February 28 [Day 11] (Valley View site) Doug and Teresa Dolmen took over from me at 1045 so I could go to Calgary to give a talk. It was a day of calm to light winds generally SSW at the valley bottom, and probably light NW aloft, although it was difficult to assess as the sky generally ranged from cloudless to 100% thin cirrus or cirrostratus. The temperature which was -15C at 0710 finally rose to a high of -1 at 1700. The calm conditions meant that the first bird, an adult Bald Eagle, did not appear until 1334, but subsequent movement was fairly steady with a maximum hourly passage of 6 birds (2 Bald Eagles and 4 Golden Eagles) from 1500 to 1600, and the last raptor of the day, a Rough-legged Hawk, moved north at 1753, the latest migrant seen so far this season. A Townsend’s Solitaire at 1035 was the first seen at the site in February. 11.16 hours (109.7) BAEA 5 (63), RLHA 1 (5), GOEA 8 (64) TOTAL 14 (135)
February Summary During the month we spent 11 days (109.7 hours) in the field (10% and 12.85% above last years totals respectively) and counted a site and RMERF February combined species total of 135 birds, 45.16% above last year’s previous record count of 93 birds. New high February counts were recorded for Bald Eagle (63, +28.6%), Rough-legged Hawk (5, +25%) and Golden Eagle (64, +82.86%).