March 20 [Day 27] (Valley View site) For the first day of spring it actually felt spring-like (for the morning at least) with the temperature rising to 9.5C from a low of 0C, light ground winds (to 1140), moderate to strong WNW ridge winds and 10-80% cumulus cloud cover generally giving good observation conditions. At 1140 the ground winds suddenly hit SW 70 km/h and remained fairly strong for the rest of the day quickly dispelling the illusion that spring had actually arrived. As there was late movement yesterday evening I started watching at 0715 assuming an early start to the migration but the first Golden Eagle didn’t appear until 0936 and by noon I had only seen 8 migrant raptors. At 1218, however, Golden Eagles started gliding very high above the Piitaistakis Ridge and movement was thereafter strong and continuous until the last Golden Eagle glided high to the north just after 2000, the latest yet. Maximum movement was 48 raptors from 1800 to 1900 and a further 24 birds moved after 1900. The Golden Eagle total of 252 is the highest ever daily spring total at the site and the first over 200, while the combined species total of 275 is also a new high. Three migrant Prairie Falcons is also a new daily high for the site, and the first Red-tailed Hawk of the season at 1557 was 2 days later than last year’s first occurrence. It was a good way to celebrate the 17th anniversary of seeing the first Golden Eagles at Mount Lorette in 1992. 12.91 hours (290.7) BAEA 14 (159), SSHA 1 (3), NOGO 3 (13), RTHA 1 (1), RLHA 1 (9), GOEA 252 (1353), PRFA 3 (6) TOTAL 275 (1544)
Mount Lorette (Brian McBride) It was also a warm day with moderate SW ridge winds and 10-20% cumulus cloud cover which was fortunately mainly over the Fisher Range making detection of high-flying eagles possible. Brian counted a total of 102 Golden Eagles between 1029 and 1908, 24 of which moved between 1700 and 1800. Both the Golden Eagle total and the combined species total of 106 are season highs, but are well below the numbers expected at this time of year. 11.33 hours (193.3) BAEA 4 (18), GOEA 102 (378) TOTAL 106 (408)