October 11 [Day 21] (Cliff Hansen, assisted by Kevin Barker) As on October 8 a disturbance associated with the passage of a cold front proved to be short and not very sharp with only a skiff of fresh snow on the ground this morning. The temperature at 0900 was -1C that gradually rose to a high of 12C at 1600 before quickly falling to 2C at 1900. Ground winds were variable all day, generally light but occasionally gusting to 15 km/h between 1300 and 1600, and after 1900 it was calm, while ridge winds were probably moderate SSW for most of the day. Cloud cover was initially 80% altocumulus that turned to 60-70% cumulus and lenticular until an altostratus arch formed between 1600 and 1900 which occupied 50% of the sky. The first migrant raptor was the day's only Rough-legged Hawk (a dark morph) at 1105, and the first Golden Eagle appeared at 1130. The movement was remarkably steady all day with passage during the 7 hourly periods between 1200 and 1858 varying between 8 and 14 birds with peak movement between 1400 and 1500 (1 Northern Goshawk and 13 Golden Eagles). Some birds were first seen over Mount Lorette, but most were sighted approaching the lower half of the northern Fisher Range, after which most moved slowly to the SE just below or just above the ridge. The flight of 84 birds comprised 5 Bald Eagles (4a,1j), 6 Sharp-shinned Hawks (3a,3u), 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 1 dark morph Rough-legged Hawk and 71 Golden Eagles (49a,1sa,4j,17u). The Black Bear remained on the lower slopes of the northern end of the Fisher Range, and other birds seen included a male Blue-winged Teal on the river, 1 Wilson's Snipe, 5 American Pipits, 2 American Tree Sparrows and the first Harris's Sparrow of the season.

10.5 hours (232.76) BAEA 5 (39), SSHA 6 (52), NOGO 1 (16), RLHA 1 (14), GOEA 71 (1188) TOTAL 84 (1360)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone (Denise Cocciolone-Amatto, Merilyn Liddell) Denise and Merilyn observed from the upper Frank Slide site between 1535 and 1715. The temperature was very mild for the time of year, winds were moderate to strong W-SW and observation conditions were good with intermittent sunshine and banks of grey cloud behind the ridge to the east, Raptor movement was strong and the 2.83 hours yielded 151 migrant raptors that generally kited and glided very high to the south on the windward side of the Piitaistakis Ridge. The flight comprised 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Northern Goshawk and 147 Golden Eagles (133a,1sa,13j). The height and speed of the birds made age identification difficult and several Golden Eagles assessed as being adult could well have been immature: it is also probable that many accipiters were missed because of the height of the movement.

The further adventures of “Elaine” By October 9 Elaine had made a slow progress to the south and was still in central Yukon north of the Nadaleen Range in the area east of Rusty Mountain.