Wednesday, April 6, 2011

April 6 [Day 32] (Terry Waters, Jim Davis) The temperature was -4C at 0900 and rose to a high of 3C at 1500 before falling back to 0C at 1700. Ground winds were S-SW 5-10 gusting 20 km/h, while ridge winds were moderate SW becoming light after 1500. Cloud cover was initially 50% cirrus which lowered and thickened to 50% stratocumulus at 1200 and was 100% after 1600 when snow flurries started which turned to steady snow after 1700. The eastern ridges and the western ridges, with the exception of the peaks, were clear until 1600 after which all the ridges progressively became enveloped in cloud and snow. Raptor movement seen from the Hay Meadow site was poor with only 4 Golden Eagles (2a, 2j) moving above the Fisher Range between 1120 and 1420. Jim Davis, however, after starting the count at the Hay Meadow site, went first to the Lusk Creek site where he recorded an adult Bald Eagle, and then after 1200 observed from the bridge over the Kananaskis River which is 1.5 km SE of the Hay Meadow site. From here he observed 17 more migrant raptors of 5 species between 1249 and 1628, most of which moved low to the NW against the lower slopes of the Fisher Range. These birds apparently could not be seen from the Hay Meadow. This flight comprised 1 adult Cooper's Hawk, 1 juvenile Northern Goshawk (which flew to the north low enough to almost remove Jim's hat), 2 adult calurus Red-tailed Hawks (1 light, 1 dark), 3 light morph Rough-legged Hawks and 10 Golden Eagles (6a, 1j, 3u). Seven of these birds, all Golden Eagles, moved between 1608 and 1628, the last three being unaged birds that could just be perceived through the rapidly thickening snow. An American Tree Sparrow, the first for the season, and a flock of 75 Bohemian Waxwings at 1600 were the only notable songbirds seen at the Hay Meadow site. 8.5 hours (363.83) BAEA 1 (146), COHA 1 (2), NOGO 1 (10), RTHA 2 (14), RLHA 3 (15), GOEA 14 (2764) TOTAL 22 (2986)

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