Thursday, April 14, 2011

April 14 [Day 40] (Jim Davis) On arriving at the parking area at 0715 and finding zero visibility in the fog and snow, Jim first went south in search of better conditions, and then north to Lusk Creek from 0930 to 1300, returning to the Hay Meadow to 1545 and then back to Lusk Creek as snow once again obscured everything. The temperature at 0715 was -3C, but it climbed to a high of 5C at 1400 but quickly fell to just above freezing at 1600. Ground winds were W 5-8 km/h to noon increasing to moderate in the afternoon with gusts to 43 km/h at 1600, while ridge winds were SW reaching gusts in excess of 100 km/h after 1600. Cloud cover was 100% low stratus with fog and snow to 1300, followed by heavy snow with partial clearing to 80% between 1500 and 1600 before returning to 100% stratocumulus, altocumulus and cumulus after 1600. The eastern route was obscured to 1300 then almost completely cleared to 1600 after which it again became obscured, while the west was obscured to 1400 with only slight subsequent clearing. The first visit to Lusk Creek produced 2 adult Bald Eagles at 114 and 1200, the second of which moved rapidly to the east ahead of an advancing snow front, and an adult Golden Eagle. The other 11 migrants were seen from the Hay Meadow site between 1335 and 1540 with 6 of the birds moving between 1400 and 1500. As yesterday the birds mainly appeared north of Mount Allan and flew to the NE. The final count was 4 adult Bald Eagles, 5 light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks (4a, 1j), 2 light morph Rough-legged Hawks (adult male and female that repeatedly interacted as they moved north at 1433), 2 Golden Eagles (1a, 1j) and 1 unidentified eagle that could barely be discerned in the fog.

10 hours (457.82) BAEA 4 (174), RTHA 5 (27), RLHA 2 (21), GOEA 2 (2918), UE 1 (12) TOTAL 14 (3207)

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