August 31 [Day 7] The day again started with the temperature at 16C, but today with W-SW winds gusting to 50 km/h. By noon the temperature had reached 21C when winds gusting to almost 90 km/h coincided with a drop to 18C. After 1500 the winds dropped to 50 km/h again and the temperature rose to 21C. At 1610 rain showers moved in from the west quickly reducing the temperature to 14C. The weather was certainly not conducive to raptor movement (or observation!) and only four migrants were recorded. After a promising start passerine movement just about ceased at 0900. The early movement comprised mainly Yellow-rumped Warblers, Red-breasted Nuthatches and kinglets with a few Wilson’s and Townsend’s Warblers. Notable were the second Western Wood-Pewee and Orange-crowned Warbler of the season. 11.25 hours (69.42) SSHA 1 (14), COHA 2 (13), RTHA 1 (18) TOTAL 4 (73)

August 30 [Day 6] The first 1.5 hours on the ridge saw a rare combination of cloudless sky, winds less than 2 km/h and 16C: I thought I had to be dreaming! It didn’t last and after 0900 the sky rapidly clouded over with high-wind cloud types developing as the wind gradually increased from the W reaching 50 km/h by mid afternoon and raising the temperature to 22C. The first raptors seen were the first Merlin of the year and two male American Kestrels hunting migrating songbirds near the site. Migration was subsequently slow but steady over most of the day with the highlights being a juvenile light morph Ferruginous Hawk, a juvenile light Broad-winged Hawk and, late in the day, a probable migrant Prairie Falcon being mobbed by a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. The resident Golden Eagle family was conspicuous in the afternoon, as was a resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks, with the males of both species sporadically engaging in vigorous sky-dancing displays. The early part of the morning again saw the ridge alive with migrating passerines with the total bird species count today reaching 37. Three new species were added to the site list: Warbling Vireo, House Wren and, perhaps more surprisingly for 1900 m, a Grey Catbird. New birds for the season were Red-naped Sapsucker, Savannah Sparrow and the aforementioned Ferruginous Hawk. A male “Pink-sided” Junco (J.h.mearnsi) was also a season first. The most common migrants were Yellow-rumped Warbler (50), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (22) and American Robin (34): it was the first significant movement for the last species at the site. At 1000 the passerine movement suddenly stopped and songbirds were almost non-existent for the rest of the day. 11.5 hours (58.17) OSPR 1 (2), BAEA 1 (4), SSHA 5 (13), COHA 2 (11), UA 1 (1), BWHA 1 (2), RTHA 2 (17), FEHA 1 (1), AMKE 3 (7), MERL 2 (2), PRFA 1 (1) TOTAL 20 (69)

August 29 [Day 5] Winds were moderate to strong all day, gusting up to 40km/h from the WNW, W and late in the day from the WSW. Despite a starting temperature of 9.5C thick altostratus cloud to the east combined with the wind made it feel rather cool. The clouds, however, progressively dissipated producing almost cloudless skies after 1400 with the temperature rising to 21C. The weather allowed a reasonably complete day of observation for the first time this season but raptor movement was again sparse with the cloudless skies of the afternoon not helping matters. The first Broad-winged Hawk of the season came through at 1659 and was the first seen at the site in August. Passerine movement continues to build contributing to the season high 294 individuals of 32 species. There was steady southward movement of small songbirds for most of the day including 30 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 42 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 19 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 17 Mountain Bluebirds and 60 Yellow-rumped Warblers. New species for the site were a singing Cassin’s Vireo, a White-throated Sparrow and at 1450, a Grey-cheeked Thrush, a species which was hitherto unrecorded in the Pass area. The bird flew low into a krumholz Douglas Fir at the site and, as is the habit of the species, immediately disappeared! Denise and I “surrounded” the tree and finally persuaded it to stick its head out for a couple of seconds: long enough to make the identification. Other firsts for the season were singles of American Pipit, Western Wood-Pewee and Barn Swallow. The first five days of the count have now yielded 45 bird species. In addition to the birds, I watched a family of Black Bears at the base of the ridge feed for about 1.5 hours. The sow was a brown animal (looking at first glance rather like a Grizzly), while one of her cubs was blond-cinnamon and the other was black! At 1434 an Anise Swallowtail butterfly landed on an adjacent spruce branch producing possibly the latest records of the species on the wing in the Province. Not a bad day…pity about the raptors! 11.75 hours (46.67) NOHA 1 (3), SSHA 3 (8), BWHA 1 (1), RTHA 4 (15), GOEA 1 (3), AMKE 2 (4) TOTAL 12 (49)

August 28 [Day 4] Once low cloud had lifted from the ridge around 0800 the morning was bright and clear, although fog persisted in the Crowsnest Valley to the west and as far as the horizon to the east until almost noon. Winds were light westerly in the morning, gradually increasing to 30 km/h by late afternoon, when scattered cirrus and cumulus cloud quickly gave way to 100% altostratus and lenticular clouds. The temperature ranged from 6C to 15C producing the most pleasant day so far. Raptor migration was sporadic, with most of the birds moving very high, including our first Osprey of the season. The resident juvenile Golden Eagle was seen for the first time soaring with the resident pair, and at 1309 one of the adult birds stooped on a flying raven that barely escaped the extended talons. The total of 30 bird species tallied on the ridge included the first MacGillivray’s Warbler for the site as well as the first Hairy Woodpecker, Cassin’s Finches and Mountain Bluebirds for the season. 10.67 hours (34.92) OSPR 1 (1), BAEA 2 (3), SSHA 1 (5), COHA 1 (9), NOGO 1 (2), RTHA 3 (11), GOEA 1 (2), AMKE 1 (2) TOTAL 11 (37)

August 27 [Day 3] A delightful morning with high cirrus cloud, light westerly winds and until 1000 a continuous fog bank stretching to the east below the ridge. The temperature reached 11C at noon but then dropped as the winds freshened and changed to SE and then E bringing rain showers then occasional hail by 1500. By 1600 the ridge was enveloped in cloud and the temperature had dropped to 4C. Before the weather changed we saw the first steady raptor movement of the season, with 23 birds of 8 different species heading south and a non-migratory Prairie Falcon was the ninth raptor species for the day. The first Golden Eagle, a first subadult-plumaged bird came past at 1149 making it the earliest fall migrant seen yet on a RMERF count. Most of the other migrants were juveniles, although, surprisingly, the Northern Goshawk was an adult. A juvenile Golden Eagle was seen a couple of times and may be the offspring of the resident pair, but it has yet to be seen in their company. As a result of the calm conditions until mid afternoon, the total bird species count rose to 28 including the first Winter Wren at the site and 2 Brewer’s Sparrows in small flocks of Chipping Sparrows. 8.5 hours (24.25) BAEA 1 (1), NOHA 2 (2), SSHA 3 (4), COHA 7 (8), NOGO 1 (1), RTHA 7 (8), GOEA 1 (1), AMKE 1 (1) TOTAL 23 (26)

August 26 [Day 2] Rain fell overnight and the ridges were wrapped in cloud until around 1130. Winds again were from the west gusting to 60km/h and the temperature of 11C at 1200 fell steadily throughout the afternoon to 6C at 1800 as rain developed again after 1400. Not surprisingly, only one migrant raptor braved the conditions: a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk at 1628. The resident Golden Eagles were again conspicuous and an un-aged third bird in the area might have been this year’s offspring. A small mixed flock of passerines included the first Blackpoll Warbler (a first fall female) seen at the site, and earlier two Vesper Sparrows were also a first. 6.5 hours (15.75) SSHA 1 (1) TOTAL 1 (3)

August 25 [Day 1] Because of severe drought conditions, much of the back country is closed to vehicles, but fortunately we are still able to access the parking area below the observation site. West to WSW winds gusting to 65km/h prevailed all day raising the temperature to 20C, with sunshine and scattered cloud. The opening day produced just 2 migrant raptors, and the resident pair of adult Golden Eagles, with no sign of a juvenile as yet. The high winds kept the total species count to just 14 bird species, but an otherwise dull afternoon was enlivened by watching the progress of an adult Black Bear moving to the north and feeding near the base of the ridge. 9.25 hours (9.25) COHA 1 (1), RTHA 1 (1) TOTAL 2 (2)