October 13 [Day 23] (Terry waters, assisted by Rod Smith and Jim Davis) Strong down-slope winds resulted in a temperature of 8C at 0800, that rose to a high of 14C at 1400 and that was still 9C at 1830. Ground winds were SW all day, 10-15 gusting above 20 km/h, and ridge winds were moderate to strong SW all day. Cloud cover was initially 90% altocumulus and cumulus that increased to 100% at 1100 before diminishing to 40-50% altocumulus, stratocumulus and cirrus throughout the afternoon. Occasional brief, very light rain showers occurred throughout the day. Raptor movement was similar to that of yesterday with birds gliding very high and fast from Mount Lorette to the northern end of the Fisher Range, although 4 birds were seen on the western route, and a couple of birds passed high overhead. Maximum movement was 16 Golden Eagles seen between 1500 and 1600, and otherwise birds moved fairly steadily between 0910 and 1810 with the exception of a lull between 1200 and 1400. The flight of 55 birds comprised 2 dark morph Rough-legged Hawks, 52 Golden Eagles (44a, 2sa,1j,7u) and the season’s first Prairie Falcon (probably a juvenile) that was seen hunting low over the Hay Meadow. Other birds recorded were 11 loons or large grebes flying vary high to the south over the northern end of the Fisher Range at 1016, 55 American Robins, 4 American Pipits and 8 Red Crossbills, while the Black Bear was seen yet again in its usual place on the lower slopes of the northern end of the Fisher Range where it has been seen most days since September 24.

10.5 hours (254.26) RLHA 2 (17), GOEA 52 (1266), PRFA 1 (1) TOTAL 55 (1445)

Canmore Eagle Festival (Peter Sherrington assisted by Chris Hunt and Kevin Barker) Weather conditions were generally similar to those at Mount Lorette and 80-100% altocumulus and cumulus cloud cover provided excellent viewing conditions in the immediate area. Unfortunately, low cloud could be seen to the NW enveloping the Fairholm Range for periods throughout the day, and this, together with strong SW-W ridge winds probably diverted most birds to more easterly ridges where they could not be seen from the Bow Valley bottom site in Canmore. A total of only 11 Golden Eagles (9a,1sa,1u) were recorded between 1031 and 1637 with most birds appearing low on the north ridge of Mount Lady McDonald before kiting high and gliding high and fast to Grotto Mountain. From there the birds would have crossed the Bow Valley to Pigeon Mountain in the Kananaskis Range and thence on to Mount McGillivray and Mount Lorette, where, joined by birds moving from the more easterly ridges of the Fairholm Range, they would be picked up by the observers at the Mount Lorette site. Despite the low numbers of eagles, many of the hundreds of visitors to the Festival viewed the birds. The highlight of the day, however, was the unveiling of a 10 metre high sculpture outside the soon to be completed Canmore Elevation Place Plaza community centre, by New Brunswick artist Peter Powning. The upper portion of this sculpture is a beautiful stainless steel spire with silhouettes of soaring Golden Eagles together with ravens cut through the steel, to celebrate the annual eagle migrations that fly by the town. A picture of the sculpture can be seen at www.canmore.ca/festivalofeagles.

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone (Denise Cocciolone-Amatto, Penny Takahashi, Cenney Yau and Wendy Dercole) Observations were made from the upper Frank Slide site between 1145 and 1500 where the temperature ranged from 8C to 10C and ground winds were light but ridge winds were probably W moderate to strong. The 3.25 hours spent at the site yielded 69 migrant raptors: 11 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper’s Hawks, 54 Golden Eagles (50a,1sa,3j) and 1 Merlin.