October 7 [Day 42] It rained until 0915 after which the ridges quickly cleared but at the same time the W winds increased to gusts of 90-100 km/h which lasted until 1230 after which they moderated to 40-70 km/h. The afternoon was punctuated by periods of snow, the longest lasting from 1350 to 1450 during which the temperature dropped to -0.5 from a high of 7C at 1300. The clouds gradually cleared thereafter diminishing to 20% at 1900, when the W winds again increased to 80 km/h. Golden Eagle movement started almost immediately the rain stopped in the morning and 50 birds had gone south before the snow started at 1350. As soon as the snow had finished the movement resumed, peaking between 1700 and 1800 with the passage of 128 birds (99 of which moved between 1700 and 1730) producing the season’s highest hourly count so far. The birds moved fast and high against a grey cloud background and most could not be aged; in fact it took the combined efforts of Denise, Pat and I just to count them! Movement continued until 1858 when the last Golden Eagle glided very high to the south at 1858, the 285th of the day which is the highest daily count so far this season. Today’s flight comprised 67 adults, 17 subadults, 40 juveniles and 161 birds that could not be aged. The only other raptors seen were 2 unaged Sharp-shinned Hawks and a juvenile Bald Eagle. At Mount Lorette today Joel Duncan saw 50 Golden Eagles out of a total of 54 migrant raptors, and yesterday George Halmazna counted 110 raptors of which 106 were Golden Eagles: the main Golden Eagle movement is obviously well underway. Because of the adverse weather songbird movement was very thin with only 48 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches and 42 White-winged Crossbills moving south. At 0825 I was sheltering from the rain just below the ridge in the ruins of the hoist house when a Bushy-tailed Wood Rat ran past me and later returned giving me an excellent view of the animal, which is a new mammal species for the study. 12.16 hours (480.83) BAEA 1 (58), SSHA 2 (1182), GOEA 285 (1590) TOTAL 288 (3562)

October 6 [Day 41] For the first time this season the starting temperature was below freezing (-1C) and only rose to 5C between 1500 and 1700 despite bright sunshine all day with 5-20% cumulus cloud cover. Winds were WNW to W all day, generally 15-20 gusting 30 km/h except between 1300 and 1430 when winds gusted to 50 km/h. Despite the sparse cloud cover it was mainly located to the north of the site which greatly facilitated finding migrating raptors that generally moved high all day. The first Golden Eagle was seen at 0854 and movement was strong all day except for a minor lull between 1300 and 1400. Maximum passage was 45 birds between 1400 and 1600, but there was also a late surge with 42 birds, all Golden Eagles, moving from 1800 to 1900 and 7 more migrating high after 1900, the last bird flying at 1909 in a rapidly darkening sky. Both the combined species total of 315 and the Golden Eagle total of 273 were seasonal highs. Although other raptor movement was relatively sparse it included our latest ever record of a Broad-winged Hawk, an adult light morph, for the site, one day later than the previous latest (2006), and the 3 Cooper’s Hawks brought the season’s total to 220 equaling the previous fall record for the site (also in 2006). Passerine migration was again dominated by finches: 30 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 11 Pine Grosbeaks, 312 White-winged Crossbills, 24 Common Redpolls and 54 Pine Siskins. We are now in the main period of Golden Eagle migration that should last for the next couple of weeks and assistance at the site would be greatly appreciated: the more eyes on the sky the better! 12.25 hours (468.67) BAEA 5 (57), SSHA 28 (1180), COHA 3 (220), NOGO 2 (95), BWHA 1 (20), RTHA 1 (177), GOEA 273 (1305), MERL 2 (22) TOTAL 315 (3274)

October 5 [Day 40] At 0700 the central part of the Livingstone Range was still encased in cloud, but it had probably cleared by 0900 and from the site the ridges were clear all day. Winds were strong from the W until 1700 generally gusting 40-60 km/h and after 1700 from the WNW gusting 70-80 km/h. The temperature was 3C initially rising briefly to 6C and falling to 1C by 1900, which in combination with the wind left a little to be desired in the comfort department. On the other hand, cloud cover and light conditions were excellent with 20-70% cumulus, making the aging of all but the smallest raptors relatively straightforward. Golden Eagles started moving at 0919 indicating that the cloud to the north had dispersed and they moved fairly strongly for the rest of the day with a peak of 28 birds between 1400 and 1500 and the last bird flying south at 1902. The total of 134, which is the second highest for the season, comprised 54 adults, 26 subadults and 54 juveniles, and a juvenile flying south at 1647 was the 1000th Golden Eagle of the season. Numbers at the Mount Lorette count (Bill Wilson) were similar with 114 Golden Eagles out of a combined species count of 128 birds. Because of the high winds movement of other raptors was relatively sparse, but included our 31st Peregrine Falcon of the season at 1247. Passerine migration was also muted by the wind, but early finch movement included 2 Red Crossbills, 5 White-winged Crossbills, 16 Common Redpolls, 20 Pine Siskins and 1 Evening Grosbeak. 12 hours (456.42) BAEA 3 (52), SSHA 13 (1152), COHA 3 (217), NOGO 2 (93), RTHA 2 (176), GOEA 134 (1032), PEFA 1 (31) TOTAL 158 (2959)

October 4 [Day 39] Cloud cover was 100% altostratus with WSW to W winds 8-15 km/h and a temperature of 8C all morning, and although the pressure had dropped to its lowest point so far this season all the mountain ridges were clear. Drizzle started at 0910 followed by very light rain after 0945 but by 1200 the rain was steady, the temperature had dropped to 6C and the cloud had descended over the Livingstone Range to the north where it remained all day, so I called it a day at 1245. The only raptor seen was an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk flying south, west of the ridge at 0848. There was, however, a fair variety of other birds and finches moved in good numbers before the weather closed in: 25 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 2 Pine Grosbeaks, 1 Cassin’s Finch, 6 Red Crossbills, 100 White-winged Crossbills and 40 Pine Siskins. Other species included a Steller’s Jay and a Northern Pygmy-Owl that perched at the site and was very vocal, both calling and singing. After being noisily mobbed by 4 Red-breasted Nuthatches it flew off to the north. 5.5 hours (444.42) SSHA 1 (1139) TOTAL 1 (2801)

October 3 [Day 38] Even though the temperature was 9C at 0800, a W wind gusting 40 km/h and 100% thick altostratus cloud made observation uncomfortable for the first time in several days. These conditions prevailed until 1240 when the cloud quickly broke up into mainly cumulus and cirrus cover and the wind moderated to 15-20 km/h for the rest of the day. The temperature reached 14C, and although the cloud again thickened after 1700 observation conditions remained good. The first 2 Golden Eagles moved south down the ridge at 0839 and by 0900 6 more had moved raising hopes for a big movement. Although Golden Eagles continued to move steadily throughout the day, however, the final tally was only 69 birds, which was exceeded by 80 Sharp-shinned Hawks, the second highest total of the season. One of the day’s 4 Red-tailed Hawks was a dark morph adult “Harlan’s”, but the highlights of the day were 2 adult Peregrine Falcons at 1714 and 1728, and a juvenile Peregrine that was the last bird of the day at 1836. Three Peregrine Falcons is the highest daily October count ever for the site and brings the season’s total to 30. Because of the brisk early morning winds early passerine movement was muted, but later in the day there was a marked increase in finch migration that involved 86 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 15 Pine Grosbeaks, 6 Red Crossbills, 135 White-winged Crossbills and 105 Pine Siskins. In the early afternoon a young Red Crossbill was seen begging food from a female while perched atop a Douglas Fir near the site. 12.25 hours (438.92) BAEA 4 (49), SSHA 80 (1138), COHA 6 (214), NOGO 2 (91), UA 1 (45), RTHA 4 (174), RLHA 1 (6), GOEA 69 (898), PEFA 3 (30) TOTAL 170 (2800)

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)

October 1 [Day 36] It was another warm day with the temperature reaching a high of 22C which is by far the highest temperature recorded at the site in October. In fact the day’s lowest temperature at 0800, 14C, was only 0.5C lower than the highest October temperature recorded at the site in the last two years! Winds were initially NW, then WNW and finally W after 1300 never exceeding 20 km/h, and we finally saw some cloud cover: 20-40% altocumulus and lenticular in the morning and 0-20% cumulus in the afternoon. Raptor movement started fairly early with 2 juvenile Golden Eagles at 0827 and peaked between 1200 and 1500 with the passage of 91 of the day’s 147 migrants, but as happened yesterday, movement declined markedly thereafter. Unlike yesterday, however, there was a late flurry of activity with 13 birds moving after 1830, with the last two Golden Eagles gliding high to the south at 1902. The late burst of activity raised the day’s Golden Eagle total to 60, and surpassed the day’s total of 56 Sharp-shinned Hawks, that continue to move strongly. The 10 Red-tailed Hawks included 4 “Harlan’s Hawks” (all dark morph adults) and the only falcons seen were 2 columbarius Merlins (1 adult male, and 1 female/juvenile). Passerine movement, while not numerous was fairly varied and included 15 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 16 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 2 Mountain Bluebirds, 1 Townsend’s Solitaire, 70 American Robins, 2 White-crowned Sparrows, 12 Dark-eyed Juncos, 13 Pine Grosbeaks, 17 White-winged Crossbills and 107 Pine Siskins. 12.25 hours (414.42) BAEA 2 (40), NOHA 3 (45), SSHA 56 (989), COHA 8 (199), NOGO 4 (86), UA 2 (42), RTHA 10 (162), GOEA 60 (787), MERL 2 (19) TOTAL 147 (2487