DAY 84 (November 29) The day started clear and -20C with a N to NW wind that backed to W by mid morning and increased to 70 kmh with extensive blowing snow by late morning. A winter storm warning was issued for the area at noon, indicating blizzard conditions over the next 24 to 36 hours so I thought that this might be a good time to end the count. There were no migrants but the two resident Golden Eagles were present and at 1028 one displayed briefly over the ridge: a fitting adieu.

FINAL TOTALS

DAYS 84
HOURS 892.4

TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) 0
OSPREY (OSPR) 11
BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 483
NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 76
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 1247
COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 220
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 154
BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 10
SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 2
RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 283
FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 1
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 141
GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 4400
AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 33
MERLIN (MERL) 45
PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 14
GYRFALCON (GYRF) 6
PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 18
undifferentiated Accipiter (UA) 45
undifferentiated Buteo (UB) 6
undifferentiated eagle (UE) 6
undifferentiated falcon (UF) 3
unidentified raptor (UU) 14

TOTAL 7217

Observers: Peter Sherrington (81.5 days), George Halmazna (2 days) and Denise Coccioloni-Amatto (0.5 days), with the assistance of Jay Allen, Denise Coccioloni-Amatto, Doug Dolman, Teresa Dolman, George Halmazna, Alan Hingston, Vance Mattson, Keith McClary, Karola Michalsky, Che Mincone, Marian Mincone, Molly Paton, Barbara Sherrington, Raymond Toal, Wilber Tripp, Nel Van Kramer, Patricia Wagenaar and many of the other 300+ people who visited the site during the season.

Acknowledgements: To members of the Crowsnest Conservation Society for their support and many contributions to the success of the project. To Judy and Rick Cooke for generously providing accommodation in their cabin at Lee Lake; to Barbara Brownold and Tim Grier for the loan of their Jeep; to the Nature Conservancy of Canada for granting me access through their Swann Property and to Pat Dwyer for use of his access road. Tim Grier also spent a day cutting steps on the trail to the site and acted as a guide to many visitors to the site. Finally I owe a debt of thanks to the many people of the Crowsnest Pass area who contributed to the project in myriad ways through their many acts of kindness and help.

DAY 83 (November 28) Finally the mountains cleared but it was very cold even below the ridge with the temperature ranging from -33C up to -19C (briefly) then back to the low 20’s by late afternoon. Fortunately there was almost no wind which made the temperature almost tolerable; unfortunately there was almost no wind which meant there was little raptor movement! Only two Golden Eagles and one Bald Eagle flapped their way south along the ridge, the second Golden bringing the season’s total for the species to 4,400 birds. BAEA 1 (482), GOEA 2 (4400) TOTAL 3 (7217)

November 27 No observation: sporadic snow with the mountains partially clearing late in the day.

November 26 No observation: snow for most of the day with the mountains obscured all day.

November 25 No observation: snow for most of the day with the mountains obscured all day.

DAY 82 (November 24) It snowed all day with the ridge only clearing for a couple of hours in the late morning and early afternoon allowing 3 Bald Eagles (2 adults and 1 juvenile) to move south. It was a relief when the clouds moved over the mountains again at 1430 allowing a retreat from the -30C wind chill. BAEA 3 (481) TOTAL 3 (7214)

November 23 No observation. The ridge was clear for 1.5 hours early in the morning but no raptors moved before increasingly heavy snow obscured the mountains for the rest of the day.

DAY 81 (November 22) (Frank site in am, ridge site in pm). Moderate west winds all day, with snow between 1145 and 1245. The temperature dropped steadily all afternoon and was -11C by 1700. Migration was slow although the first bird, a Rough-legged Hawk, moved south at 0754, with 5 before the snow and only 2 afterwards. A Great Horned Owl flying by at 0700 was the 100th bird species for the season. BAEA 3 (478), RLHA 1 (141), GOEA 3 (4398) TOTAL 7 (7211)

DAY 80 (November 21) (Frank site) There was 4 cm of fresh snow on the ground, but everything was clear with light to moderate west winds and 70-100% high cloud cover. Movement started at 0928 and was slow but steady until the rain started at 1505 and the ridges quickly disappeared in low cloud. The local juvenile Golden Eagle was back but was never seen to be associating with the two resident adults that were flying in the area all day. At 1002 we watched it flying over the ridge with a metre long stick which it twice dropped and retrieved in mid-air in quick succession. It then performed a complete barrel-roll with the stick before releasing it a third time and after making a desultory attempt to retrieve it allowed it to fall to the ground. A Northern Pygmy-Owl was found at the site after we followed the mobbing calls of chickadees, nuthatches and a Blue Jay, and earlier a Steller’s Jay was heard imitating the alarm call of a red-tailed Hawk. To complete the Jay count a Grey Jay turned up in the early afternoon. BAEA 5 (475), NOGO 3 (154), GOEA 11 (4395) TOTAL 19 (7204)

DAY 79 (November 20) (Frank site) After overnight rain, the early morning looked promising for migration with moderate west winds and a progressively dwindling cover of Cu clouds to 0900. It appeared that the dreaded cloudless sky was in prospect, but cloud cover rapidly increased, light snow pellets turned to wet snow and after 1200 the snow was steady and the mountains completely obscured until the end of the day. Before 1100 6 Golden Eagles and a Rough-legged Hawk went south and that was it for the day. RLHA 1 (140), GOEA 6 (4384) TOTAL 7 (7185)

DAY 78 (November 19) (Frank site) The morning was relatively calm but after 1300 the winds at ridge level were gusting to 90 kmh once again. The numbers of raptors was very similar to yesterday with our 6th Gyrfalcon substituting for yesterday’s Peregrine, but the dynamic was quite different with all but 3 of the birds passing before 1400 and none after 1539. In the last couple of days it appears that one of the local Golden Eagle pair’s offspring had returned to the home range. At 1155 it joined the two soaring resident adults which, after some brief but vigorous interactions, escorted the juvenile bird south to the edge of the home range at which point the adults promptly turned back north while the juvenile slowly moved south until it was out of sight. Obviously not all families that prey together stay together! BAEA 11 (470), NOGO 3 (151), GOEA 14 (4378), GYRF 1 (6) TOTAL 29 (7178)

DAY 77 (November 18) (Frank site) Gusty strong to moderate west winds all day produced a Chinook arch that framed the Livingstone Range for most of the day. Movement was slow but steady after 0855 producing 29 migrants, a good total for the second half of November but after yesterday it seemed very slow indeed. The highlight of the day came at 1637 when a Peregrine Falcon joined a soaring Bald and Golden Eagle west of the ridge, the first to be seen this November and a very late bird. BAEA 12 (459), GOEA 16 (4364), PEFA 1 (14) TOTAL 29 (7149)

DAY 76 (November 17) We again watched from the Frank site, with moderate to strong W-WNW winds all day and, apart from early morning and late afternoon, a very useful Ci and Cs cloud cover. Movement was continuous all day between 0750 and 1718 with the flight dominated by Bald Eagles, 45 of the 49 birds counted being adults. The 37 Golden Eagles put the November count for the species above 600 (602), while the combined species total for November of 844 breaks the previous November record of 826 set in 1997 at Plateau Mountain. A south-bound male Rusty Blackbird was the 98th species for the season, and a male Belted Kingfisher flying north (!) was the 99th. Many thanks to Denise, ably assisted by Molly, Karola and Keith, for completing the last 2.5 hours of the day allowing me to make a brief visit to Calgary. BAEA 49 (447), RLHA 2 (139), GOEA 37 (4348), UE 3 (6) TOTAL 91 (7120)

DAY 75 (November 16) Owing to the icy nature of the access road to the site parking area (I barely managed to get down it in one piece last night!) I watched today from a site above the town of Frank about 2.1 km WNW of the site affording an excellent view of the South Livingstone ridge. Winds in the morning were again from the west gusting to 90 kmh, but abated to moderate after noon. Movement started at 0915 and picked up pace between 1000 and 1100 (7 birds), sagged between 1100 and 1445 (6 birds) and was steady after 1445 (21 birds). The last Golden Eagles were still moving high to the south at 1705, the first to move after 1700 for 16 days. A couple of Bald Eagles at 1154 put the combined species count for the season over the 7000 mark, and the Golden Eagle at 1448 was the 4300th of the season. BAEA 16 (398), NOGO 3 (148), RLHA 2 (137), GOEA 19 (4311) TOTAL 40 (7029)

DAY 74 (November 15) Strong westerly winds gusting 90-100 kmh all day, continuous blowing snow and a temperature of -5C made observation on the ridge untenable and I retreated down to the parking area at 1030. Golden Eagles started moving at 1102 but the bird at 1252 was the last for the day, suggesting that the route was blocked by poor weather to the north. A Northern Shrike at the base of the ridge was the 97th bird species for the season. BAEA 1 (382), NOGO 2 (145), GOEA 8 (4292) TOTAL 11 (6989)

DAY 73 (November 14) The day started at -7C with only 5-10% Cu, the cloud gradually increasing throughout the day. Blowing snow occurred all day on mainly moderate W winds, but only became a problem in mid afternoon when the winds gusted to 70 kmh. A total of 84 raptors moved steadily between 0928 and 1656, with peak movement of 24 birds between 1600 and 1700. The 32 Bald Eagles is the highest count so far this season with 19 of the birds moving after 1500. The 8th Golden Eagle of the day at 1032 was the 500th counted in November. At 1159 I watched an adult Northern Goshawk pursue an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk for about 20 seconds, the smaller hawk finally being able to outmanoeuvre the larger in a series of spectacular aerial gyrations. If this wasn’t enough, at 1536 an adult female grey morph Gyrfalcon gliding south west of the ridge encountered a flock of about 10 ravens moving west to roost, and harried them for about half a minute, scattering them across the sky like skittles. Other migrants included 189 Canada Geese in 4 flocks (the first since October 30), 11 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 8 Pine Grosbeaks, 34 Common Redpolls and a very late American Robin (the first since October 21). It was a good day! BAEA 32 (381), SSHA 1 (1247), NOGO 2 (143), RLHA 2 (135), GOEA 46 (4284), GYRF 1 (5) TOTAL 84 (6978)

DAY 72 (November 13) There was steady snow until 1230 and the ridge cleared around 1300. Because of SW to W winds gusting above 90 kmh, a temperature of -3C and 10 cm of fresh snow to be blown around I spent the afternoon observing from the parking area below the site. Not surprisingly there were only a few birds going south: 3 adult Golden Eagles, a large falcon (Prairie or Gyr), and 4 Rough-legged Hawks flying to the west over a 12 minute period in the late afternoon. RLHA 4 (133), GOEA 3 (4238), UF 1 (3) TOTAL 8 (6894)

November 12 No observation: steady snow all day. I spent 5.5 hours at the site in the stuff after the weather forecast at 0600 stated that the Crowsnest Pass would be “mainly sunny all day”, (but then a couple of days ago 250 mm of rain was forecast as “a 30% chance of showers”)!

DAY 71 (November 11) The weather was similar to yesterday’s with the afternoon winds only gusting to 60 kmh so the blowing snow from another 6 cm of fresh snow was merely annoying. Snow squalls developed in the late afternoon but despite this movement was fairly steady all day between 0749 and 1654 with good numbers of both Golden and Bald Eagles for mid-November. The 2 Golden Eagles at 1045 surpassed the previous November high count for the species of 455 established at Plateau Mountain in 1997; 7 of the total of 49 birds counted today were juveniles. Passerine migration was limited to a single flock of 7 Common Redpolls moving south at 0750. BAEA 15 (349), NOGO 4 (141), RLHA 3 (129), GOEA 49 (4235), MERL 1 (45) TOTAL 72 (6886)

DAY 70 (November 10) The west winds returned, but only at 30-40 kmh in the morning making for good observation and migration conditions¸ with the temperature rising to -3.5C from a low of -6C. The morning produced a steady stream of migrant raptors including the fourth Gyrfalcon of the season, an adult female light grey morph, that cruised by close to the ridge at 10:50. By 1400, however, the winds were gusting to 80 kmh and the blowing snow from yesterday’s 4 cm fresh fall led to considerable discomfort for the observer and presumably also for the birds as the rest of the day produced just a couple of Bald Eagles, a Rough-legged Hawk and a Prairie Falcon. At 1700 the wind rose to 100 kmh: I left! BAEA 5 (334), NOGO 2 (137), RLHA 2 (126), GOEA 13 (4186), GYRF 1 (4), PRFA 1 (18) TOTAL 24 (6814)

November 9 No observation possible. I spent 8.5 hours at the site in dense fog and steady snow waiting for a clearing that by 1530 became obvious was not going to happen. It was a pleasant change to experience an easterly wind for the first time in several weeks even though the temperature was only -7C. The day produced only 15 birds of 9 species including a single male “slate-coloured” morph Dark-eyed Junco of the race cismontanus, the first junco at the site for 15 days. This was the sixth complete day lost because of inclement weather, and a further 5 days of observation have been significantly affected by weather.

DAY 69 (November 8) The rain and warm temperatures of the last two days almost completely cleared the snow and the day started with moderate to strong W winds, 10% cumulus and a temperature of -2.5C. The first Golden Eagle moved south at 0738 and migration was steady until 1413 when snow moved from the west, first as flurries then the real thing, obscuring the Livingstone Range and reducing the temperature to -4C. After 1413, eagles still moved in low numbers in the increasingly shorter periods between flurries. Of the total of 66 Golden Eagles, 8 were immature birds (2 subadults and 6 juveniles), suggesting that there are still many birds to come. Also notable was another late adult Sharp-shinned Hawk and the first Merlin for 13 days, an adult male of the race columbarius, but Bald Eagles are still not moving in the numbers expected at this stage of the season. The improved weather produced a small passerine movement including 62 Bohemian Waxwings, 9 Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, 22 Pine Grosbeaks and 59 Common Redpolls. BAEA 7 (329), SSHA 1 (1246), NOGO 2 (135), RLHA 3 (124), GOEA 66 (4173), MERL 1 (44) TOTAL 80 (6790)

DAY 68 (November 7) At 0700 the day looked promising with everything clear and just occasional light showers, with moderate west winds, and between 0825 and 0850 2 Bald Eagles and 5 Golden Eagles moved south past the site. Then the rain started again becoming increasingly heavy as the day progressed and I finally gave up at 1630. Before 0900 30 Common Redpolls migrated south, and the first Black-billed Magpie in two weeks turned up on the ridge. BAEA 2 (322), GOEA 5 (4107) TOTAL 7 (6710)

DAY 67 (November 6) Steady rain all day, with 3 hours fog in the morning and a high of 7C. The peaks to the north partially cleared only for about 40 minutes between 1300 and 1400 during which time 2 Golden Eagles moved south and that was it. I’m now trying to get my equipment dried out for tomorrow! GOEA 2 (4102) TOTAL 2 (6703)

DAY 66 (November 5) Yet again the wind was westerly all day gusting to 100 kmh in the late morning before moderating to 40-50 kmh by mid-afternoon. Darkening clouds from the west and snow flurries in mid-afternoon appeared to set the stage for another early shutdown, but the peaks remained clear and the clouds lifted to provide a simultaneous spectacular sunset behind the freshly snow covered Divide and a full moonrise over the Porcupine Hills to the east. If this wasn’t enough the raptors were pretty good again, with movement starting at 0806 and the last Bald Eagle going south at 1700, with peak movement before 1000 (27 birds). A late movement of birds brought the 4100th Golden Eagle and the 6700th migrant raptor just before 1700, and a grey morph Gyrfalcon was the 3rd for the season. BAEA 15 (320), NOGO 2 (133), RLHA 2 (121), GOEA 54 (4100), GYRF 1 (3) TOTAL 74 (6701)

DAY 65 (November 4) The wind was again westerly all day steadily increasing from 30 kmh at 0700 to 80 kmh after 1500, with the temperature rising to 3.5C. The peaks of the Livingstone Range to the north only cleared for about an hour all day and there was light rain all afternoon, but despite this there was fairly strong movement between 0800 and 1447, after which the migration stopped as the cloud on the mountains became even thicker. The 4000th Golden Eagle of the season passed at 0840 and the 300th Bald Eagle at 0854. The first four days of November have now yielded 300 Golden Eagles. The only passerine migrants were small flocks of Common Redpolls (total of 39 birds) and 2 late Pine Siskins, the first seen at the site since October 11. BAEA 9 (305), GOEA 54 (4046), PRFA 1 (17) TOTAL 64 (6627)

DAY 64 (November 3) Winds gusted from the west at 80-90 kmh all day, and the morning was particularly uncomfortable with blowing snow and 0C combining to provide a four-hour long cold shower. Despite the peaks of the Livingstone Range being in cloud for all but 2.5 hours movement started fairly early and continued until 1530 when the clouds lowered again and cut off the flow. The 6500th raptor of the season passed at 0925 and the Golden Eagle at 1229 made the this season’s count the 3rd highest for the species passing last year’s Mount Lorette total of 3949. The highest Golden Eagle fall counts are 4753 in 2000 and 4599 in 1993, both at Mount Lorette. There were few other migrant raptors and even fewer non-raptor species, but a Barred Owl near the parking area at 0657 was the 96th species for the site this season. BAEA 5 (296), NOGO 2 (131), GOEA 65 (3992) TOTAL 72 (6563)

DAY 63 (November 2) The temperature rose from -13C to -6C between 0800 and 0900 as warmer air from the west descended to ridge level, and reached a high of -2C before snow moved in from the west at 1545. Moderate west winds again provided excellent migration conditions with birds moving higher than yesterday with little flapping. Movement was steady after 0900 but slowed significantly after 1530 as snow developed to the north, with 5 eagles flapping low to the south in steady snow after 1600. The 81 Golden Eagles recorded is the 4th highest ever November total for a RMERF count and the pipeline still appears to be full. At 1239 I watched a juvenile Golden Eagle make a close hunting pass at a Bighorn ewe, its talons appearing to make contact with the sheep’s back. The eagle then perched on a snag about 100 m away and eyed the ewe for 10 minutes before kiting up and continuing south, apparently having decided that a 50 kg animal was probably beyond its capabilities! A single Hoary Redpoll in a flock of 30 Common Redpolls was the 95th species for the site this season. BAEA 6 (291), SSHA 1 (1245), NOGO 3 (129), GOEA 81 (3927) TOTAL 92 (6491)

DAY 62 (November 1) The temperature continued to rise reaching
-6.5C, with moderate WNW to W winds and a strong NW upper flow, with a spectacular array of high-wind clouds for most of the day. Flight conditions, however, were not particularly good and nearly all the birds were flapping and few were high. Despite this, movement was reasonably good all day with a total of 123 migrants, and the last bird to pass at 1646 was the 100th Golden Eagle of the day. This is only the second time a RMERF count has recorded at least 100 birds in a day in November: the other was 106 on November 1 2000. A juvenile Northern Goshawk at 1553 was the only non-eagle raptor, with 22 Bald Eagles making up the total. Common Redpoll (30) was the only passerine migrant today. BAEA 22 (285), NOGO 1 (126), GOEA 100 (3846) TOTAL 123 (6399)