October 7 [Day 18] (Bill Wilson) The temperature reached a high of 14.5C at 1500 and 1600 from a low of -6.5C and was 10C at 1920. Ground winds were initially SW 0-2 km/h increasing briefly to 3-10 gusting 21 km/h around 1300 before becoming very light again for the afternoon, while ridge winds were light SW in the morning becoming light to moderate in the afternoon. An initial cloud cover of 5% cirrus increased to 80-100% altostratus to 1300, after which there was 80-100% cumulus, with the exception of 1500 when it briefly dropped to 30%. Observing conditions were good and the day produced a season high combined species count of 137 birds that included season high counts of 6 Rough-legged Hawks (4 light, 1 dark and 1 unknown morph) and 116 Golden Eagles (64a,6sa,28j 18u).

Birds moved between 0812 and 1855 appearing low at the northern end of the Fisher Range and moving in the face of the range in the morning, and just above the ridge in the afternoon. Lift appeared to be poor and there was only a moderate amount of soaring. Maximum movement occurred between 1400 and 1500 when 39 birds passed, 33 of which were Golden Eagles. The rest of the flight comprised 4 Bald Eagles (2a,2j), 4 unaged Sharp-shinned Hawks, 3 Northern Goshawks (2a,1u), and 4 calurus Red-tailed Hawks (1adult and 1 juvenile light morph birds, and 2 dark morph juveniles). Two Rusty Blackbirds were a seasonal first record, and other birds seen included 2 Common Loons flying high to the south, flocks of 29 and 16 Canada Geese also flying south, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 American Tree Sparrow and 1 slate-coloured morph Dark-eyed Junco of the race hyemalis.

12.25 hours (198.26) BAEA 4 (32), SSHA 4 (43), NOGO 3 (12), RTHA 4 (20), RLHA 6 (7), GOEA 116 (689) TOTAL 137 (832)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone (Gerald Romanchuk and Steve Knight) Gerald and Steve, who had been with me on the ridge yesterday, returned to the site and in 4.5 hours (1420-1850) counted a total of 187 migrant raptors. The flight comprised 3 Bald Eagles, 1 Northern Harrier, 8 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 3 Northern Goshawks, 3 Red-tailed Hawks and 168 Golden Eagles. 

October 6 [Day 17] (Joel Duncan) It was a much warmer day with a temperature of 1C at 0900 that rose to a high of 12.5C at 1600 and it was still 11C at 1930. Ground winds were light SW all day, occasionally calm but averaging 2-6 km/h with a gust of 13 km/h at 1600, and ridge winds were estimated as moderate west all day. The high wind flow, however, still appeared to be from the north. Initial cloud cover was 100% stratus with both the eastern and western ridges 80% obscured, but by 1100 all ridges were clear with an 80% altocumulus cloud cover that steadily diminished to 5% by 1600. The first migrant, an unaged Golden Eagle, was not seen until 1049, but there was a subsequent steady flow of birds until 1910, with 28 of the day's 83 raptors occurring between 1300 and 1400. The flight comprised 2 adult Bald Eagles, 3 unaged Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 unaged Cooper's Hawks, 2 light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks (1a,1j), 73 Golden Eagles (31a,9sa,16j,17u) and 1 probable columbarius Merlin of unknown age/sex. With the exception of a Bald Eagle seen to the west, all migrants moved high from Mount Lorette to the Fisher Range where most birds gliding high above the ridge indicating good wind-lift conditions. A good variety of non-raptor bird species was also noted including the first Brown Creeper (1) and American Tree Sparrows (3) of the season, 12 Golden-crowned and 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 9 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 1 Wilson's Warbler, 16 White-winged Crossbills, 8 Common Redpolls and 1 Pine Siskin. An unusual bird behaviour was observed around noon when a male Belted Kingfisher that was perched on a snag close to the site sallied out and caught and ate a large moth in flight. As Joel was preparing to leave the site at 1930 he became aware of a very large male Moose feeding on Wolf Willows just 7 m away, and felt it prudent to take a more circuitous route back to the parking area!

10.5 hours (186.01) BAEA 2 (28), SSHA 3 (39), COHA 2 (9), RTHA 2 (16), GOEA 73 (573), MERL 1 (5) TOTAL 83 (695)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone (Peter Sherrington, assisted by Phil Nicholas, Gerald Romanchuk and Steve Knight) The general public were invited to join me on the ridge today and 22 visitors and myself set off up the climb at 0920. Before most had reached the site, however, the clouds had lowered, bringing light snow that reduced the temperature to -1C and completely obscured the Livingstone Ridge to the north and the mountains to the west. The wind was NW 5-10 gusting 25 km/h, and by 1225 when the snow ended and the ridges began to clear all but 3 of the visitors had departed. This was unfortunate as the temperature finally rose to 5C, the wind diminished to 5-10 km/h and had moved to the W by late afternoon and the cloud cover gradually diminished to 60-70% cumulus by the end of the day. Those of us who were left, however, were treated to a movement of 120 raptors of 5 species that occurred between 1315 and 1806, with a peak movement of 83 birds between 1500 and 1700. The flight comprised 5 Bald Eagles (3a,2j), 7 Sharp-shinned Hawks (6a,1u), 1 unaged Northern Goshawk, 6 Rough-legged Hawks (4 light, 1dark and 1 unknown morph), 1 unidentified Buteo and 100 Golden Eagles (60a,11sa,18j,11u). The last hour of the flight was particularly spectacular with birds moving low overhead or close to the ridge in bright sunshine.

October 5 [Day 16] (Terry Waters, assisted by Rod Smith) Cloudless skies again allowed the temperature to fall to -9C at 0815, but it reached a high of 7C at 1600 before falling to -2C at the end of the day. Ground winds were again light or calm, mainly NE becoming mainly SE after 1500, while ridge winds were probably light NNW for most of the day. Scattered cumulus (5-10%) developed after 1100, and 20% cirrus after 1600 when it also became hazy, possibly because of smoke. The mainly blue skies made observation difficult, although most birds soared over Mount Lorette, quickly glided to the northern end of the Fisher Range where they again soared before moving above the range to the SE. The first raptor of the day was a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk seen perched near the site at 0820, but the first moving bird was a Golden Eagle at 1001 which, like the next three eagles, were the only ones seen on the western route, soaring above Olympic Summit. The movement of the day's 55 migrants was steady to 1500 followed by an hiatus of 2 hours during which time only 3 birds occurred, then the last 18 migrated between 1700 and 1817. The total comprised 3 adult Bald Eagles, 1 juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 adult Cooper's Hawk, 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 3 adult light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks, 45 Golden Eagles (29a,3sa,5j,8u) and the season's third Peregrine Falcon (an adult). The day's last Golden Eagle was the 500^th of the season. The Kananaskis River yielded 4 Mallards, a very late male Harlequin Duck, 2 Belted Kingfishers (1 male,1u) and 10 American Pipits, while other birds seen included 8 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 50 Pine Siskins, and a season-first 18 Common Redpolls in a single flock.

10.5 hours (175.51) BAEA 3 (26), SSHA 1 (36), COHA 1 (7), NOGO 1 (9), RTHA 3 (14), GOEA 45 (500), PEFA 1 (3) TOTAL 55 (612)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone (Denise Cocciolone-Amatto) Observing from the upper Frank Slide site between 1530 and 1800 Denise counted 23 migrant raptors comprising 1 adult Bald Eagle, 3 Northern Harriers, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk and 16 Golden Eagles (5a,2sa,7j,2u).

The further adventures of “Elaine” (Golden Eagle #78453)

Elaine, an adult female Golden Eagle was captured and fitted with a transmitter during the third week of October, 2010 by Rob Domenech and his colleagues from the Raptor View Research Institute in Montana. She spent the winter of 2010-11 in the Paradise Valley just south of Livingstone, Montana and just north of Yellowstone National Park. In the spring of 2011 she moved north, roosting for a night (March 12) along the way on Bluff Mountain just west of our Piitaistakis-South Livingstone site and the next day crossed Mount Lorette on her way north. By early April she had reached the southern flank of the Philip Smith Mountains of the Brooks Range in northeastern Alaska where she spent the summer. Rob informed me that it was not known if she bred there.

In the fall of 2011 Elaine started her southward journey on October 1 and had reached the Yukon by October 7, and then slowly moved to the SE and on October 26 she was in the northernmost part of the Rocky Mountains of NE BC. Four days later she was in northern Montana having moved rapidly along the Front Range expressway, after which she continued to make a a leisurely progress south before wintering again in Paradise Valley in southern Montana.

In the spring of 2012 Elaine probably entered Alberta on March 8 and after moving up the Front Ranges spent the night of March 10 in the vicinity of Mount Lorette. She subsequently moved NW into NE British Columbia then through the Yukon and NE Alaska and on April 7 she reached her home range in the Philip Smith Mountains of the Brooks Range where she presumably nested last year.

This Fall she started her fourth migration carrying a transmitter, moving to the ESE around September 25 and by October 1 she was just west of the Alaska-Yukon border. She has since moved SE into the Yukon and on October 4 was near the Bonnet Plume River between the eastern end of the Werneke Mountains and the Bonnet Plume Range of the northern Selwyn Mountains.

You can follow her progress on a map on the seaturtle.org site via the link on our website. Many thanks to Rob Domenech and his colleagues from the Raptor View Research Institute in Montana for sharing this information with us.

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.

October 3 [Day 14] (Terry Waters, assisted by Rod Smith) The ridges were obscured all morning and as a result observation did not start until 1200, when there was 2 cm of fresh snow on the ground. The temperature at noon was -2C, rose to 4C at 1700 and had fallen back to 0C at 1830. Ground winds were NE light (<5 km/h) all day, and ridge winds were also probably light N-NW. Cloud cover was 100% stratus all morning, then 80-90% stratocumulus for most of the afternoon that reduced to 50% stratocumulus and cumulus by the end of the day. The Fisher Range finally cleared around 1600, but Mount Lorette remained shrouded in cloud all day and the few migrants seen appeared to originate from Heart Mountain to the north of Mount Lorette. Intermittent snow flurries occurred throughout the afternoon. The first migrant was an adult Northern Goshawk that flew to the south above the valley at 1302, and the first Golden Eagle was a juvenile that moved to the south against the face of the Fisher Range at 1355. The day's other 2 Golden Eagles also moved low below the Fisher Range ridge. The count was 1 adult Cooper's Hawk, 2 adult Northern Goshawks, 3 Golden Eagles (1a,2j) and 1 adult Peregrine Falcon, and the last bird of the day was seen at 1552. Other birds seen included 16 American Robins, 14 American Pipits feeding on gravel bars in the river, and 45 Pine Siskins.

6.5 hours (153.41) COHA 1 (5), NOGO 2 (8), GOEA 3 (397), PEFA 1 (2) TOTAL 7 (475)

October 2 [Day 13] (George Halmazna) The temperature was -1C at 0700, but it felt colder owing to the dampness from overnight rain (2330-0130). The temperature rose to a high of 6C at 1000, soon after which a cold front started making itself felt with the temperature falling to 4C. Ground winds were initially calm or light NW, but changed at 1010 to NE and by noon they were 15 gusting 30 km/h, and ridge winds probably also reflected the same pattern. An initial cloud cover of 20% cumulus gradually thickened to 100% stratus by 1300 which persisted for the rest of the day. All ridges were clear until 1120 when cloud started enveloping them from the north and by early afternoon all were obscured, and rain with snow pellets developed around noon. Before the weather changed, however, there was a steady movement of Golden Eagles high to very high above the eastern side of the valley, with 17 birds (10a,2j,5u) recorded between 0911 and 1114, 8 of which occurred between 1000 and 1100. The only other raptor seen was an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk. Other birds seen included 1 male Belted Kingfisher, 2 Red-Breasted Nuthatches, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 37 American Robins, 1 Varied Thrush, 11 Yellow-rumped warblers, 4 Dark-eyed Juncos, 24 White-winged Crossbills and 25 Pine Siskins. The Black Bear seen yesterday was still in the same place today.

9.67 hours (146.91) SSHA 1 (20), GOEA 17 (394) TOTAL 18 (468)

October 1 [Day 12] (George Halmazna) The temperature at 0700 was a remarkable 12.5C and rose to a high of 19C at 1600-1800. Ground winds were moderate to strong SW all day, especially in the afternoon when winds were 30 km/h gusting above 80 km/h after 1600, and ridge winds were probably also strong SW all day. Cloud cover was initially 80% cirrus reducing to 40% altostratus at noon that increased to 80% at 1300 and thinned again to 50% cumulus after 1700. Despite the high winds there was a good eagle migration with 108 birds moving between 0835 and 1616, which was the day's only Bald Eagle (an adult). A season high total of 104 Golden Eagles (79a,1sa,10j,14u) moved steadily between 0835 and 1446 with all but 2 birds gliding high above the Fisher Range at an estimated height of 300 m or more above the ridge. The only other raptors seen were 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks (2a,1u). Other birds recorded included 38 American Robins, 211 White-winged Crossbills and 68 Pine Siskins, and a Black Bear was seen on the lower slopes of the north end of the Fisher Range. Three Mourning Cloaks were the only butterflies seen.

12.75 hours (137.24) BAEA 1 (18), SSHA 3 (19), GOEA 104 (377) TOTAL 108 (450)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone (Raymond Toal, Denise Cocciolone-Amatto) Observations were again made from the upper Frank Slide site between 1400 and 1815, where the W winds were strong and steady and the altostratus and lenticular clouds made a spectacular backdrop for the migrating raptors. The 4.25 hours produced 2 Ospreys, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 1 Northern Goshawk, and 38 Golden Eagles (22a,5sa,8j,3u).