October 30 [Day 65] (Vance Mattson) It was not a good start to the day. When Vance arrived at the site at first light shortly after 0800 he found that all our optical and meteorological equipment, with a value of around $6000, had been stolen overnight. He had to descend the ridge again to phone me and to report the theft to the RCMP, and the climbed back up again to resume the count at 0930 using binoculars only. Fortunately the weather was ideal for observation with thin altostratus cloud between 30 and 90% after 1100, with the wind increasing from calm up to noon to W up to 35 km/h in the afternoon, and it was again warm. The birds mainly moved close to the ridge and ages were assigned to all but 2 of the day’s 50 migrants. The early morning calm conditions suggested that few birds were missed when Vance was away from the site as he didn’t see the first bird of the day, a Golden Eagle, until 1039. Forty-five birds moved after 1200 with the last being the day’s only Rough-legged Hawk at 17565. The Golden Eagle total of 28 was the lowest since October 11, but by way of compensation 8 species of migratory raptor were seen including the latest ever Peregrine Falcon at the site (an adult) by 10 days. Both the Red-tailed Hawks were adults: 1 calurus intermediate morph and 1 dark harlani. The 0930 start meant that much of the passerine movement was missed, but 2 American Robins, 101 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 96 Pine Grosbeaks, 11 Red Crossbills, 9 White-winged Crossbills and 25 Common Redpolls were seen, and 34 migrant Canada Geese was the highest daily count so far this season. 9.5 hours (944.99) BAEA 10 (216), SSHA 4 (1449), NOGO 3 (222), RTHA 2 (208), RLHA 1 (69), GOEA 28 (4764), PEFA 1 (33), PRFA 1 (17) TOTAL 50 (7450)

October 29[Day 64] (Vance Mattson) Down-slope (westerly) conditions persisted although the wind was light until 1130 after which it increased rapidly to 45-50 gusting 55 km/h peaking at 65 km/h around 1700. The temperature ranged from 4C to 11C and the sky was almost cloudless until 1100 after which 60-90% mainly thin altostratus persisted until the end of the day producing generally favourable observing conditions. Once again movement occurred over much of the day with the first Golden Eagle appearing at 0826 and the last at 1754, and 60 of the day’s 78 migrants moved after 1100. Diversity was again low with only 3 species of migratory raptor seen with Golden Eagles overwhelmingly predominant once again with the total of 72 comprising 56 adults, 3 subadults, 11 juveniles and 2 of unknown age. Passerine migrants were 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 155 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 67 Pine Grosbeaks, 14 Red Crossbills, 14 White-winged Crossbills and a late-season surge of 95 Pine Siskins. 11.16 hours (745.49) BAEA 2 (219), NOGO 3 (219), GOEA 72 (4736), UE 1 (8) TOTAL 78 (7400)

October 28 [Day 63] (Doug and Teresa Dolman) It was another pleasant day for observation with the temperature ranging from 7C to 13.5C and winds out of the W that were steady all day at 25-30 gusting 30 km/h. Cloud cover was also a consistent 60-70% altostratus and cirrus with a Chinook arch developed over the Livingstone Range which at times was so dark that aging high flying eagles was impossible, but which ultimately produced a spectacular sunset. A Northern Goshawk was the first bird of the day at 0833, but movement was generally slow until 1300 after which 61 of the day’s 85 migrants moved, with the last bird, the day’s 76th Golden Eagle, recorded at 1812. Only 4 species of raptor were seen, the lowest raptor diversity this month with the exception of the weather-interrupted day on October 4, the other migrants being 3 Bald Eagles, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk and 5 Northern Goshawks. The 76 Golden Eagles comprised 50 adults, 3 subadults, 7 juveniles and 16 birds of unknown age. A flock of 45 American Crows seen near the hoist house at 0830 was only the second fall record for the site (the first in October), was the second for the ridge proper, and is the 99th bird species recorded this season. A total of 75 Bohemian Waxwings was the highest count so far, and there was the usual steady stream of finches in the morning: 31 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 22 Pine Grosbeaks, 10 Common Redpolls (but no crossbills) along with 13 Red-breasted Nuthatches (the highest count since October 6) and 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets. 11 hours (724.33) BAEA 3 (204), SSHA 1 (1445), NOGO 5 (216), GOEA 76 (4664) TOTAL 85 (7322)

October 27 [Day 62] (Denise Cocciolone-Amatto) It was a very pleasant day with the temperature rising to 11C from a low of -2C, W and occasionally SW winds all day in the range of 20-25 km/h, gusting briefly to 45 km/h around 1300, and clear skies initially with gradually developing altostratus and cirrus cloud that reached 90% by mid afternoon before diminishing to 5-30% for the rest of the day. There was again a good variety of raptors seen with 8 species moving between the first Rough-legged Hawk at 0850 and the last Golden Eagle at 1820. Migration was initially slow but picked up significantly in the afternoon with 59 of the day’s 86 migrants moving after 1400. Golden Eagles (58) still dominate the movement but significant numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks (9) are still going south and a juvenile Northern Harrier was a fairly late bird. Once again most of the passerine migration was early in the morning and comprised 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2 American Robins, 160 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 16 Pine Grosbeaks and 39 White-winged Crossbills. 11.33 (713.33) BAEA 8 (201), NOHA 1 (49), SSHA 9 (1444), COHA 1 (235), NOGO 4 (211), UA 1 (57), RLHA 2 (68), GOEA 58 (4588), UE 1 (7), MERL 1 (32) TOTAL 86 (7237)

October 26 [Day 61] (Bill Wilson) The temperature at 0800 was -11C, the coldest experienced so far this season, but rose to 4C under sunny skies with 20-80% thin cirrus cloud cover all day. The highest wind recorded was 20 km/h, but it was generally light all day, initially E but then progressively SE, S and finally SW for most of the afternoon. The first raptor of the day was a Rough-legged Hawk at 0815 and the first Golden Eagle was at 0847, but the bulk of the movement was in the afternoon with highest passage of 13 birds from 1200 to 1300, 12 from 1500-1600 and 11 from 1700 to 1800. The last bird was a Golden Eagle at 1731. The combined species count of 68 was the lowest since October 12 and Golden Eagle movement appears to be finally losing steam with 43 birds counted: 36 adults, 1 subadult and 6 juveniles. Bald Eagles, however, continue to move steadily and a few Sharp-shinned Hawks are still going south. At 1720 a non-migrant Prairie Falcon took particular exception to a single Common Raven, which was one of many moving west to roost, and harried it relentlessly for about a minute. As Bill left Calgary at 0500 he climbed to the site in darkness but was rewarded with a Great Horned Owl singing to the east of the ridge, which was the 97th bird species of the season and the first time the bird has been detected from the site itself. At 1137 a first winter Herring Gull flew to the S just W of the ridge providing species #98 and again it was the first time the species has been seen at the ridge top. There was a good movement of finches in the morning involving Pine Grosbeaks (59), Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches (52), Red Crossbills (20), White-winged Crossbills(102) and Common Redpolls (8) together with 6 Red-breasted Nuthatches and 32 Bohemian Waxwings, but almost no passerine movement in the afternoon. At Mount Lorette Cliff Hansen had a total of 19 migrant raptors comprising 6 Bald Eagles, 1 Northern Goshawk, and 12 Golden Eagles which moved late in the day. Observers at Lorette have now counted 1938 Golden Eagles at the site since October 2, compared to 3743 counted at Piitaistakis-South Livingstone over the same period. 11.16 hours (daylight observation!) (702) BAEA 13 (193), SSHA 2 (1435), NOGO 5 (207), RLHA 4 (66), GOEA 43 (4530), UE 1 (6) TOTAL 68 (7151)

October 25 [Day 60] Once again winds were W gusting between 35 and 55 km/h all day and the temperature ranged between -0.5C and 4C. Cloud cover was 70-100% altostratus and cumulus until noon producing light snow flurries to 1000, but in the afternoon the cloud rapidly cleared and after 1500 the remnant scattered cumulus was reduced to 2%: fortunately most of it was concentrated behind the Livingstone Range to the north greatly facilitating the location of high southward flying birds. Again there was a good variety of raptors for late October with 9 species moving. The Golden Eagle recorded at 1153 was the 7000th migrant raptor of the season and we reached this mark 2 days earlier than we did last year. The first bird was a Golden Eagle at 0831 and the last a Bald Eagle at 1830 and between raptors appeared at a fairly steady pace all day with peak movements of 18 from 1100 to 1200 and 19 from 1600 to 1700. There was a late burst of 15 Bald Eagles after 1607 raising their count to 20 the second highest this season, and the only Northern Harrier was an adult male at 1037. Seven more Northern Goshawks raised the total to over 200 for the first time at the site, and 2 dark morph “Harlan’s” Red-tailed Hawks raised the season’s total for the subspecies to 50. Golden Eagles continue to move fairly strongly with the day’s total of 78 comprising 55 adults, 4 subadults, 14 juveniles and 5 birds of unknown age. The only passerine migrants were finches with 105 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 130 Pine Grosbeaks, 10 White-winged Crossbills and 25 Pine Siskins winging their way south. At Mount Lorette Ron Dutcher spent a pleasant day counting 26 migrant raptors of which 21 were Golden Eagles. 11.25 hours (690.84) BAEA 20 (180), NOHA 1 (48), SSHA 3 (1433), COHA 1 (234), NOGO 7 (202), UA 1 (56), RTHA 2 (206), RLHA 2 (62), GOEA 78 (4487), UE (5), MERL 1 (31) TOTAL 118 (7083)

When I returned home tonight I learned that my wife Barbara’s health has suddenly taken a turn for the worse so I am leaving for Calgary early tomorrow. We have presently arranged for Principal Observers to be at the Piitaistakis site in my stead until Sunday November 2, and we shall decided how to proceed thereafter depending on Barbara’s progress. Because of this situation I shall not be posting the blog for a few days. As always the Principal Observers would welcome whatever help they can get at the site.

October 24 [Day 59] The wind was W all day gusting to 50 km/h in the morning and then gradually increased to 40-50 gusting 90 km/h by late afternoon. The temperature was 0C until 1100 and reached a high of 6C at 1700, and there was a Chinook arch of altostratus cloud until late morning followed by diminishing amounts of cumulus and altostratus down to 10-30% after 1600. The day’s first bird was an adult male columbarius Merlin at 0844 but I had to wait until 1021 for the first of the day’s 53 Golden Eagles to appear. Movement was then sporadic for the rest of the day with birds generally moving high in the strong winds and after 1700 the birds were clearly being buffeted by the wind as they glided south: the last Bald Eagle was seen at 1806. For the first time this season Bald Eagles moved in decent numbers with 9 of the day’s 26 birds seen between 1600 and 1700. The only Red-tailed Hawk was a dark morph adult “Harlan’s” at 1542, and the season’s second Gyrfalcon, a juvenile grey morph, flew south at 1226. Because of the strong winds passerine movement was almost completely confined to the period before 1000, and only Pine Grosbeaks (100) and Bohemian Waxwings (38) occurred in numbers comparable to the last few days. Other migrants were 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 1 American Robin, 59 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches, 36 White-winged Crossbills and 7 Common Redpolls. A Snowshoe Hare near the site was in its white winter pelage and easy to see on the snow-less ridge. Raptor movement was relatively sparse at Lorette during the last three days under Chinook wind conditions. Alan Hingston recorded 22 Golden Eagles and 2 Bald eagles on October 22 and 14 Golden Eagles, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk and 1 unidentified falcon on October 23, while today Cliff Hansen saw 18 Golden Eagles and no other migrant raptors.11.25 hours (679.59) BAEA 26 (160), SSHA 1 (1430), NOGO 4 (195), RTHA 1 (204), RLHA 4 (60), GOEA 53 (4409), MERL 1 (30), GYRF 1 (2) TOTAL 91 (6965)