October 2 [Day 37] The barometric pressure dropped 3 hPa overnight and a further 4 hPa today, indicating a weather change from the stable high pressure system that has prevailed for the last 4 days. The day started out, however, as a continuation of that system, with the temperature at 0800 14C with light winds that persisted to 1430, when the wind shifted from NW to SW gusting to 20 km/h. The temperature reached 21C between 1400 and 1500 which felt even warmer with the light winds, but quickly diminished as thick altostratus cloud replaced the thin cirrus and cirrostratus that characterised the morning and early afternoon. The light winds meant that raptor movement started late and mainly involved Sharp-shinned Hawks before noon. It picked up in the afternoon with much high soaring flight which without the cirrus backdrop would have been very difficult to detect, although some birds obliged the CTV photojournalist, Kevin Fleming, who was filming at the site, by moving low along the ridge. Movement was steady at between 20 and 30 birds an hour from 1300 to 1800, after which only 4 more birds were seen, the last moving at 1811. Sharp-shinned Hawks (69) comprised almost half the movement and became the first species to top the 1000 level this season, while Cooper’s Hawk reached the 200 mark at 1351. The 2 Ospreys was the highest ever daily count for October and raised the record count for the species to 26, and a single adult Peregrine Falcon brought the season’s total to 27. The 8 Red-tailed Hawks included a variety of plumage types that were 2 adult light morph calurus, 1 adult intermediate morph calurus, 2 adult and 2 juvenile dark morph harlani, and 1 adult of the rare light morph harlani subspecies. Eight of the 42 Golden Eagles were seen soaring very high west of the ridge at 1337, but fortunately subsequent birds moved in a more predictable pattern. Passerine movement was also varied although no great numbers were involved. It included 1 Blue Jay, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 8 Townsend’s Solitaires, 2 Varied Thrushes and the first 2 Common Redpolls of the season [species #89]. A northern Pygmy-Owl singing east of the ridge at 1900 was the (somewhat belated) first of the season [#90]. The 32 bird species recorded at the site today was the highest since September 20. Bill Wilson has decided that the thrush that he saw on Sunday was in fact a Hermit Thrush and not our third Grey-cheeked Thrush for the season as originally reported. It therefore becomes the latest record of Hermit Thrush at the site. After a week’s delay because of a lack of observers, the Mount Lorette comparative count will begin tomorrow and continue to the end of the month, thanks to the efforts of Cliff Hansen who is coordinating the count. Kevin Fleming’s television piece on the Piitaistakis-South Livingstone site will air tomorrow some time between 1700 and 1900. 12.25 hours (426.67) OSPR 2 (26), BAEA 5 (45), SSHA 69 (1058), COHA 9 (208), NOGO 3 (89), UA 2 (44), RTHA 8 (170), RLHA 1 (5), GOEA 42 (829), MERL 1 (20), PEFA 1 (27) TOTAL 143 (2630)