unsuccessful both testaments to the poor flying conditions. Six Common Redpolls and 3 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches rounded out the migrants for a rather sparse but otherwise pleasant day. 10 hours (931.81) BAEA 2 (580), RLHA 2 (76) TOTAL 4 (8118)

November 21 [Day 85] Three centimetres of snow fell overnight covering the ice patches on the access trail and making the ascent both slow and, at times, painful. The temperature was -13C until 1030 and combined with WNW winds gusting to 40 km/h the resulting wind chill made observation uncomfortable. Blowing snow was also a problem from 1100 to 1300, but by 1400 the temperature had reached a very pleasant -8C and the wind had dropped a breezy 30 km/h. The sky was cloudless until 1100 when altostratus cloud began to develop reaching a maximum of 60% from 1400 to 1500 before dissipating to a cloudless condition again at 1700. Raptor movement was very similar to that of yesterday with the first Bald Eagle moving at 1142 and was again slow but steady until the last Rough-legged Hawk went south at 1645. Seven of the day’s 13 Bald Eagles moved between 1317 and 1334, and 3 of the 4 Golden Eagles between 1213 and 1216. The only non-raptor migrants were a flock of 28 Canada Geese flying high to the south east of the ridge at 0923.
At 1453 I heard a very soft mewling sound which I didn’t recognize, in fact in the wind I was not sure that it wasn’t my boot in the snow or my clothing that was making the sound. I immediately forgot about the noise, however, when I spotted two adult Bald Eagles flying towards me and when I put my binoculars down I found that I was looking into the beautiful sapphire blue eyes of a young, but almost fully grown cougar staring at me about 10 metres away. After recovering from the surprise I made myself appear as large as possible by standing on my toes and arching my arms (this was also assisted by the fact that I was wearing six layers of clothing!), while at the same time quietly loosening my pepper spray in its holster. After we stared at each other for about 30 seconds I deliberately and overtly turned my head away in what (I hoped) was a submissive gesture and after another 20 seconds the animal moved down-slope to the east where it stood at the edge of the forest making the same mewling sound that I had originally heard. About 20 seconds later an adult female cougar loped down to the young animal passing about 10 metres to the north of me and both immediately disappeared into the forest. If I thought that the young animal looked large the female looked huge by comparison and I was rather relieved that she completely ignored me. 10.08 hours (921.81) BAEA 13 (578), RLHA 2 (74), GOEA 4 (5407) TOTAL 19 (8114)

November 20 [Day 84] I was back on the ridge today where the sky was cloudless all day with a temperature of -10C at 0800 that rose to -4C at 1500 and down to -9C at 1700. Winds were again generally light W or WNW, normally 10-14 km/h with even calm periods in the late afternoon. The first raptors were 3 Bald Eagles at 1140 and movement was subsequently slow but steady until the last Bald Eagle went south at 1615. The count of 15 Bald Eagles is the highest since November 10, and the single Rough-legged Hawk at 1406 is the first seen since November 11. The only non-raptor migrant moving in any numbers was Canada Goose with 378 birds counted including a flock of 130 flying west at 1213 and one of 150 flying south at 1718. The only passerines moving were 9 Common Redpolls. 10.08 hours (911.73) BAEA 15 (565), NOGO 1 (161), RLHA 1 (72), GOEA 3 (5403) TOTAL 20 (8095)

November 19 [Day 83] (Raymond Toal) It was yet another calm day with occasional light westerly winds, a cloudless sky all day and a temperature that climbed to zero from a low of -9C. The first migrant was not seen until 1402 when an adult Bald Eagle went south followed in the same hour by 3 adult Golden Eagles and another adult Bald Eagle. I arrived back at the site just in time to see the 5400th migrant Golden Eagle of the season at 1619: a juvenile bird. The Golden Eagle total is now exactly 1000 higher than last fall’s count at this site. An un-aged goshawk, and 2 late moving adult Bald Eagles at 1652 rounded out the day’s count. 9.25 hours (901.65) BAEA 4 (550), NOGO 1 (160), GOEA 4 (5400) TOTAL 9 (8075)

November 18 [Day 82] (Raymond Toal) The temperature range was only -1C to 1C and after moderate westerly winds early the winds again became light after 1000 with most of the day seeing 90-100% cirrostratus cloud. Apart from a few sightings of the resident family group of 2 adults and 1 juvenile Golden Eagle and a single hunting Northern Goshawk over Bluff Mountain at 1040 no migrant raptors were seen. This ends a 43 consecutive day count of migrant Golden Eagles involving 4466 birds between October 8 and November 17. 7 hours (892.5), no migrant raptors.

November 17 [Day 81] (Raymond Toal) Today saw one of the rarest meteorological events in the Crowsnest Pass area: a calm day! It was almost windless at the base of the ridge and winds aloft were light all day with the cumulus cloud barely moving The temperature rose from a low of 3C to a high of 7C at 1500, and the ridge remained clear until 1300 after which it was occasionally draped with cloud. As might be expected under such conditions movement was desultory with only 8 migrants between 0914 and 1545, 6 of which were Golden Eagles, and no Bald Eagles were seen for only the second time this month. In compensation splendid views were afforded by an adult Northern Goshawk which parked itself close to the observers for several minutes, and a male Northern Three-toed Woodpecker was similarly cooperative later in the afternoon. 8 hours (885.4) NOGO 1 (159), GOEA 6 (5396), UE 1 (12) TOTAL 8 (8066)

November 16 [Day 80] (Raymond Toal) It was a pleasant day with the temperature rising from 3.5C at the base of the ridge at 0800 to 7C at 1000 where it remained until 1600. The west winds were moderate in the morning only becoming strong after 1500 and 10% cumulus cloud cover initially increased to 80% at noon but quickly diminished to 20% in the afternoon. The southern end of the Livingstone Range was draped with cloud until 0900 but was subsequently clear for the rest of the day. Movement was again sporadic from the first Golden Eagle at 0858, with half the 14 migrants counted occurring between 1300 and 1400 and the last bird, an unidentified large Accipiter (probably a goshawk) flying south at 1517. 8 hours (877.4) BAEA 6 (546), NOGO 1 (158), UA 1 (57), GOEA 6 (5390) TOTAL 14 (8058)

November 15 [Day 79] At 0710 I climbed to the ridge where the wind was blowing 60 km/h from the west, the mountains to the north were cloud-covered and it was snowing, so I went back down and watched for the rest of the day from the site we occupied in late November last year at the base of the ridge to the west. Snow continued until after 1100 and the mountains finally cleared at 1135, but were thereafter periodically occluded for the rest of the day. As a result the first migrant did not appear until 1146 and movement was then slow and sporadic all day, but considering the conditions and the lateness of the season the 13 birds counted was not bad. I shall be going to Calgary for the next couple of days to join Barbara who is awaiting news of treatment for a recently detected small tumour patch in her left cerebellum, but the count will continue in my absence under the auspices of Denise and Raymond at the Valley View (Frank) site. 10.08 hours (869.4) BAEA 9 (540), NOGO 1 (157), GOEA 3 (5384) TOTAL 13 (8044)

November 14 [Day 78] A cloudless sky until 1030 dropped the temperature to -7C and with WNW to NW winds gusting to 50 km/h it felt a little chilly. After 1030 it progressively clouded over with cirrus, cirrostratus and altostratus, finally developing a Chinook Arch after 1600 as winds shifted to westerly and the temperature rose to -3C. The first raptor migrants were 2 Northern Goshawks at 1056 that raised the seasonal total above the 154 counted last year, and movement was subsequently slow only increasing between 1500 and 1600 when 8 of the day’s 22 migrants moved. The last bird of the day was a female grey morph Gyrfalcon at 1554, bringing the seasonal species total to 9. Passerine movement was steady to mid-afternoon and comprised 25 Snow Buntings, 207 grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 8 Pine Grosbeaks and 132 Common Redpolls. 10.33 hours (859.32) BAEA 11 (531), NOGO 3 (156), GOEA 7 (5381), GYRF 1 (9) TOTAL 22 (8031)

November 13 [Day 77] It was a delightful morning with a temperature of -4C, WNW winds only gusting to 50-70 km/h and 20-50% cumulus cloud cover giving mainly sunny conditions. After 1330, however, a series of snow showers swept in from the NW generally lasting around 45 minutes each time reducing the temperature to -6C and obscuring the Livingstone Range to the north. The morning saw a slow but steady stream of southward-bound raptors starting at 0850, and a late subadult Golden Eagle at 1026 proved to be the 8000th migrant raptor of the season. The second bird of the day was an adult dark morph Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk which is the latest ever at the site and the 33rd “Harlan’s” of the season. The flow stopped with the development of snow squalls in the afternoon and only a further two birds, an adult Golden Eagle and adult Bald Eagle, moved in a snow-free interlude. With the exception of rosy finches passerine movement is also slowing with today’s count comprising 32 Bohemian Waxwings, 152 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 1 Pine Grosbeak and 4 Common Redpolls. 10.33 hours (848.99) BAEA 2 (520), NOGO 1 (153), RTHA 1 (188), GOEA 10 (5374) TOTAL 14 (8009)

November 12 [Day 76] Westerly winds were already gusting to 70 km/h at 0800 and after 1300 strengthened with gusts to 110 km/h and one at 1325 was above 120 km/h. Cloud cover was mainly 100% altostratus, altocumulus and cumulus and the temperature briefly rose to 1C from a low of -2C until snow developed from the west at 1330 obscuring the mountains for the rest of the day. Two adult Golden Eagles and a juvenile Bald Eagle moved between 0816 and 0829 suggesting that it would be another good day. Just before 1000 another adult Golden Eagle moved south closely followed by an adult Northern Goshawk and that was it for the day. The mountains to the north remained clear for another 3.5 hours but snow had obviously already developed to the north stopping further movement. Passerine movement was also thin involving 18 Bohemian Waxwings and 49 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, and even Common Ravens were uncharacteristically scarce. 8 hours (838.66) BAEA 1 (518), NOGO 1(152) GOEA 3 (5364) TOTAL 5 (7995)

November 11 [Day 75] A cool day starting at -5C and only rising to -2C with westerly winds gusting to 40 km/h in the morning and 65 km/h in the afternoon making observation uncomfortable. Sky conditions, however, were generally favourable for observation with 5-80% cumulus and altocumulus cloud cover, and threatening snow squalls to the west in mid afternoon failed to reach us. Raptor movement was reasonably steady all day from 0844 to 1655, peaking 1100-1200 with the passage of 15 birds including 12 Golden Eagles, which are still moving south in good numbers. Eleven of the 39 Golden Eagles counted today were juveniles. Two Prairie Falcons hunted near the site for about an hour in the early afternoon providing spectacular views of the birds before they moved south. Flocks of passerines moved south until mid afternoon and included 2 American Robins (the latest ever seen at the site), 30 Bohemian Waxwings, 763 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 8 Pine Grosbeaks and 435 Common Redpolls. 10.42 hours (830.66) BAEA 13 (517), RLHA 2 (71), GOEA 39 (5361), PRFA 2 (17) TOTAL 56 (7990)

November 10 [Day 74] Winds were again westerly all day, generally moderate until 1430 after which they gusted up to 70 km/h. The temperature was 3C at 0800 and rose to 4C by late morning, but fell to 0C by 1600, and mainly cumulus and cumulostratus cloud cover ranged from 70-100%. Light rain showers in the morning gave way to periods of snow and hail after 1345 with the mountains to the north periodically obscured for up to 50 minutes at a time. Raptor movement again started early with the only Rough-legged Hawk of the day moving south with a couple of ravens at 0745, and was steady until 1400 by which time 47 birds had gone south. After the snow developed only another 3 migrants were seen including the second adult grey morph Gyrfalcon of the day: a female (the first was a male). In a 32 minute period in the morning we reached three milestones for the season: the 5300th Golden Eagle at 1019, the 7900th migrant raptor at 1031 and the 500th Bald Eagle at 1051. Passerine movement was relatively sparse and comprised 57 Bohemian Waxwings, 32 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 1 Red Crossbill and 26 Common Redpolls. 10.25 hours (820.24) BAEA 18 (505), NOGO 1 (151), RLHA 1 (69), GOEA 28 (5322), GYRF 2 (8) TOTAL 50 (7934)

November 9 [Day 73] The system that arrived yesterday evening passed through quickly overnight leaving 2 cm of fresh snow on the ridge, and the morning was clear, 0C with moderate west winds at 0800. The wind rapidly increased, however, and soon after 0900 was gusting to 80-100 km/h creating problems with blowing snow. Fortunately after about 1.5 hours all the loose snow had blown off the ridge and I no longer had to wipe my lenses every couple of minutes. The wind dropped to a pleasant 50-70 km/h in the afternoon, with the temperature rising to 5C, but increasing and darkening cumulus cloud produced snow pellets from 1435 to 1525. Raptor movement started early with 2 Rough-legged Hawks and a Bald Eagle moving before 0800 and continued strongly until 1400 by which time I had counted 68 birds. After 1400 only another 6 birds moved suggesting that they were being blocked by adverse weather conditions to the north. The flight was dominated by Golden and Bald Eagles, the latter species having now surpassed last year’s count of 482 birds. A juvenile male grey morph Gyrfalcon that flew close to the site at 0941 was the 6th of the season, equaling last year’s count, and was the fourth in the last seven days. A Townsend’s Solitaire flying south at 0801 was the first seen since October 14, and was a first November record. Other migrant passerines were 110 Bohemian Waxwings, 360 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 3 Pine Grosbeaks, 3 Red Crossbills, 2 White-winged Crossbills and 58 Common Redpolls. 10.5 hours (809.99) BAEA 33 (486), NOGO 2 (150), RLHA 4 (68), GOEA 34 (5294), GYRF 1 (6) TOTAL 74 (7884)

November 8 [Day 72] The morning was as gloomy as it was yesterday with 100% cloud cover, a starting temperature of 0C and moderate westerly winds. After 1300, however, the altostratus cloud dissipated and was replaced by 40-60% cirrus and cumulus, the wind dropped to less than 10 km/h and the temperature rose to 5C under mainly sunny skies: it felt like August again. It was not to last: at 1510 the wind switched to E, 100% altostratus and cumulus cloud developed quickly, the temperature fell back to 0C and by 1700 cloud was enveloping the peaks of the Livingstone Range. Although the first Golden Eagle moved south at 0825 raptor migration was slow with only 11 birds counted before 1400. The next two hours, however, produced 18 more birds with the last, a Rough-legged Hawk, moving at 1551. The highlight of the day was an adult Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk at 1517, the latest ever record of the species at the site and the first time the subspecies has been seen in November. An adult Bald Eagle at 1441 brought the combined species total for the season to 7,800. A flock of 120 Canada Geese flew high to the SSW at 0915, 14 flew high to the W at 1643 and a third flock of 20 moved to the SSW at 1700 just as the weather was closing in. A Northern Pygmy-Owl was in the area all afternoon, at one time perching at the site for around 20 minutes. Passerine movement was fairly diverse but numbers were somewhat down from the last several days: 69 Bohemian Waxwings, 1 Snow Bunting, 1 Purple Finch, 56 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 7 Pine Grosbeaks, 9 Red Crossbills, 17 White-winged Crossbills and 108 Common Redpolls. 10.58 hours (799.49) BAEA 14 (453), NOGO 3 (148), RTHA 1 (187), RLHA 4 (64), GOEA 7 (5260) TOTAL 29 (7810)

November 7 [Day 71] A rather gloomy day with 100% cumulus and altostratus cloud cover until late afternoon, but relatively warm with the temperature ranging from 2C to 4C. Winds were westerly and generally moderate only gusting to 50 km/h around 1300 and after 1700. The southern end of the Livingstone Range was periodically enveloped in cloud and as a result raptor movement was sporadic and sparse with only 22 birds moving between 0932 and 1559. By way of compensation the flight comprised 8 species of raptor including our first ever November Northern Harrier (an adult female), the 5th Gyrfalcon of the season (a grey morph adult male) and the first migrant Prairie Falcon for 16 days. A subadult Golden Eagle gliding past at 1546 was number 5250 for the season. An adult male Oregon (J.h.montanus) Junco was the first at the site since October 9 and was the first time the subspecies has been recorded there in November, and a flock of 40 Snow Buntings flying south also represented a November first. Other migrant passerines were 390 Bohemian Waxwings, 127 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 5 Pine Grosbeaks, 4 White-winged Crossbills and 182 Common Redpolls. 10.58 hours (788.91) BAEA 2 (439), NOHA 1 (56), SSHA 1 (1219), NOGO 1 (145), RLHA 1 (60), GOEA 14 (5253), GYRF 1 (5), PRFA 1 (15) TOTAL 22 (7781)

November 6 [Day 70] The temperature started at -1C and rose to a very pleasant 4C for much of the afternoon as westerly winds freshened to 40-50 km/h. Cloud cover was a variable mixture of altostratus, cirrus and lenticular from 20-90% again providing an excellent viewing background for much of the day. The first raptor of the day was a Merlin at 0746, but thereafter the movement was dominated by eagles with the 43 Golden Eagles being the highest total this month so far. Movement was fairly steady all day with peak movement of 16 birds between 1100 and 1745, and the last Bald Eagle moved south at 1652. Passerine movement included 1 American Robin (the first for 9 days), 190 Bohemian Waxwings, 75 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 3 Pine Grosbeaks, 1 Red Crossbill, 33 White-winged Crossbills, and 293 Common Redpolls. After having seen Bobcat tracks after every snowfall both last fall and this I finally managed to see the animal in the flesh as it moved eastwards just north of the site at 1642: from the size of the track it appeared to be a male. 10.75 hours (778.33) BAEA 20 (437), NOGO 2 (144), GOEA 43 (5239), MERL 1 (27) TOTAL 66 (7759)

November 5 [Day 69] With 6 cm of fresh snow on the ridge the starting temperature at 0700 was -10C, the coldest so far, with SE winds gusting to15km/h and a moderate northerly upper flow. After noon the wind shifted to WSW with a westerly upper flow and the temperature steadily rose reaching -1C at 1600. The Livingstone Range to the north was obscured in cloud until 1210 but was then clear for the rest of the day, and overall cloud cover ranged from 100% to 30% altocumulus, altostratus, cumulus and cirrus giving excellent viewing conditions once the mountains cleared. Because of the morning conditions raptor movement was slow to start and by 1400 I had seen only 8 migrants including the first November Cooper’s Hawk for the site. The pace then quickened with 20 birds moving in each of the next 2 hours, a further 8 between 1600 and 1700 and the last bird of the day, an adult Bald Eagle moved south at 1711 against a blazing sunset. The count of 36 Bald Eagles is the highest so far this season, and the adult dark morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk at 1529 is the latest ever at the site. Eight of the 13 Golden Eagles moved after1557 suggesting that tomorrow should see more birds, and the 4th Gyrfalcon of the season cruised by at 1611. Non raptor movement was also abundant and diverse including 633 Canada Geese, 1 Cackling Goose (the 98th species for the season and a first November record), 5 European Starlings (new for November) and 149 Bohemian Waxwings. Six species of finch also moved past the site: 129 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 3 Pine Grosbeaks, 3 Red Crossbills, 12 White-winged Crossbills, 112 Common Redpolls and 1 Evening Grosbeak which was also a first November record. In total 1128 birds of 21 species were seen, 8 of which were raptor species: not bad for a cold November day at 1,900 m. 10.75 hours (767.58) BAEA 36 (417), SSHA 1 (1218), COHA 1 (191) NOGO 1 (142), RTHA 1 (186), RLHA 3 (59), GOEA 13 (5196), GYRF 1 (4) TOTAL 57 (7693)

November 4 [Day 68] [Note: change to Mountain Standard Time] It was a surprisingly pleasant early morning with the temperature 3C at 0700 with moderate westerly winds and 100% cumulus and stratocumulus cloud cover. At 0800 the wind shifted to easterly and by 0840 the peaks of the Livingstone Range were obscured and steady snow started at 0900 with the temperature now 1.5C and falling. Just before the mountains to the north disappeared under cloud for the day two adult Golden Eagles glided along the ridge to the south. A few songbirds also moved ahead of the snow including 6 Common Redpolls and the first Red-breasted Nuthatch for 12 days. One of 3 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches feeding near the site at 0828 was the grey hooded subspecies littoralis (“Hepburn’s Rosy Finch”) 2.5 hours (756.83) GOEA 2 (5183) TOTAL 2 (7636)

November 3 [Day 67] (Bill Wilson) It was a little milder than the last couple of days with a starting temperature of -1C that gradually climbed to a high of 2.5C at 1800. Winds were strong westerly all day gusting to 65 km/h and it was generally cloudy with 70-100% altocumulus and altostratus cloud with only occasional sunny periods. The raptor count was again remarkably similar to that of yesterday with movement starting with a juvenile Golden Eagle at 0934 and finishing with an un-aged Golden Eagle in the gloom of 1544 and included 13 Bald Eagles (all adults) and 26 Golden Eagles. The highlight of the day was a white (or very pale grey) Gyrfalcon that flew directly overhead before noon: the third of the season. After several days of strong passerine movement the only migrants recorded today were 13 Bohemian Waxwings, 6 Pine Grosbeaks and 88 Common Redpolls. Bill relieved me today so that I could attend the RMERF planning session and Board Meeting near Calgary at which my suggestion to change the name of the count to Piitaistakis-South Livingstone was accepted. Piitaistakis (pronounced “beetaISHstahkuh”) is the traditional Piikani (Blackfoot) name for the ridge system on which the count site is situated and the name means, appropriately, “Place of the Eagles”. 10.66 hours (754.33) BAEA 13 (381), NOGO 5 (141), RLHA 1 (56), GOEA 26 (5181), GYRF 1 (3) TOTAL 46 (7634)

November 2 [Day 66] The temperature briefly reached a high of -0.5C at 1600 from a low of -6C and with W to NW winds gusting to 80 km/h in the afternoon it again made for chilly viewing against a background of altocumulus, lenticular and cirrus Chinook clouds. Raptor migration was remarkably similar to yesterday with the main movement again late in the day: 16 birds moved between 1658 and the last Golden Eagle of the day at 1748. Another adult dark morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk at 1156 becomes the latest ever at the site. A male Mountain Bluebird just after noon is the first November record, as is a pair of Cassin’s Finches at 1105. As has been the norm in the last couple of weeks most of the passerine movement occurred before 1000, although a flock of 10 Bohemian Waxwings flew south past the site at 1818. Other migrants were 170 Bohemian Waxwings, 1 Purple Finch, 99 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 18 Red Crossbills, 20 White-winged Crossbills and 983 Common Redpolls. 11 hours (743.67) BAEA 11 (368), NOGO 3 (136), RTHA 1 (185), RLHA 2 (55), GOEA 28 (5155) TOTAL 45

November 1 [Day 65] Another cool day starting at -3C, briefly reaching 0C at 1400 and falling to -3C again by 1800. Winds were W to NW gusting 50-55 km/h in the morning but moderated to 20-30 km/h in the afternoon, and cloud cover was mainly cumulus varying from 100% early in the morning to 10% at 1850. There were periodic brief snow flurries moving from the NW in the morning that probably disrupted raptor flow until after noon. Although the first Golden Eagle moved south at 0830 movement was slow and sporadic for most of the day, increasing slightly after 1500 when 20 of the 36 birds counted moved. The last bird of the day was a Rough-legged Hawk at 1814, and the adult dark morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk at 1128 was the latest ever record of the species at the site. Passerine movement was also lower compared to recent days with most birds moving south in small flocks instead of the 100+ flocks of the last week: 25 Bohemian Waxwings, 3 Purple Finches, 56 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 6 Red Crossbills, 2 White-winged Crossbills and 110 Common Redpolls. Purple Finch and Red Crossbill were new species for November as was a single Dusky Grouse that flew north in the gathering dusk just before 1830. 11.08 hours (732.67) BAEA 8 (357), NOGO 3 (133), RTHA 1 (184), RLHA 2 (53), GOEA 22 (5127) TOTAL 36 (7543)

October 31 [Day 64] Strong westerly winds all day gusting to 90 km/h in the afternoon combined with temperatures that ranged from -2C to 2.5C made observation uncomfortable, but the cloud cover of 40-100% cirrus, altostratus and lenticular cloud made locating and identifying birds easy. Raptor movement started at 0835 and apart from a few gaps was fairly continuous until 1744 when the last Bald Eagle went through. At 1625 our second Gyrfalcon, an adult grey morph female, glided by which also proved to be the 7500th migrant raptor of the season; the next bird seen was the 5100th Golden Eagle of the season. As 17 of the 67 Golden Eagles seen today were juveniles it seems probable that there are still a few more birds to come through. Finches once again dominated passerine migration with significant movement of White-winged Crossbills for the first time this season: Bohemian Waxwing 16, Purple Finch 7, Grey-crowned Rosy Finch 103, Pine Grosbeak 2, Red Crossbill 38, White-winged Crossbill 26, Common Redpoll 485 and Pine Siskin 1. In October we spent 30 days at the site losing just 1 day to weather and only having 1 other day curtailed because of weather. The 344 hours spent at the site was 14.8% higher than in 2006 and in this time we counted a total of 5606 migrant raptors, 31.4% higher than last year’s October total and the highest monthly count ever conducted by RMERF. Ospreys (3) were counted in the month for the first time at the site including our latest bird ever on the 18th, the 308 Bald Eagles are 29.4% higher than last year’s count and the 9 harriers are one more than last year. The total of 657 Sharp-shinned Hawks is 48.6% above last October’s count, while the 36 Cooper’s Hawks are 28% lower and the 104 Northern Goshawks are 11.8% higher than last year. Both Red-tailed Hawk (31: -64.4%) and Rough-legged Hawk (50: -56.9%) are significantly lower than last October’s counts. It was a fabulous month for Golden Eagles with the monthly count of 4352 being 36.9% higher than last year’s October count. No American Kestrels were counted in October this year while the 19 Merlins were 9.5% less than last year and the 2 Gyrfalcons are the same. The strong peregrine movement of September continued into October with 8 birds passing, 300% more than in October last year, while the 3 migrant Prairie Falcons were 70% lower than last year. 11.17 hours (721.59) BAEA 12 (349), NOGO 3 (130), RLHA 1 (51), GOEA 67 (5105), MERL 1 (27), GYRF 1 (2) TOTAL 85 (7508)

October 30 [Day 63] It was a day almost devoid of cloud and similarly devoid of raptors for the first time this month. Winds were again westerly all day, light in the morning and moderate in the afternoon with gusts not exceeding 37 km/h, and the temperature high was 1.4C from a low of -4C. Only 8 raptors moved all day under what appeared to be ideal conditions so it is probable that conditions were not so favourable to the north. By comparison there was a large finch movement, especially in the morning, involving 6 Purple Finches, 102 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 24 Red Crossbills and 1,082 Common Redpolls which moved south in flocks of up to 130 birds. In the morning I watched a female Red Crossbill feeding a juvenile bird while perched atop a Douglas Fir suggesting that the juvenile was only recently fledged. A Mountain Bluebird at the site early in the morning was the latest there by 14 days, and the Northern Pygmy-Owl was also present in the morning. A Least Chipmunk approached within a few centimetres of my boot while foraging for food around midday: they seem to coexist with Yellow Pine Chipmunks at the site and it is not obvious what the ecological separation of the two species is. 11.25 hours (710.42) SSHA 2 (1217), NOGO 1 (127), GOEA 5 (5038) TOTAL 8 (7423)

October 29 [Day 62] The count today was mainly conducted by Denise, Karola, Keith and Raymond allowing me to take Barbara to Calgary for a medical appointment. I arrived back at the site in the late afternoon and helped for the last couple of hours… not that they needed much help as they had done an excellent job of identification and recording. Winds were westerly (or occasionally from the SW) all day generally 30-40 gusting up to 50 km/h, with variable 30-80% cirrus, cumulus and lenticular cloud cover, and a temperature high of 7.5C from a low of 4C. Raptor movement started at 0825 and was fairly steady all day. Golden Eagle numbers finally show signs of diminishing but the bird at 0935 brought the seasonal total to 5000 for the first time ever. Bald Eagles and Northern Goshawks continue to increase and the adult male Northern Harrier at 1022 was the latest ever at the site. As often happens, Rough-legged Hawks moved very early and very late in the day. The migrant passerines today were 94 Bohemian Waxwings, 200 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 5 Red Crossbills, 345 Common Redpolls and 99 Pine Siskins. 11.33 hours (699.17) BAEA 14 (337), NOGO 10 (126), RLHA 4 (50), GOEA 55 (5033), UE 4 (11), MERL 1 (26) TOTAL 89 (7415)

October 28 [Day 61] A pleasant day for late October with the temperature rising to 8C from a low of 2C, westerly winds generally between 35 and 50 km/h and an excellent observing sky of cirrus, cumulus and spectacularly sculpted lenticular cloud. Raptor movement was slow to start with the first Golden Eagle not moving until 0930, but the third eagle of the day at 0941 was the 7217th of the season equaling the total combined species count for last year. Movement peaked at 23 birds between 1200 and 1300 and movement remained steady and leisurely allowing plenty of time to enjoy the birds until the last Bald Eagle moved south at the early hour of 1758. A single American Robin was the first for 7 days and another 161 Bohemian Waxwings went south, but again finches dominated the passerine movement with 3 Purple Finches, 180 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 14 Red Crossbills, 317 Common Redpolls and 97 Pine Siskins passing by. Cougar tracks in a remnant snow patch at the site were the first evidence of the species here this season. 11.33 hours (687.84) BAEA 15 (323), SSHA 5 (1215), NOGO 8 (116), GOEA 84 (4978) TOTAL 112 (7326)

October 27 [Day 60] The temperature at 0800 was -2.5C under cloudless skies which remained clear until just after noon when cirrus cloud moved from the west and soon after thick altostratus cloud formed a Chinook Arch which in turn moved off to the east after 1700. Westerly winds which were moderate until noon became strong in the afternoon gusting to 80 km/h until 1600 when they moderated to 35-55 km/h, and the temperature peaked at 5C. Raptors continue to stream south with movement beginning at 0853 and ceasing at the relatively early time of 1808 when we were still 3 birds short of equaling the 2006 final combined species count of 7217. The Golden Eagle seen at 1221 brought the season’s total to 4753 which equaled the previous highest ever Golden Eagle count at Mount Lorette in 2000. South Livingstone now holds the world record at 4894 with about 5 more weeks of counting to come! The 33 Bald Eagles is the highest daily count so far this season and at 1624 the first Gyrfalcon of the season flew by, a juvenile grey morph, which was the 98th bird species recorded this fall. Passerine movement was also good and included the first Northern Shrike (species #96) and Rusty Blackbird (a male) (#97) of the season. For both birds it was the first time they had been recorded at the ridge top, both having been seen lower down last year. Another 205 Bohemian Waxwings flew south and finch movement involved 6 species: 6 Purple Finches, 45 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 3 Pine Grosbeaks, 2 Red Crossbills, 223 Common Redpolls and 8 Evening Grosbeaks. And the Northern Pygmy-Owl also made a guest appearance: not a bad day! 11.5 hours (675.51) BAEA 33 (308), SSHA 5 (1210), NOGO 3 (108), RLHA 8 (46), GOEA 182 (4894), MERL 1 (25), GYRF 1 (1) TOTAL 233 (7214)

October 26 [Day 59] A cloudless sky allowed the temperature to fall to -6C at 0800 and the sky remained cloudless all day, but despite the sunshine the temperature high was only 1C. Winds were moderate westerly all day, mainly from 10 to 20 km/h. The first Golden Eagle moved south along the ridge at 0802, followed in the next 6 minutes by 4 more, but subsequently the pace became more sedate until 1300-1400 when 32 raptors moved south. Another 31 birds moved late in the day between 1740 and 1835 when the last Golden Eagle was seen, 10 hours and 33 minutes after the first. The Golden Eagle count has now surpassed that of 1993 at Mount Lorette (4599) which was until today the second highest RMERF count ever. Passerine movement was again strong, especially in the morning, including the second Brown Creeper for the season, 480 Bohemian Waxwings, 1 Dark-eyed [hyemalis] Junco, 86 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches and 181 Common Redpolls. There was a large influx of Common Ravens flying to the west in the late afternoon pushing the daily count to a season high 139: at 1727 a juvenile Bald Eagle glided right through the middle of a cloud of 30 ravens soaring high over a Livingstone peak. The total bird count for the day was 1058, the highest so far this season. 11.5 hours (665.01) BAEA 6 (275), SSHA 3 (1205), NOGO 4 (105), RLHA 5 (38), GOEA 115 (4712) TOTAL 133 (6981)

October 25 [Day 58] A cold front passing south overnight deposited 3 cm of fresh snow on the ridge and produced a temperature of -4C at 0800 which briefly reached 0.5C at 1500 before gradually falling back to -3C at 1900. Winds were again westerly all day but generally between 20 and 30 km/h which after yesterday felt like a breeze. Cloud cover was 10-50% cumulus generally providing an excellent viewing background. Raptor movement started slowly with only 31 birds passing before 1525 after which there was a dramatic influx of Golden Eagles with 143 mainly adult birds moving before the last was seen at 1830. Most of the birds soared high to the north for several minutes before gliding south and soaring kettles of 7 or 8 birds were common. The Sharp-shinned Hawk total has now exceeded 1200 for the second consecutive year and the Northern Goshawk at 1426 was the 100th of the season. Passerine movement was strong in the morning, with most birds moving before 0900 and included 120 Bohemian Waxwings, 1 Dark-eyed [cismontanus] Junco, 2 Snow Buntings, 1 Purple Finch, 95 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 5 Red Crossbills, 134 Common Redpolls and 10 Pine Siskins. The fresh snow revealed the track of a Raccoon on the trail to the site which is a new mammal for the study area. 11.5 hours (653.51) BAEA 14 (269), SSHA 5 (1202), NOGO 5 (101), GOEA 163 (4597) TOTAL 187 (6848)

October 24 [Day 57] The temperature at 0800 was 9C and rose to a high of 13C at 1400. Winds were from the west all day gusting 50-60 km/h in the morning but became very strong in the afternoon. As I was measuring the wind at 1700 a gust of around 120 km/h knocked me over and I found myself sprawled and rather bruised on a pile of rocks. Cloud cover in the morning was a useful 30-60% cover of altostratus, cumulus and cirrus which diminished to 10-20% in the early afternoon making observation difficult, before clouding over again from the west in the late afternoon. Raptor movement didn’t start until 0925 but then increased steadily with 15 birds passing between 1000 and 1100. Movement was steady until 1300 then rapidly decreased as the winds increased in velocity with the last Golden Eagle moving high to the south at 1655. The Golden Eagle counted at 1057 was the 4400th of the season equaling last fall’s final count for the species. In the morning before the winds picked up there was a varied passerine movement including 132 Bohemian Waxwings, 5 Purple Finches, 1 Cassin’s Finch, 12 Common Redpolls and 7 Pine Siskins, and a Northern Pygmy-Owl perched briefly at the site. At 1450 a Long-tailed Weasel in its white winter pelage hunted just north of the site, conspicuous against the now snow-free ridge. 11 hours (642.01) BAEA 1 (255), SSHA 2 (1197), COHA 1 (190), NOGO 2 (96), GOEA 53 (4434) TOTAL 59 (6661)

October 23 [Day 56] A beautiful fall day with the temperature rising to 11C from a low of 5.5C and a spectacular sky of altostratus, cumulus and cirrus cloud making observation a pleasure. Winds were westerly all day gradually increasing in velocity from 30-40km/h in the morning to 50-60 km/h by late afternoon. The first migrant was a Golden Eagle at 0814, then between 0830 and 0859 31 migrants moved relatively low along the western edge of the ridge: 26 Golden Eagles, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 2 Northern Goshawks. By noon I had counted 96 migrants and was beginning to have visions of a substantial count, but the flow of Golden Eagles increasingly slowed as the afternoon progressed, although a small late movement of Bald Eagles and Rough-legged Hawks and a spectacular sunset graced the last couple of hours of the count. A Red-breasted Nuthatch was the first for a week, but again finches dominated passerine movement: 1 Purple Finch, 25 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 45 Common Redpolls and 91 Pine Siskins, the first substantial movement of this latter species since September 27. 11.58 hours (631.01) BAEA 7 (254), NOHA 1 (54), SSHA 9 (1195), COHA 1 (189), NOGO 5 (94), RLHA 7 (33), GOEA 130 (4381) TOTAL 160 (6602)

October 22 [Day 55] The temperature rose from 0C at 0800 to a high of 4.5C late in the afternoon and the winds were westerly all day generally gusting between 45 and 60 km/h: mercifully we were spared the forecasted 110 km/h gusts. Cloud was a constant mix all day of 80-100% stratocumulus, cumulus and altostratus with snow squalls to the north and west all day. In the afternoon the peaks of the Livingstone Range were in cloud most of the time and conditions for migration appeared to be poor. Raptor movement, however, started at 0828 and birds moved steadily all day along a narrow consistent track between the snow squalls to the west and the occluded mountains to the east, and when the last bird moved south at 1812 120 migrants had passed , 113 of which were Golden Eagles. The only other raptors were 5 Bald Eagles, an adult dark morph Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk and an adult male columbarius Merlin. Because of the high winds passerine movement was muted with the exception of a single flock of about 120 Bohemian Waxwings that perched near the site before flying south: the biggest flock seen so far this season. 11.66 hours (619.43) BAEA 5 (247), RTHA 1 (183), GOEA 113 (4251), MERL 1 (24) TOTAL 120 (6442)

October 21 [Day 54] Again the temperature rose to a high of 0C from a low of -3C, but only fell to -1C at 1900 so it may be warming up! Winds were moderate WNW early but after 1140 became strong gusting over 70 km/h between 1600 and 1700 giving problems with blowing snow for the first time this season. Cloud cover was only 20% cumulus until 1000 when it began to cloud over and the afternoon saw generally dark 90-100% altostratus and cumulus cloud. Raptor movement didn’t start until 0911 with the passage of the first Golden Eagle, but increased quickly with the highest hourly count (22) being 1000-1100. Subsequent movement was fairly steady until the last Golden Eagle moved at 1820. All but 6 birds seen were eagles, a typical situation of high wind conditions, and many of the eagles were buffeted by the wind as they glided high to the south. The only Red-tailed Hawk was an adult light morph calurus. Passerine movement was again dominated by Grey-crowned Rosy Finch (140) and Common Redpoll (143) and a single Snow Bunting also passed high overhead to the south. 11.75 hours (607.77) BAEA 15 (242), SSHA 2 (1186), COHA 1 (188), NOGO 1 (84), RTHA 1 (182), GOEA 121 (4138), PRFA 1 (14) TOTAL 142 (6322)

October 20 [Day 53] This was the first day when the temperature failed to get above freezing, starting and finishing at -3C and reaching 0C in the early afternoon. Winds were WNW to W all day generally gusting between 30 and 40 km/h and the cloud cover ranged from 60% to 90% cumulus, altostratus and cirrus giving excellent observation conditions all day. Golden Eagle movement started at 0817 and 12 birds had moved south before 0900. Movement was steady all day and the last Golden Eagle passed at 1840. At 1719 we counted the 4000th Golden Eagle of the season; last year the 4000th bird didn’t appear until November 4th. We have now counted 3264 Golden Eagles so far in October compared to 3179 for the entire month last year. Similarly, the combined species October total to date of 4278 has also exceeded last year’s total month count of 4267 (and there are still 11 days left in this month!). The total of 10 Northern Goshawks is the highest daily count so far, the 4 Rough-legged Hawks were the first for 5 days and the adult Peregrine Falcon at 1744 brought the season’s total to 35. The highlight of the day, however, was another sort of raptor: a Northern Hawk Owl that perched in exactly the same tree as last year’s bird seen on October 12. Passerine movement was varied and included 4 American Robins, 3 Dark-eyed Juncos, 1 Lapland Longspur, 243 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches and 40 Common Redpolls. Common Ravens, that were conspicuously absent in the morning, moved strongly into the mountains from the SE throughout the afternoon and we ended up with a season high daily count of 106 birds. 11.83 hours (596.02) BAEA 12 (227), SSHA 7 (1184), NOGO 10 (88), RLHA 4 (26), GOEA 114 (4017), PEFA 1 (35) TOTAL 148 (6180)

October 19 [Day 52] A rather unpleasant (and un-forecasted!) day with winds from the WNW and NW gusting 30 to 45 km/h, 100% stratocumulus cloud cover for most of the day and temperatures ranging from 0C briefly to 3C in the early afternoon when it briefly stopped snowing. The Livingstone Range to the north cleared for a couple of hours after noon and allowed passage of 21 raptors before cloud re-enveloped the peaks, and heavy snow at 1530 caused us to abandon the ridge. I continued watching from the base of the ridge and saw a further 9 birds moving south between 1628 and 1707 before heavy rain and sleet at 1745 finally brought a trying day to an end. As might be imagined passerine movement was limited but a single flock of 20 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches passed close by me just after 0900 in heavy snow when visibility was only around 10 m. 10.5 hours (584.19) SSHA 5 (1177), NOGO 2 (78), GOEA 23 (3903) TOTAL 30 (6032)

October 18 [Day 51] The temperature at 0800 was -3C and with the westerly wind gusting to almost 40 km/h it felt rather cool. Morning cloud cover ranged from 5% to 40% cumulus providing excellent observing conditions. In the afternoon cloud cover increased to 100% and the temperature rose briefly to 2C before falling to -2C as snow swept from the west at 1740 obscuring the mountains and ending movement for the day. Migration started early with the first Golden Eagle passing south at 0759, but serious migration only started after 1000 and was then steady until 1733 when snow stopped play. Peak movement was 1600 to 1733 when 73 birds moved rapidly to the south, many flapping vigorously to stay ahead of the weather. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the Osprey that passed at 1326, 8 days later than the last Osprey which was itself the latest ever seen on an RMERF count. A single adult dark morph calurus Red-tailed Hawk was the first Buteo in 3 days, and the 34th Peregrine of the season was seen at 1207. The Golden Eagle moving at 1725 was the 6000th raptor of the season: last year we didn’t reach this plateau until October 28 and we are currently 1278 birds ahead of last year on this date. Late yesterday afternoon we saw a Clark’s Nutcracker perched with an unshelled peanut in its bill and this morning at 0925 it was back with another peanut. The provenance of the peanuts is almost certainly Dale Patton’s feeder to the east of the ridge in Frank, and the bird is probably caching them for the coming winter. 11.75 hours (573.69) OSPR 1 (17), BAEA 12 (215), SSHA 15 (1172), COHA 1 (187), NOGO 5 (76), UA 1 (56), RTHA 1 (181), GOEA 228 (3880), MERL 1 (23), PEFA 1 (34) TOTAL 266 (6002)

October 17 [Day 50] It was a cool (0C to 4C) windy (W gusting 35 to 55 km/h) day but with a magnificent sky of altostratus, cirrus and cumulus cloud for most of the day that made both detection and identification of high-flying raptors relatively easy. Raptors of only 5 species moved from 0827 to 1841 but compared to the last six days the flow was sporadic and usually involved single birds suggesting that the main movement of the season is now running out of steam. Peak movement was 31 birds between 1300 and1400 but no other hour produced more than 19 migrants. Passerine movement was also thin but included 2 Purple Finches, 60 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches and the first Snow Buntings of the season (bird species #94): a flock of 8 flying past the site at 1004. 12 hours (561.94) BAEA 12 (203), SSHA 19 (1157), COHA 2 (186), NOGO 8 (71), GOEA 131 (3652) TOTAL 172 (5736)

October 16 [Day 49] After two days with little or no cloud today we had 100% to 80% altostratus and cumulus cover with the sun only breaking through after 1600. To compound the gloom there was a couple of hours of smoke haze in the late morning. Winds were mainly westerly 20-30km/h in the morning but gusted to 54 km/h by mid afternoon, and the temperature rose to 8C from a start of 6C, falling to 4C by 1900. The first migrant Golden Eagle was not seen until 0921 but thereafter we had a steady stream of birds until 1855 when the last Golden Eagle moved high to the south in the gathering dusk. Sharp-shinned Hawks continue to move strongly but otherwise the day was dominated by Golden Eagles again (210): the last 6 days have produced 1845 migrants. The combined species total of 5564 is 1002 higher than on this date this year: either we are going to have a record count this fall or November is going to be very thin! Migrating finches dominated passerine movement and comprised 188 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 14 Purple Finches, 5 Pine Grosbeaks and 6 Common Redpolls, while a male Pileated Woodpecker and a Steller’s Jay added colour to the ridge in the morning. 12 hours (549.94) BAEA 7 (191), NOHA 1 (53), SSHA 36 (1138), COHA 2 (184), NOGO 2 (63), GOEA 210 (3521), MERL 2 (22) TOTAL 260 (5564)

October 15 [Day 48] Winds were similar to those of yesterday, but there was a little more cloud cover with 20% lenticular cloud up to 1000 and10-30% cirrus after 1400. The temperature ranged from 5C up to a very welcome 11.5C under bright sunshine. Raptor movement was again strong and continuous between 0827 and 1833 with maximum movement of 72 birds between 1600 and 1700. Milestones reached today were the 3000th Golden Eagle at 1153, the 5000th migrant raptor at 1315 and the 1100th Sharp-shinned Hawk at 1707. In 2006 Golden Eagles reached 3000 on October 24 and raptors reached 5000 on October 22, and currently we have counted 1022 more Golden Eagles and 742 migrant raptors than on this date last year. The last 5 days alone have yielded 1585 Golden Eagles. The 5 Cooper’s Hawks were the highest daily total since September 26, one of the two Red-tailed Hawks was an adult dark morph Harlan’s and the 33rd Peregrine of the season came through at 1311. Passerine movement was muted but included 2 Cassin’s Finches, 50 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches and 7 Common Redpolls. 12 hours (537.94) BAEA 14 (184), SSHA 36 (1102), COHA 5 (182), NOGO 4 (61), RTHA 2 (180), GOEA 361 (3311), UE 1 (7), PEFA 1 (33) TOTAL 424 (5304)

October 14 [Day 47] Winds were WNW to W all day generally 25-30km/h and occasionally gusting to 40 km/h, and the temperature rose to 11C from a low of 3C. Cloud was essentially absent with only traces of cirrus which occasionally covered up to 2% of the sky. Fortunately there were 23 visitors to the site and the many eyes on the blank sky were a great help in finding raptors. Not that there were many to find in the morning with only 8 birds moving south, but after 1230 migration suddenly started in earnest and movement was steady until 1800 after which only 6 birds were seen. Peak movement was 1500-1600 with 77 birds migrating. Golden Eagles (224) comprised 84% of the 268 birds seen and Sharp-shinned Hawks (19) were relatively scarce after 5 days of strong movement. Of the 5 Red-tailed Hawks two were juvenile “Harlan’s”: one dark and one intermediate morph. Passerine movement was as sluggish as the morning raptor movement but included our 5th Palm Warbler of the season (much to the delight of Doug and Teresa who had managed to avoid the previous four) and late in the day our 3rd Steller’s Jay. 11.67 hours (525.94) BAEA 6 (170), NOHA 2 (52), SSHA 19 (1066), COHA 1 (177), NOGO 4 (57), RTHA 4 (178), RLHA 3 (22), GOEA 224 (2950), UE 2 (6), UU 2 (7) TOTAL 268 (4880)

October 13 [Day 46] It was a gloomy morning with up to 90% altostratus cloud that quickly broke up after 1300 giving sunny conditions and cloudless skies from 1500 to 1730 before the development of 20% cirrus cloud gave some relief to our eyes. Winds were WNW initially then westerly gradually increasing from 10-20 km/h in the morning to 40-50 in the afternoon, and the temperature ranged from 2C to 7C. Raptor movement started early with a Rough-legged Hawk going through at 0758, but movement only really got into gear after 1100 and then rarely slowed until the last Golden Eagle was seen at 1859, by which time 474 raptors had passed south. Peak movement was 1200-1300 with the passage of 102 birds, but a late movement mainly involving Golden Eagles produced 86 migrants between 1800 and 1900. In the afternoon many of the birds soared close overhead in bright sunshine much to the delight of the 10 observers at the site, and the many visual highlights included an adult male Northern Harrier and our 32nd Peregrine of the season. Passerine highlights included a late Palm Warbler, our first White-winged Crossbills of the season (3), 7 Lapland Longspurs and 69 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches. 12.17 hours (514.27) BAEA 20 (164), NOHA 1 (50), SSHA 78 (1047), COHA 2 (176), NOGO 5 (53), RTHA 3 (173), GOEA 362 (2726), MERL 1 (20), PEFA 1 (32) TOTAL 474 (4612)

October 12 [Day 45] Today’s weather was the antithesis of yesterday’s: winds were light easterly all day (< 8 km/h) or calm, and 100% altostratus cloud for most of the day made observation challenging and many raptors went un-aged, especially late in the day. Temperatures ranged from 1C to 7C. Unlike yesterday raptors moved slowly, often after soaring for several minutes, and much of the movement was east of the ridge. Despite this, the combined species total for the day was 355, the second highest of the season, and there was strong movement of Bald Eagles (28), Sharp-shinned Hawks (102) and Golden Eagles (201). There was also a good movement of Rough-legged Hawks late in the day with 13 birds being the highest total so far this season. At 1730 all movement suddenly stopped and subsequently only 3 Bald Eagles came through together at 1836. Songbird movement was varied and included the first Brown Creeper of the season (and the first to be seen at the site) and the first Horned Larks, a flock of 25 flying along the ridge. Yesterday I was surprised by the occurrence of a Cassin’s Finch: today 22 flew over the site in a single flock! Other finch movement comprised 11 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 5 Pine Grosbeaks, 14 Red Crossbills, 66 Common Redpolls and a Pine Siskin. Other migrants included 61 American Robins and occasional kinglets, juncos and nuthatches and our latest ever Yellow-rumped Warblers (2). The Northern Pygmy-Owl which was again present at the site presumably found plenty to feed on. 12 hours (502.1) BAEA 28 (144), NOHA 1 (49), SSHA 102 (969), COHA 4 (174), NOGO 2 (48), RTHA 2 (170), RLHA 13 (18), GOEA 201 (2364) MERL 2 (18) TOTAL 355 (4137)

October 11 [Day 44] North-west to WNW winds gusting to 60 km/h in the morning gave way to westerly winds gusting to 45 km/h in the afternoon giving ideal migration conditions, and a sky of altostratus, cumulus and lenticular cloud and bright sunshine for much of the day provided ideal viewing conditions. Raptors started moving at 0826 and didn’t stop until the last Bald Eagle went south at 1902, and the combined species total of 518 is the highest so far this season. A year ago on this date we counted 514 birds which proved to be the highest count of the season. Bald Eagle (30), Northern Goshawk (8) and Golden Eagle (437) were all season-high counts with the highest hourly count for the latter species (58) being between 1800 and 1900: the birds just kept coming! For the first time this season there was some concerted finch movement including 29 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches and 53 Common Redpolls, and more surprisingly our 3rd female Purple Finch of the season (seen by Teresa) and a very late male Cassin’s Finch. Even more surprising and spectacular in the late afternoon sunshine was a flock of 18 Snow Geese flying high to the south above the mountains at 1736. 12.25 hours (490.1) BAEA 30 (116), NOHA 1 (48), SSHA 36 (867), COHA 2 (170), NOGO 8 (46), RTHA 1 (168), GOEA 437 (2163), PRFA 1 (13), UU 2 (5) TOTAL 518 (3782)

October 10 [Day 43] It was 8.5C on the ridge at 0800 and reached 14.5C at 1300 before falling back to 8C at 1900. Westerly winds were below 16 km/h until 1700 when they increased reaching 36 km/h by 1900. Most of the day was gloomy with 90-100% altostratus cloud, only breaking for 1.5 hours from 1300 to 1430 when we saw some welcome sunshine. Raptor movement was very slow at first with only 9 birds moving before 1300, but it subsequently picked up and peaked between 1600 and 1700 with the passage of 35 birds; Golden Eagles were still flying high to the south as late as 1840. An Osprey at 1546 was our latest ever and an adult Peregrine Falcon was the 31st of the season. Non-raptor highlights included the second migrating American Three-toed Woodpecker for the season and 6 Lapland Longspurs including a flock of 5 feeding north of the site seen by Dawn and Denise. 12.17 hours (477.85) OSPR 1 (16), BAEA 1 (86), SSHA 20 (831), RLHA 1 (5), GOEA 94 (1726), MERL 2 (16), PEFA 1 (31), PRFA 1 (12) TOTAL 121 (3264)

October 9 [Day 42] This was the most pleasant day for weeks with the temperature rising to 6.5C from a low of 1.5C under sunny skies that were cloudless after 1400. Winds were upslope all day varying from E to NE, generally 5-15 km/h and even, on occasion, calm. Because of the light winds the only birds to move in the morning were 48 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 4 Merlins, and the first Golden Eagle was not seen until 1233. The highlight of the morning was an adult male columbarius Merlin flying flat-out pursuing a Downy Woodpecker that had just taken off from the site, which avoided being taken by suddenly dropping vertically just as the Merlin caught up with it. All the birds flying in the morning moved very close to the site and had us ducking on occasion. The combined species total for the day was 316 (11 species) and was the highest so far this season. The 160 Sharp-shinned Hawks was the highest single day count ever for an RMERF count, and the 15 Bald Eagles was the highest daily total for the season. The Osprey was the latest ever seen on an RMERF count, the previous latest being on October 3 at Plateau Mountain (1997) and at Mount Lorette (2000). One of the 9 Red-tailed Hawks was an adult intermediate morph Harlan’s Hawk, and a single juvenile Peregrine Falcon brought the season’s total to 30. We shared the site with a Northern Pygmy-Owl for much of the day, and passerine movement was again dominated by American Robins (98) and the first significant movement of Bohemian Waxwings (30). Many other small passerines passed by in the crops of Sharp-shinned Hawks! 12.8 hours (465.68) OSPR 1 (15), BAEA 15 (85), NOHA 1 (47), SSHA 160 (811), COHA 1 (168), NOGO 5 (38), RTHA 9 (167), RLHA 1 (4), GOEA 118 (1632), UE 1 (4), MERL 4 (14), PEFA 1 (30) TOTAL 316 (3143)

October 8 [Day 41] Ridge winds were light all day variably from the W, SW, E, NE and ESE, often diametrically opposed to the upper winds. The clashing winds generated showers all day variably of rain, snow and hail. The temperature rose to 4C on SW winds and fell to1.5C when the wind switched to the east. The Livingstone Range to the north was only rarely free of cloud all day, and on occasion the observation site was in cloud for up to 30 minutes at a time. Most raptor movement was confined to brief clear periods between 1130 and 1147, and 1510 and 1552, with single birds sporadically moving through the rest of the day. By contrast passerine movement was quite strong, at least before 1000, including 195 American Robins, 5 Townsend’s Solitaires, 10 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 9 Dark-eyed Juncos, 3 American Tree Sparrows, the first ever Lapland Longspur at the site and 3 Palm Warblers in a small flock (the 3rd record for the site, a first October record and the 90th bird species recorded this season). 11 hours (453.6) BAEA 1 (70), SSHA 7 (651), GOEA 14 (1514), MERL 1 (10) TOTAL 23 (2826)

October 7 [Day 40] (Bill Wilson) Winds were WNW to W all day gusting to over 80 km/h in early afternoon but dropping to 50-60 km/h by late afternoon. The temperature ranged from 0.5C to 3.5C and altocumulus/cumulus cloud cover increased from 30% in early morning to 90% by the end of the day. As yesterday the Livingstone Range to the north was shrouded in cloud all day, but when I drove down from Cochrane in the late afternoon the Front Ranges were clear the whole way except for the 4 km north of the observation site! As yesterday the cloud did not appear to deter movement with the first Golden Eagle appearing at 0753 and steady movement to 1300, after which the rate increased peaking at 54 birds between 1400 and 1500. The last Golden Eagle of the day at 1837 was the 257th and was the 278th migrant. Two large falcons that came through late in the gathering gloom might have been Peregrines. For the first few hours there appeared to be two layers of cloud above the site and eagles seemed to flying between them: it is possible that some birds were (gasp!) missed. Again passerine movement was almost non-existent but included 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, the latest recorded at the site. 12.5 hours (442.6) BAEA 6 (69), SSHA 6 (644), COHA 2 (167), NOGO 1 (33), UA 1 (55), GOEA 257 (1500), UE 2 (3), UF 2 (2), UU 1 (3) TOTAL 278 (2803)

October 6 [Day 39] (Bill Wilson) Twenty centimetres of fresh snow made the ascent to the ridge challenging, but there was no further precipitation during the day. Winds were NW to 1100 and westerly for the rest of the day, generally 30-40 km/h gusting 50-60 km/h with the temperature rising to 2C from a low of -2C. The ridge to the north was partially draped in cloud for the whole morning but it did not appear to impede raptor movement with the first Golden Eagle at 0801 and 49 migrant raptors before 1200. After noon, however, things really got underway with the next two hours seeing movement of 42 and 41 raptors respectively and when the last Golden Eagle went through at 1851 the combined species total of 289 was the highest so far this season and included a season-high count of 263 Golden Eagles. Non-raptor migrants were very scarce but included a single flock of 10 Common Redpolls. 12 hours (430.1) BAEA 4 (63), SSHA 13 (638), COHA 3 (165), NOGO 2 (32), UA 2 (54), GOEA 263 (1243), UE 1 (1), PEFA 1 (29) TOTAL 289 (2525)

October 5 [NO OBSERVATION] Heavy snow all day gave us the opportunity to unpack and get the new house at least partly livable. Barbara and I will be attending a friend’s wedding at the weekend and Bill Wilson will be the principal observer for the next two days.

October 4 [Day 38] It was a spectacular start to the day with a vivid red sunrise reflected on the fresh snow cover of the Continental Divide to the west. Winds were light from the WNW then W until 1500 when they changed to easterly and quickly reduced the temperature to -1C from a high of 2C. Thin altostratus cloud gave way at 0900 to widely scattered cumulus and it appeared that lack of cloud was going to make observation difficult. After 1000, however, it rapidly clouded over from the west and from 1100-1145 it snowed steadily. It cleared in the early afternoon and allowed good raptor movement until 1530 when the wind shift brought increasing flurries and finally after 1800 steady wet snow accompanied by thunder. Conditions appeared to be good for early raptor movement but only a few Sharp-shinned Hawks came through before the late morning snow. As soon at the snow ceased birds began to flow, with 66 moving between 1200 and 1300 and 36 and 21 in the next two hours. Movement was largely east of the ridge with much soaring flight, although a number of eagles moved close to the western edge of the ridge giving splendid close-up views. For the first time the Golden Eagle flight was dominated by adult birds (82%). No raptors moved after 1530. Common Ravens reversed yesterday evening’s flight with 47 moving in two flocks to the south before 0730. There was early movement of 43 Canada Geese to the west, and at 1053 a line of 32 Canada Geese moving to the south east of the ridge trailed a lone Snow Goose, the first to be seen from the site. Passerine movement was again strong and included 31 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 25 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 8 Townsend’s Solitaires, 84 American Robins, 2 European Starlings (just the second record for the site), 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (the first for 6 days), 39 Dark-eyed Juncos (mainly “Slate-coloured” morphs), a second female Purple Finch for the site and 2 Common Redpolls, although compared to last year finches continue to be generally scarce. 11.5 hours (418.1) BAEA 4 (59), SSHA 25 (625), COHA 3 (162), RTHA 1 (158), RLHA 1 (3), UB 2 (2), GOEA 96 (980) TOTAL 132 (2236)

October 3 [Day 37] At 0600 the peaks and ridge appeared almost clear, but when I arrived at the site everything was obscured, it was snowing lightly with 4cm fresh on the ground and the temperature was -1C with a NW wind gusting 30 km/h. As it showed no sign of clearing I came down at 0950, but re-ascended at 1230 when the cloud appeared to be lifting. The signs were misleading, however, as the cloud remained firmly on the peaks and the ridge was regularly swept by snow pellet and snow showers driven by 30 km/h NW to WNW winds. As compensation the temperature did climb to zero. Finally, after 1600 the clouds suddenly lifted producing sunny skies for about 1.5 hours before heavy snow returned obscuring everything for the rest of the day. Not surprisingly raptor movement was non-existent for much of the day, with the first Golden Eagle not moving until 1458 when the peaks to the north were still in cloud, and a second Golden Eagle and a Merlin came through about an hour later. When the clouds finally lifted at 1600 raptors started migrating immediately and 33 birds moved before 1700 and a further 9 before 1728 when snow squalls re-developed to the north. The movement involved 8 species including the 28th Peregrine Falcon (a juvenile) of the season and 2 adult Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawks. Despite the conditions in the morning there was a surprisingly good movement of songbirds including 42 American Robins, 40 Ruby-crowned Kinglets and 20 juncos as well as a male Downy Woodpecker. There was also a second wave of movement late in the afternoon coincident with the clearing that included another 46 robins, 32 juncos, 5 Bohemian Waxwings and 7 Pine Grosbeaks. The numbers of Common Ravens moving to the NW to roost late in the afternoon has been gradually increasing over the last couple of weeks and today rose to over 40 birds. 9.25 hours (406.6) BAEA 6 (55), SSHA 14 (600), COHA 3 (159), NOGO 1 (30), RTHA 3 (157), GOEA 18 (884), MERL 1 (9), PEFA 1 (28) TOTAL 47 (2104)

October 2 [Day 36] Again winds were strong westerly gusting up to 90 km/h around noon but easing to a pleasant 50-75 km/h in the afternoon. The temperature ranged from 2C to 4C, and a broken cumulus/altostratus cloud cover made viewing easy until snow and sleet moved from the west at 1500, and soon after all the ridges were obscured, with steady rain for the rest of the day. It was oddly quiet on the ridge early (apart from the wind!) and I didn’t see a bird of any kind until 0830. Soon after 0900, however, raptor movement started with 14 birds moving before 1000 and 39 before 1300, but only 4 more before the weather finally closed in for the day. It was interesting that during the period of the highest winds (1100-1300) all but one of the 12 Golden Eagles seen were adults whereas for the rest of the movement subadult and juvenile birds predominated. As might be expected on such a windy day passerine movement was muted, but 61 American Robins and a couple of Mountain Bluebirds moved past the site, generally at high speeds! The change in the weather was fortuitous in that I could get to our new house to help in the unpacking of our effects that arrived today. Thanks to the wonderful help of family and friends in the Calgary/Cochrane area and of Karalee and Dawn today in Beaver Mines the move went without a hitch. 7.5 hours (397.35) BAEA 1 (49), SSHA 7 (586), COHA 2 (156), NOGO 1 (29), GOEA 33 (866) TOTAL 44 (2057)

October 1 [Day 35] Winds were strong westerly all day gusting to 60 km/h and rarely dropping below 40 km/h. Up to 1100 the Livingstone Range to the north was substantially draped with cloud although it did not seem to stop the raptor movement, with 29 birds moving before it cleared. Cloud cover gradually cleared throughout the day from 100% to 20%, and the temperature ranged from 2C to 5.5C and back to 2C at 1900. Raptor movement peaked between 1300 and 1400 at 20 birds and diminished throughout the afternoon, but was almost continuous from the first Golden Eagle at 0759 to the last Bald Eagle at 1847. A late movement of Bald Eagles produced a season high count of 7 birds, and the only falcon of the day was a non-migratory Prairie. A female Purple Finch at 1047 was a new species for the site and the 86th of the season, but passerine movement was sparse. A high intensity alarm call of a Clark’s Nutcracker at 1603 had me walking north along the ridge to look for an owl, only to find that the object of its rancour was a perched Red-shafted Flicker which it subsequently pursued to the north with great enthusiasm and a good deal of noise. 12.33 hours (389.85) BAEA 7 (48), SSHA 19 (579), NOGO 2 (28), RTHA 2 (154), RLHA 1 (2), GOEA 80 (833) TOTAL 111 (2013)

September 30 [Day 34] Vance was the principal observer until noon to allow Barbara and myself to take possession of our new house in Beaver Mines. Winds in the morning were W 60-70 km/h moderating to 20 km/h at noon, with the temperature crawling up from -1C to 1C. Winds remained around 20 km/h until 1700 when they again freshened up to 40 km/h, and the temperature reached a high of 5C before falling again to 2C with light snow flurries after 1800. Raptor movement was fairly strong up to 1500, and dominated by Golden Eagles, but after mid afternoon the flow slackened considerably as the clouds darkened, suggesting poor weather to the north blocking the flow. No Buteos were recorded, but the 2 Peregrine Falcons made it 6 days in a row that we have recorded the species.
During the month of September we spent 27 days (308 hours) in the field losing 3 complete days to weather (-6.9% and -5.4% compared to 2006 respectively). The combined species total of 1827 for the month was -4.3% lower than last year. Eight species had counts exceeding those of September 2006: Osprey 12 (+9.1%), Bald Eagle (+48%), Broad-winged Hawk 11 (+22.2%), Ferruginous Hawk 3 (cf 0), Golden Eagle 750 (+33%), American Kestrel 30 (+20%), Peregrine Falcon 27 (+145%) and Prairie Falcon (+66.7%). Eight species had counts less than those of September 2007: Northern Harrier 43 (-33%), Sharp-shinned Hawk 546 (-28%), Cooper’s Hawk 141 (-10%), Northern Goshawk (24 (-25%), Swainson’s Hawk 1 (-50%), Red-tailed Hawk 134 (-23%), Rough-legged Hawk 1 (-50%) and Merlin 6 (-71%). 11.5 hours (377.52) BAEA 1 (41), SSHA 13 (560), COHA 2 (154), UA 2 (52), GOEA 96 (753), MERL 1 (8), PEFA 2 (27) TOTAL 117 (1902)

September 29 [Day 33] Today was the first Crowsnest Pass Eagle Festival and it was greeted by steady snow until late morning, and the mountain ridges remained obscured until 1530. Despite the weather a group of RMERF members were on the ridge just after noon and were joined by many others until 22 of us were enjoying the just above freezing temperatures and the west winds that gradually increased to over 30 km/h. We were rewarded by the first ever Short-eared Owl at the site, and 85th species for the season, which migrated south along the ridge at 1434, and even before the Livingstone range to the north had cleared a male American Kestrel and a Sharp-shinned Hawk had made their way south. When the mountains finally cleared there was a small movement of accipiters and a single juvenile Golden Eagle and, late in the day, the now expected Peregrine Falcon. There were enough non-raptor species around to make it interesting, the views were spectacular as ever and despite the weather a splendid time was had by all. 6.75 hours (366.02) SSHA 3 (547), COHA 3 (152), GOEA 1 (657), AMKE 1 (37), PEFA 1 (25) TOTAL 9 (1785)

September 28 [Day 32] A warm start to the day with the temperature at 8C at 0700 with a WSW wind at 30 km/h increasing to 60 km/h by early afternoon. Cloud cover ranged from 70-100% and, despite squalls in the area, the mountains remained clear all day. At 1800 a probable cold front passed bringing a brief shower and quickly reducing the temperature from a high of 11C to 5C. Raptor movement carried on where it had left off yesterday with 35 birds moving before 1100, but it progressively became slower and more sporadic suggesting poor weather interrupting the flow to the north, and the last bird was seen at 1756. Highlights were the first Rough-legged Hawk of the season (a juvenile light morph female) at 0932, one day earlier than last year, two more Peregrine Falcons (both adults) and an Osprey carrying a large trout that was about two-thirds of its body length indicating a size of 50-60 cm. The ridge was almost devoid of songbirds in the morning, but a few turned up later including the first American Tree Sparrows (2) and the second Steller’s Jay and Bohemian Waxwing (2) records of the season. 12.5 hours (359.27) OSPR 1 (14), BAEA 1 (40), NOHA 1 (46), SSHA 11 (544), COHA 1 (149), NOGO 3 (26), RTHA 1 (152), RLHA 1 (1), GOEA 65 (656), PEFA 2 (24) TOTAL 87 (1776)

September 27 [Day 31] It was relatively calm (<30 km/h) before noon, but in the afternoon the westerly winds picked up gusting at times to 60 km/h. The cloud cover was perfect for observation all day with variable combinations of thin cirrus, cumulus and altocumulus cloud providing a perfect backdrop for flying raptors. The combined species total of 204 was the highest so far, as was the Golden Eagle count of 591. Movement started at 0808 when an adult female columbarius Merlin moved along the ridge pushing a wave of fleeing songbirds ahead of it, and finished at 1914 when the last Golden Eagle of the day moved south against a fantastic sunset. The pace of the movement was remarkably consistent with the hourly counts between 1000 and 1800 being 21, 22, 21, 22, 25, 20, 24 and 29. Five of the 10 Red-tailed Hawks were adult dark morph “Harlan’s”. The relatively calm conditions in the early morning combined with a clear night with a full moon produced the best songbird movement for a couple of weeks including 42 Red-breasted Nuthatches (including a single flock of 16 flying south), 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 34 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 50 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 79 American Robins, 15 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 55 Dark-eyed Juncos of 4 different subspecies. In fact a single flock contained all the regularly occurring Alberta forms: hyemalis, cismontanus, montanus and mearnsi. Two Blue Jays flying high to the south along the ridge were the first for the season, and a male American Three-toed Woodpecker was the first seen migrating along the ridge, although I had a feeding bird at a lower elevation last year. The flow of songbirds stopped abruptly at 1000 just in time for the raptor movement to get underway: it was a very busy day! 12.75 hours (346.77) OSPR 1 (13), BAEA 5 (39), NOHA 1 (45), SSHA 36 (533), COHA 2 (148), RTHA 10 (151), GOEA 146 (591), MERL 1 (7), PEFA 2 (22) TOTAL 204 (1689)

September 26 [Day 30] Winds were strong WSW in the morning gusting to 70 km/h diminishing to 50 km/h in the afternoon and to 20 km/h by 1900. In compensation the temperature rose to 11C from a low of 4C, and once the Chinook Arch to the east dissipated after 1000 the day was sunny with variable amounts of cumulus cloud. Again movement was steady for most of the day, peaking at 31 birds between 1200 and 1300 and gradually diminishing after 1600. The only falcon today was a juvenile male Peregrine that scythed across the sky at 1640. Once again American Robins (126) dominated the songbird movement, but a surprise was a noisy flock of 35 Black-billed Magpies moving south at1714. 12.58 hours (334.02) OSPR 1 (12), BAEA 4 (34), NOHA 1 (44), SSHA 40 (497), COHA 9 (146), NOGO 2 (23), RTHA 10 (141), GOEA 57 (445), PEFA 1 (20) TOTAL 125 (1485)

September 25 [Day 29] A good day for observation with 40% to 90% cumulus and altostratus cloud cover and steady west winds 30-40 gusting 55 km/h. The temperature climbed to 7C from a low of 2C and a few light rain showers in the afternoon were very brief. The combined species raptor count of 144 was the highest for the season and movement was steady all day between 0758 and 1850 with peak movement of 33 birds between 1500 and 1600. Season high counts were achieved for Bald Eagle (6), Golden Eagle (100) and, most remarkably, Peregrine Falcon (11) which is a daily record for any RMERF count. Last year the entire South Livingstone count produced only 6 birds! Nearly all the peregrines flew low overhead and one had a bird in its talons. I left the site thinking that I had only 99 Golden Eagles and was disappointed that a late shower had prevented our reaching the three-figure level, but a recount in the evening produced the extra bird. American Robins (58) again dominated the passerine movement, leavened with a few passage Yellow-rumped Warblers (3), Red-breasted Nuthatches (5) and Varied Thrushes (2), and a single male “Pink-sided” Junco amongst other species. 12.75 hours (321.44) BAEA 6 (30), SSHA 12 (457), COHA 3 (137), UA 1 (50), RTHA 6 (131), GOEA 100 (388), AMKE 2 (36), MERL 3 (6), PEFA 11 (19) TOTAL 144 (1360)

September 24 [Day 28] The day dawned cloudless and cool (-1C) with 3 cm of fresh snow at the site. Cumulus cloud built up rapidly after 1100, and then decreased almost as rapidly after 1400 as the WNW to W winds increased from moderate to strong, finally gusting to 60 km/h after 1800 when the temperature finally made it to 5C. Raptor movement was very slow to start with only 7 birds passing before noon, but then got steadily stronger with 22 birds moving between 1800 and 1900 and, for the first time this season, 3 birds after 1900. Both Bald Eagle (5) and Golden Eagle (88) were the highest counts to date and eagle movement became stronger as the wind increased in the afternoon, whereas the accipiters moved earlier when the winds were lighter. Non-raptor movement was relatively light but included 84 American Robins and a late sapsucker. 12.67 hours (308.69) BAEA 5 (24), NOHA 1 (43), SSHA 18 (445), COHA 3 (134), NOGO 1 (21), UA 1 (49), RTHA 7 (125), GOEA 88 (288), PRFA 2 (11) TOTAL 126 (1216)

September 23 [NO OBSERVATION] Rain all day falling as snow on the observation ridge which was enveloped in cloud all day. The forecast for the coming week is good and I expect the main Golden Eagle movement to start in the next few days.

September 22 [Day 27] The day started inauspiciously with rain to 0930 and all peaks obscured, but it then quickly cleared and further rain held off until 1800. Winds were generally moderate westerly apart from a spell around noon when they gusted to 60 km/h, and the temperature rose to 8C from a low of 3C. Cloud cover was mainly cumulus from 70-100% giving good observation conditions although dark clouds in the late afternoon made it almost impossible to age the smaller migrants. The total count was similar to that of yesterday although the composition was totally different, with the flight dominated today by small Accipiters. The 14 Red-tailed Hawks was the highest total so far this season and included 6 “Harlan’s Hawks”. Compared with this date last year the combined species and Golden Eagle counts are 311 and 125 higher respectively than in 2006. American Robins again dominated a rather thin songbird movement, but there was also a steady flow of small flocks of Mountain Bluebirds flying south in the morning. A visiting group from the Alberta Wilderness Association swelled the number of observers to 27, the highest so far this season. 11.67 hours (296.02) BAEA 2 (19), SSHA 45 (427), COHA 10 (131), RTHA 14 (118), GOEA 19 (200), AMKE 1 (34), MERL 1 (3), PRFA 1 (9) TOTAL 93 (1090)

September 21 [Day 26] The day was characterized by strong westerly winds gusting in the morning to 100 km/h and diminishing in the afternoon to 50-60 km/h. As the morning temperatures ranged from 0C to 3C it made observation somewhat uncomfortable, but the temperature rose to 7C in the afternoon, and the high-wind cloud cover made afternoon viewing somewhat more pleasant. Raptors moved fairly steadily between 0839 and 1845 and we counted the highest totals so far for Bald Eagle (4), Golden Eagle (63: more than twice the previous high), Peregrine Falcon (4: the highest single-day count ever at the site with all the birds moving after 1550) and Prairie Falcon (3). The high winds obviously did not favour Accipiter movement with only a scattering of birds throughout the day. The high winds didn’t deter American Robin migration with a season high 134 moving south, including a single flock of 77 at 0750. 12.25 hours (284.35) OSPR 2 (11), BAEA 4 (17), NOHA 1 (42), SSHA 3 (382), COHA 3 (121), NOGO 1 (20), RTHA 5 (104), GOEA 63 (181), PEFA 4 (8), PRFA 3 (8), UU 1 (2) TOTAL 90 (997)

September 20 [Day 25] The day started with 6 cm of fresh snow on the ground, 2C, W-NW and winds gusting 60 km/h, but with all the ridges with the exception of the Continental Divide ranges clear. By 1000, however, all peaks were again obscured, at 1015 snow redeveloped and we left the ridge around noon. Around 1530 it showed signs of clearing and at 1600 I again climbed to the observation site where the temperature was still 2C but the winds had dropped to 30-35 km/h, still with 100% cumulus/altostratus cloud cover. The cloud never fully left the peaks of the Livingstone Range to the north, but by 1930 the cloud cover had rapidly cleared to 60%. Only one Golden Eagle moved south in the morning before the weather closed in, but between 1657 and 1819 a further 11 Golden Eagles, 2 Bald Eagles a Cooper’s Hawk and an adult dark morph “Harlan’s” Red-tailed Hawk moved high to the south just west of the ridge. The prospect for a significant movement tomorrow is good. Not surprisingly very few passerines were found on the ridge, but late in the day a single Common Redpoll perched near the site for the 80th bird species to be recorded this season. The snow provided good tracking conditions for the first time and included Bobcat tracks at the site, but the mammal of the day was a summer pelage Long-tailed Weasel at the site, spectacular against the fresh snow. It was the first seen there although I have seen its tracks before, but it was a first ever sighting for Elly and Arnie Weisbrot who are spending a few days observing at the site before following the eagles south for the winter. 8.25 hours (272.1) BAEA 2 (13), COHA 1 (118), RTHA 1 (99), GOEA 12 (118) TOTAL 16 (907)