October 23 [Day 32] (Bill Wilson, assisted by Chris Hunt) It was a cool morning with lows of -2C at 0900 and again at 1100 before the temperature rose to a high of 6C at 1600 before falling again to 1C at 1900. Ground winds were WSW 2-10 km/h gusting to 25 km/h in the early afternoon, while ridge winds were WSW-SW moderate to strong gusting to 77 km/h in the afternoon. Cloud cover was initially 100% stratus and cumulus that had thinned to 5-10% cumulus between 0900 and 1600 which thickened to 80% cumulus by 1900. There was 3cm of fresh snow on the ground in the morning and a few flakes continued to fall until 0800. It was another strong day of raptor movement with a total of 160 migrants counted between 0850 and 1848, when it was almost too dark to see. The movement was dominated by 148 Golden Eagles (102a,4sa,19j,23u) which was the 12^th three-figure count this season. Other raptors were 6 Bald Eagles (3a,2sa1j), 2 adult Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 adult Northern Goshawk and 3 light morph Rough-legged Hawks. Most of the birds moved to the east above the Fisher Range although some flew high over the eastern part of the valley to the west of the range. Movement was steady through most of the day with a highest hourly count of 27 birds (26 Golden Eagles and 1 Bald Eagle) between 1500 and 1600. Five Common Loons flew high to the south at 1352, and contrary to previous observations a male Belted Kingfisher and 2 American Dippers amicably shared the river at the site throughout the day.

12.25 hours (371.86) BAEA 6 (64), SSHA 2 (87), NOGO 1 (31), RLHA 3 (24), GOEA 148 (2948) TOTAL 160 (3239)

Piitaistakis-South Livingstone: Frank site (Peter Sherrington, assisted by Denise Coccioloni-Amatto Raymond Toal, Keith McClary and David Thomas) The temperature varied between 7C and 8C for much of the day falling after 1600 and reaching 4.5C at 1730. Ground winds were WSW-W all day, generally light but occasionally gusting to 25 km/h in the early afternoon, while ridge winds were moderate to strong WNW all day. An initial cloud cover of 10% cumulus persisted to 1100 when thin cirrus began to develop along with the cumulus and after 1500 cloud cover was 80-100% cirrus and cumulus for the rest of the day providing both a spectacular skyscape and excellent observing conditions. The count was very similar to that at Mount Lorette with a total of 143 birds counted between 1028 and 1737, of which 133 were Golden Eagles (115a,8sa,10j) most of which glided very high to the south above the Livingstone Range throughout the day. Other migrants were 5 adult Bald eagles, 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 1 juvenile dark-morph harlani Red-tailed Hawk, 1 indeterminate columbarius Merlin and 2 adult Peregrine Falcons. The family group of 2 adult and 1 juvenile Golden Eagles was evident through much of the day, with adult birds seen performing low intensity display flights on a couple of occasions. In addition to the observers we had a total of 12 visitors to the site over the weekend.

7.67 hours BAEA 5, NOGO 1, RTHA 1, GOEA 133, MERL 1, PEFA 2 TOTAL 143

The adventures of “Elaine” (Golden Eagle #78453)

Elaine, an adult female Golden Eagle was captured and fitted with a transmitter during the third week of October, 2010 by Rob Domenech and his colleagues from the Raptor View Research Institute in Montana. She spent last winter in the Paradise Valley just south of Livingstone, Montana and just north of Yellowstone National Park. In the spring she moved north roosting for a night (March 12) along the way on Bluff Mountain just west of our Piitaistakis-South Livingstone site and the next day crossed Mount Lorette on her way north. By early April she had reached the southern flank of the Philip Smith Mountains of the Brooks Range in northeastern Alaska where she spent the summer. Rob informed me that it is not known if she bred there.

This fall Elaine started her southward journey on October 1 and had reached the Yukon by October 7 where she slowly moved to the SE south of the Ogilvie Mountains. On October 21 she was just north of the BC border in the Beaver River Valley of SE Yukon and on October 22 she had flown south and is now in the northernmost part of the Rocky Mountains of NE BC. I would now expect her to make more rapid progress now that she has joined the “Eagle Highway” that terminates at our Piitaistakis-South Livingstone site in SW Alberta.

You can follow her progress on a map on the seaturtle.org site via the link on our website.