May 11 [Day 74] (Piitaistakis Ridge site) (Vance Mattson) Vance made the first ascent to the ridge this season and apart from a few sections where the snow is still deep the trail is in reasonable condition. The temperature reached 7C from a low of 2C and winds were WNW gradually increasing from 25-50 km/h in the morning to 40-60 km/h in the afternoon. Cloud cover was 100% altostratus and cumulus until noon after which it thinned to 70-80% cumulus, altostratus and cirrus. The first migrant raptor was the day’s only Sharp-shinned Hawk at 1025 and the first Golden Eagle, a juvenile, was not seen until 1226 when it made a steep stoop on a Columbian Ground Squirrel just south of the site, missed and perched on the ground for a few minutes before continuing north. With the exception of 2 juvenile light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks the only other migrants were a further 9 Golden Eagles, all of which were juveniles with the exception of a single subadult. 12.16 hours (834.6) SSHA 1 (80), RTHA 2 (188), GOEA 10 (2696) TOTAL 13 (3662)