October 8 [Day 17] (Jim Davis, assisted by Cliff Hansen and 6 sky sweepers) After 2 and a half days of steady rain the day started with fog and light drizzle that only started to lift at 0830. Mount Lorette only became visible at 1040 and the ridges were not completely clear until noon. The temperature reached 9C at 1600 from a low of -1C in the morning and fell to 6C at 1900. Ground winds were calm to light S all day, while ridge winds were light in the morning becoming moderate SW in the afternoon gusting to 72 km/h at 1700. After the fog lifted cloud cover was 10-20% cumulus to 1400 then became 40% altostratus and cirrostratus to 1600 before diminishing to 10% altocumulus and lenticular at the end of the day. Despite the fog a juvenile Northern Goshawk flew low to the south at 0826, but the first Golden Eagle was not recorded until 1005. After that the floodgates gradually opened and by the time the last Golden Eagle was recorded at 1912 a total of 583 raptors had been tallied of which 556 were Golden Eagles. Both totals were record high fall counts for the site, the previous high counts for Golden Eagles being 573 on October 15 2004 and 536 on October 14 2003. Peak movement was 1400-1500 with passage of 125 birds, 121 of which were Golden Eagles, while 1500-1600 yielded 118 birds (115 Golden Eagles) and 1600-1700 112 birds (107 Golden Eagles). The final count was 4 Bald Eagles (3a,1j), 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a,4u), a season-high count of 7 Cooper's Hawks (4a,2j,1u), 2 Norther Goshawks (1a,1j), 6 calurus Red-tailed Hawks: 4 light morphs (3a,1j) and 2 dark morphs (1a,1j), 1 adult light morph Rough-legged Hawk, 1 dark morph unidentified Buteo, a season high and site fall record of 556 Golden Eagles (419a,15sa,76j,46u) and 1 unidentified eagle. As if this was not enough other bird records included a Grey Catbird, 5 American Goldfinches, season-first records of Pacific Wren and Lapland Longspur, 2 Northern Shrikes (1a,1j), 1 Varied Thrush, 8 Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers, 25 Red-winged Blackbirds and 1 of 25 Dark-eyed Juncos recorded was of the race mearnsii (“Pink-sided Junco”) which is rare at the site.

12.75 hours (197.9) BAEA 4 (25), SSHA 5 (53), COHA 7 (15), NOGO 2 (9), RTHA 6 (14), RLHA 1 (2), UB 1 (2), GOEA 556 (945), UE 1 (1) TOTAL 583 (1084)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone: Frank site (Peter Sherrington to 1620 then Doug Dolman to 1840, assisted by Denise Cocciolone-Amatto, Raymond Toal, Doug and Teresa Dolmen and David Thomas)

It was a pleasant day after two days of heavy rain with the temperature reaching 9C from a low of 3C, ground winds were variable and light until 1500 when they became W-SW gusting 20-30 km/h while ridge winds were initially light but increased to W moderate to strong in the afternoon. Cloud cover was 50-70% altocumulus and cumulus to 1400 becoming 90-100% cirrus, cirrostratus and cumulus for the rest of the day giving hazy sunshine and generally excellent viewing conditions. Raptor movement was also strong here with a total of 519 raptors migrating between 1024 and 1835, with peak movement between 1500 and 1600 of 112 birds (96 Golden Eagles) and 1700-1800 when 116 birds (113 Golden Eagles) passed. Movement was mainly high above the Livingstone Range with much soaring flight producing kettles of up to 14 Golden Eagles. The flight comprised 1 Osprey, 9 Bald Eagles (6a,2j1u), 31 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a,30u), 6 unaged Cooper's Hawks, 2 adult Northern Goshawks, 4 unidentified accipiters, 11 Red-tailed Hawks( 10 calurus: 9 light morph (8a,1j), 1 juvenile dark morph, and 1 dark adult harlani), 453 Golden Eagles (217a,37sa,60j,139u) and 2 unidentified raptors.

8.67 hours OSPR 1, BAEA 9, SSHA 31, COHA 6, NOGO 2, UA 4, RTHA 11, GOEA 453, UU2 TOTAL 519