October 4 [Day 15] (Cliff Hansen, assisted by Kevin Barker, Cliff Hansen and Michael Woertman) The temperature was -4C at 0730 but fell under cloudless skies to a season-low -9C at 0800, but rose to a high of 5C at 1600 at was 1.5C at the end of the day. Ground winds were variable all day calm to light occasionally reaching 12 km/h, and ridge winds were assessed as W light to moderate. It was cloudless to 1200 when cumulus developed that reached 50% at 1600 before dwindling to 10% at the end of the day. The first Golden Eagle was not seen until 1112 but subsequently there was a steady stream of raptors passing high overhead from Mount McGillivray to Old Baldy until 1813 after which the last 12 birds of the day moved on the usual route from Mount Lorette to the north end of the Fisher Range, where the last bird of the day, an unidentified Buteo, was seen at 1845. The flight of 82 birds comprised 5 adult Bald Eagles, a season-high 15 Sharp-shinned Hawks (7a,2j,6u), 1 adult Cooper's Hawk, 1 unidentified Accipiter, the season’s first Rough-legged Hawk (a light morph), 1 unidentified Buteo and 58 Golden Eagles (31a,4sa,9j,14u). Forty-five of the migrants were recorded before 1400 after which the pace slackened somewhat and only picked up again between 1800 and 1845 when the last 12 birds passed. Without the eyes of the three assistants scanning directly overhead the day's total would probably have been somewhat lower! Non-raptor bird species included a southbound flock of 14 female,juvenile Common Mergansers, 6 Clark's Nutcrackers flying to the south, 3 Golden-crowned and 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, only 4 American Robins, 3 Wilson's Warblers, 53 White-winged Crossbills and 30 Pine Siskins. An adult Black Bear was also seen on the northern end of Hummingbird Plume Hill.

11.6 hours (165.01) BAEA 5 (23), SSHA 15 (35), COHA 1 (6), UA 1 (3), RLHA 1 (1), UB 1 (1), GOEA 58 (455) TOTAL 82 (557)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone (Raymond Toal, Karola Michalsky, Denise Cocciolone-Amatto) Observations from the upper Frank Slide site between 1400 and 1800 yielded 6 adult migrating Golden Eagles.