March 18 (Terry Waters) The temperature was -15C at 0730 but by 1600 it had risen to 3C and was 0C at 1900. Ground winds were S-SW, generally light but gusting to 20 km/h in the afternoon, while ridge winds were moderate SSW-SW gusting to 30 km/h. It was essentially cloudless to 1300 after which 10% scattered cumulus developed and all the ridges were clear all day. Conditions appeared to be ideal for raptor movement but the first bird, an unidentified Buteo, was not seen until 1135 and the first Bald and Golden Eagles were not recorded until 1224. Subsequently, however, the migration became increasingly strong throughout the afternoon with 43 birds moving between 1600 and 1700, 64 birds between 1700 and 1800 and 63 birds between 1800 and 1900. The total of 200 Golden Eagles (168a, 4sa, 4j, 24u) was by far the highest count so far this season with the birds initially moving along the western ridges or above the valley, but after 1500 they were seen exclusively above the Fisher Range to the east. The relatively light winds allowed for extensive high soaring flight with kettles of 15 Golden Eagles recorded at 1835, of 14 birds at 1855 and 12 birds at 1705. The flight comprised 7 Bald Eagles (6a, 1j), the season's first Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Northern Goshawks (1a, 1j), 2 Rough-legged Hawks, 3 unidentified buteos, 200 Golden Eagles, and at 1839, the bird of the season so far,was a very early Turkey Vulture. The previous earliest record of the bird at the site was April 13, 1993 and its average first appearance date (for the 9 years that it has occurred) is May 4. Songbird sightings included 15 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches and an American Robin, and fresh lynx tracks were again present at the site. 11.5 hours (150.33) TUVU 1 (1), BAEA 7 (31), SSHA 1 (1), NOGO 2 (4), RLHA 2 (3), UB 3 (4), GOEA 200 (524) TOTAL 216 (524)

In January Denise and I looked for a new observation site to replace the Valley View site to the west of the Piitaistakis Ridge, which was no longer available to us. We found a site NE of the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre that afforded an excellent view of the entire ridge system to the east as well as of Bluff Mountain and Turtle Mountain to the west. Today the weather forecast appeared to be favourable so I decided to spend some time at the site to test it out. At 1000 the temperature was -1C and it rose to a high of 4C at 1400, ground winds were generally light W-WSW until 1440 when they became SW gusting to 20-30 km/h before becoming light again after 1700, and ridge winds appeared to mainly moderate W all day. Cloud cover was 10-20% altocumulus or cumulus to 1400, after which the cumulus gradually increased to 90% and thickening of the previously extremely thin cirrostratus along with development of cirrus gave excellent observation condition,s and hazy sunshine persisted throughout the day. The first raptors were seen at 1051 slowly rising from presumed roosts on Bluff Mountain, but soon after steady movement was established along the Piitaistakis Ridge and Livingstone Range where a steady stream of eagles could be seen moving north for the rest of the day. The dynamic was similar to that seen at Mount Lorette with the movement peaking between 1600 and 1700 when 70 eagles were recorded. The last birds were 3 adult Bald Eagles first seen at 1821 which slowly drifted north finally being lost to view at 1835. The total flight of 288 birds comprised 13 Bald Eagles (9a, 4sa) and 275 Golden Eagles (262a, 9sa, 4j), with the Golden Eagle total being the second highest spring daily count at the site (behind 335 on March 24, 2009) and is only the third count above 200 there. The resident pair of Golden Eagles were seen from time to time but only one bird displayed briefly at 1538. Surprisingly, considering the conditions, no non-eagle raptors were seen, but other birds recorded were 1 Blue Jay, 2 Grey Jays, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 32 Common Ravens, 3 Mountain Chickadees, 1 American Robin and 1 European Starling. 9 hours BAEA 13, GOEA 275 TOTAL 288

The observation site, which will be called the Frank Slide site, is located at 0688840 5497960 at 1442 m which is about 700m NE of the NE corner of the Interpretive Centre's parking lot and involves a 54 m elevation gain. The site is 2 km almost due west of the observation site on the Piitaistakis Ridge, and as the first day's results demonstrate it is an excellent place from which to observe when the ridge top is inaccessible. At present the access route and the site still have a fairly deep snow cover, but when this is reduced we will flag the path from the parking lot.

By the end of the day Golden Eagle #78453 (“Elaine”) had reached the foothills of NE British Columbia and was roosting some 25 km east of Monkman Park and about 70 km SW of the community of Tumbler Ridge. There is now a link from our website www.eaglewatch.ca to the tracking site if you wish to follow her progress towards her northern breeding grounds.