November 30 [Day 95] (Bill Wilson) This was the latest date that we have observed on the ridge where the temperature rose to 1C at 1400 from an early morning low of -3.5C, falling to 0C after 1600. Winds were consistently W all day generally 30-40 km/h gusting between 50 and 60 km/h. Cloud cover was a mixture of cumulus, cirrus and altostratus ranging from 5% at 1000 to 95% by the end of the day. The day got off to a good start with 3 Bald Eagles moving at 0807 and with a total of 8 Bald Eagles and 2 Golden Eagles recorded before 0900. Movement then slowed until between 1519 and 1638 during which 10 Bald Eagles and 3 Rough-legged Hawks moved. The total of 32 migrant raptors was the highest count since November 21 and the Bald Eagle count of 25 was the 3rd highest of the season behind counts of 26 on November 2 and October 24. We had planned to make this the final day of the count, but today’s high total and the fact that a northern front was forecast to pass late on December 1 strongly indicated that a good count, especially of Bald Eagles, might be expected moving ahead of the front tomorrow. Despite my best efforts (I was on the phone until 2345) I was unable to secure an observer so today did, unfortunately, prove to be the last day of the fall 2008 season after all. Passerines included 4 Red-breasted Nuthatches (bringing the season’s total to 2,792 birds the vast majority of which were migrants), 2 Bohemian Waxwings, 4 Pine Grosbeaks, 23 White-winged Crossbills and 1 Common Redpoll. 9.5 hours (1027.5) BAEA 25 (466), RLHA 3 (97), GOEA 4 (5209) TOTAL 32 (8238)
November summary We spent a total of 29 (282) days observing during the month (with November 4 the only full day lost to inclement weather), with the days and hours being 9.4% and 14.8% above the 2006-7 average respectively. The combined species count for November of 759 is the second highest at the site but 7.9% below average: the November count in 2006 was 941. The only species establishing a new monthly high count was Peregrine Falcon (2, +300%) although the 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks equaled the count in 2006 (+20%). Rough-legged Hawk (27, +5.9%) was the second highest count for the month, just 1 less than last year’s count, but several unidentified Buteos late in the month were almost certainly of this species. Other species were below average for the month, mainly reflecting high counts in 2006: Bald Eagle 247 (second highest count, -1.4%), Northern Goshawk 23 (-27%) and Gyrfalcon 1 (-81.8%). Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin and (migratory) Prairie Falcon were not recorded this year but have occurred in small numbers in previous November counts, while the remaining species have never been recorded in November. All categories of unidentified raptors were the highest ever for the month reflecting the inexperience of some of the observers: UA 2 (+300%), UB 6 (not previously recorded in November), UE 21 (+950%) and UF 1 (+100%).

FINAL COUNT, AUGUST 25 TO NOVEMBER 30 (variance from 2006-7 average in parentheses)

DAYS 95 (+3.3%)
HOURS 1037 (+6.9%)

TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) 0 (=)
OSPREY (OSPR) 27 (+92.9%)
BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 466 (-21%)
NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 49 (-26%)
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 1452 (+17.8%)
COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 235 (+14.4%)
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 245 (+53.1%)
Unidentified Accipiter (UA) 59 (+15.7%)
BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 20 (+73.9%)
SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 3 (+100%)
RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 209 (-11%)
FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 1 (-60%)
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 97 (-13%)
Unidentified Buteo (UB) 11 (+175%)
GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 5209 (+5.8%)
Unidentified eagle (UE) 32 (+256%)
AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 18 (-49%)
MERLIN (MERL) 32 (-11%)
GYRFALCON (GYRF) 3 (-60%)
PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 35 (+32.1%)
PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 17 (+6.25%)
Unidentified Falco (UF) 3 (+20%)
Unidentified raptor (UU) 15 (+42.9%)

TOTAL 8238 (+6.26%)

Principal Observers: Peter Sherrington (59 days), Bill Wilson (14 days), Vance Mattson (10 days), Denise Coccioloni-Amatto (5.5 days), Joel Duncan (2.5 days), Raymond Toal (1.5 days) and Dawn Hall, Doug & Teresa Dolmen, and Nel van Kamer (all 1 day). The Principal Observers were skillfully assisted by Denise Coccioloni-Amatto (24 days), Dawn Hall (11 days), Doug and Teresa Dolman (10 days), Keith McClary (10 days), Raymond Toal (10 days), Nel Van Kamer (7 days), Pat Lucas (7 Days), Karola Michalsky (6 days), Vance Mattson (4 days), Paul Vandervelde (3 days), Joel Duncan (2 days) and Peter Poole (2 days), and many of the other 250+ people who visited the site during the season.

Acknowledgements: To the members and supporters of the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation for their continuing financial support, and to members of the Crowsnest Conservation Society for their support and many contributions to the success of the project. To the volunteer observers who did a marvelous job of completing the count after October 25 when, because of my wife Barbara’s failing health, I left to join her in Calgary. And to Barbara, my wife of almost 40 years, who died early in the morning of December 27 after living with breast cancer and four subsequent metastases for six and a half years. Without Barbara’s love and support over the last 17 years I could not have given up my original profession to study Golden Eagle migration, there would have been no Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation and so much of what we now know about raptor movement in the Canadian Rockies would likely not have come to light. The debt that we all owe her is uncountable. Thank you, darling Barbara.


LORETTE

February 17, 1997

For today
the snow’s softly deep
and the air’s plumply warm.
This Chinook seems like
very early spring;
the soft pocked ice
the peeking patches of
brown muddy grass.
Dogwoods’ tips gleam raspberry red
by the chalk grey aspen stand.
A dipper slips into the water
and steps back onto the soft bank.
We look along the rocky tops
hoping
for journeying eagles,
but for now only the ravens
play there.
A goshawk’s swiftness
catches my eye
as it makes for
a certain branch.
I stand in the snow
and breathe.

Barbara Sherrington

July 29, 1947 – December 27, 2008