August 31 NO OBSERVATION At 0730 the ridge was still visible although the main Livingstone Range was enveloped in cloud, but within an hour the cloud had descended and rain set in for the day. With regards to yesterday’s “record” August count I had completely forgotten August 30, 1997 at Plateau Mountain, some 60 km north of the present site. We had decided to do a full season count there, the first away from Mount Lorette, and Des, Jack, George and I traveled to the mountain to check the logistics with a view to starting the count in early September. Much to our surprise we found a full blown migration in progress and in 6 hours we counted 112 migrant raptors: 16 Northern Harriers, 24 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 62 Red-tailed Hawks, 7 American Kestrels, 1 Merlin and an unidentified Accipiter. The movement proved to be anomalous, however, and although I scrambled to start the count proper the following day we did not exceed that daily count of 112 there until October 6, and we have not subsequently seen such an August movement again. Yesterday’s movement was therefore the second highest August RMERF count and only the 7 Golden Eagles and (as I omitted to mention) the single Swainson’s Hawk were record counts for August, the latter being the first ever record for the month.

August summary The 6 days spent at the site was average compared to the last 2 years while the 68.75 hours was almost the same as last year and 10.3% above average. The total of 60 was the lowest of the 3 years and 31% below the 2006-07 average with only the Golden Eagle (a record 13, +333%), and Northern Harrier (7, +100%) and Swainson’s Hawk (1, new for month) being above average. Especially notable for their absence were Red-tailed Hawks with only 4 recorded (-80%). It should also be noted that 45 of the 60 birds (75%) moved on August 30 and that August 31 was the first August day lost to weather at the site.

August 30 [Day 6] For the first time this season the winds were light to moderate and never exceeded 16 km/h, at first from the WNW, then SE and finally E (upslope) for most of the afternoon. The temperature ranged from 9C to 13C, and yet again 40-70% mainly cumulus cloud cover provided an excellent observational backdrop. The first Coopers’ Hawk of the season moved at 0940 followed at 1057 by the first Red-tailed Hawk of the day and it looked like it was going to be yet another slow day. Between 1100 and 1200, however, I saw 12 migrant raptors and by the time the last Red-tailed Hawk had moved south at 1839 the day’s total was 45 migrants of 8 species, including the first migrant Bald Eagle (a juvenile) of the season, the highest ever RMERF August single-day totals for Northern Harrier (6), Sharp-shinned Hawk (21), Golden Eagle (7) and American Kestrel (4, equaling August 28 2006), and the combined species count of 45 is the highest ever single-day total for a RMERF August count. Passerine movement was also strong including 111 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 40 of which moved along the ridge in a 10 minute period just before 0900, 3 Mountain Bluebirds, 4 Townsend’s Solitaires, 15 American Robins, 36 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 1 Townsend’s Warbler and 123 Pine Siskins. A flock of 5 Wild Turkeys on the road at the parking area at 0740 were the first for August, but as it is the Labour Day weekend I suppose that turkeys on the road are to be expected! 11.75 hours (69.75) BAEA 1 (1), NOHA 6 (7), SSHA 21 (26), COHA 2 (2), SWHA 1 (1), RTHA 3 (4), GOEA 7 (13), AMKE 4 (4) TOTAL 45 (60)

August 29 [Day 5] (Joel) It was the warmest day of the season so far with the temperature climbing to 17C from a low of 11.5C under the influence of strong W winds all day. Once again viewing conditions were excellent with 40-70% cumulus, altostratus and cirrus cloud all day but again raptor movement was limited to just 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks and a juvenile Golden Eagle. By way of compensation there was a varied and fairly strong passerine movement including 38 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 5 Townsend’s Solitaires, 4 American Robins, 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, 23 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 7 Townsend’s Warblers (a new single-day record for the site), 70 Pine Siskins and the first August record of a Purple Finch, a female, for the site. 12 hours (58) SSHA 2 (5), GOEA 1 (6) TOTAL 3 (15)

August 28 [Day 4] (Joel after 1200) The wind was mainly from the W all day gusting to 45 km/h in the morning and over 60 km/h in the afternoon, with the temperature reaching 11.5C from a low of 6C and generally 50-70% mainly cumulus and altostratus cloud cover providing good observation conditions. Once again, however, there was little by way of raptors to observe with only three juvenile migrants tallied: Sharp-shinned Hawk, Golden Eagle and the first migrant Northern Goshawk of the season. Passerine movement was also relatively subdued but included the first 2 American Pipits of the season in the afternoon. 12 hours (46) SSHA 1 (3), NOGO 1 (1), GOEA 1 (5) TOTAL 3 (12)

August 27 [Day 3] Another cool windy day with the temperature ranging from 4C to 10C and winds gusting from 30 to 55 km/h all day. Cloud cover was 70-100% and although rain threatened for much of the afternoon it produced only a couple of light showers. Once again raptor movement was almost non-existent with a subadult Golden Eagle at 0915, an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk at 1551 and a non-migrant adult Bald Eagle at 1151. Despite the slow start to the season we have already recorded more Golden Eagles (4) in August than ever before on an RMERF count. Passerine movement again was very thin but included the first Townsend’s Warbler of the season. The lack of birds was compensated for by watching an adult Black Bear feeding to the east of the ridge below me. I first saw it at 1230 and watched it make a large clockwise loop throughout the afternoon arriving back to close to where it had started in a well-shrubbed gully at 1600. At 1618 I saw a second adult Black Bear feeding and walking slowly south to the NNW of the first. At 1725 the second bear approached the first that suddenly got its scent and immediately lumbered away downslope. It returned at 1748 and both bears fed in dense shrub about 150 m apart both apparently unaware of the presence of the other. At 1757, the second bear moved fairly rapidly to the east and I didn’t see it again. I am fairly sure that neither bear could actually see the other during this time: they just happened to converge while feeding! Joel Duncan is going to relieve me tomorrow morning and will also be the Principal Observer on Friday as I have to go to Calgary. This should get the birds moving! 11.33 hours (34) SSHA 1 (2), GOEA 1 (4) TOTAL 2 (9)

August 26 [Day 2] After overnight rain the ridge was swept with frequent showers until 1430, after which the clouds thinned and finally provided an excellent backdrop of 30-40% cumulus. West winds gusting to 25 km/h and temperatures of 4C to 5C, together with the rain, made for a chilly August morning and when the clouds finally lifted off the High Rock Range of the Continental Divide it revealed the first snow of the season. The temperature quickly climbed to 10C after noon with the westerly winds gusting to 50 km/h. It was another slow day for raptors with the season’s first migratory Red-tailed Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk moving between 1100 and 1200, then nothing until 1740 when an adult female Northern Harrier flew south, followed soon after by 2 subadult Golden Eagles. Passerine movement was predictably slow because of the weather, but the afternoon produced about 175 White-winged Crossbills, 150 of which flew south while the rest fed near the site for a couple of hours. While sheltering from one of the many showers under a krumholtz Douglas Fir in the early afternoon I was joined by a female and juvenile Dusky Grouse that vocally expressed their displeasure at my presence, but decided that I was a better bet than the rain! 11.67 hours (22.67) NOHA 1 (1), SSHA 1 (1), RTHA 1 (1), GOEA 2 (3) TOTAL 5 (7)

August 25 [Day 1] It was a windy day for the start of the season with winds from the west all day gusting to 55 km/h. The temperature at 0800 was 12C and rose to 15.5C at noon, but gradually fell throughout the afternoon to 9C at 1800. Cloud cover steady increased from 30% to 100% bringing a few light showers in mid-afternoon. Only two migrant raptors were recorded: an adult light morph Ferruginous Hawk at 1250 and 7 minutes later a juvenile Golden Eagle gliding high to the south along the ridge, the earliest yet recorded on an RMERF fall count. The only resident birds seen were a probable family group of Red-tailed Hawks and the resident pair of adult Golden Eagles with the male occasionally seen displaying. During ten visits to the site during the summer I only saw the pair once and there was no sign that they had fledged any young this year. There was a fairly good early season passerine movement in the morning including 16 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1 Mountain Bluebird, 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, 17 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 4 Wilson’s Warblers, 8 Dark-eyed [Oregon] Juncos, 1 Red Crossbill, 2 White-winged Crossbills and 35 Pine Siskins. After 1300, however, I saw hardly any birds and the highlight of the afternoon was a herd of 60 Elk at the base of the ridge immediately east of the site. 11 hours (11.0) FEHA 1, GOEA 1 TOTAL 2 (2)