Autumn 2011 Final Count Report
Summary and highlights
This was the 21st consecutive year that some form of fall count has been conducted by RMERF members and was the 20th conducted at Mount Lorette.
The combined species count of 3899 is 8.9 % below average, but October 5 saw passage of 578 migrants of which 556 were Golden Eagles, both of which were record fall counts for the site.
Eleven species occurred in below average numbers and median passage dates were generally later than average. The Golden Eagle count of 3466 is 4.6% below average and slightly tempers but does not alter the declining trend for the species at the site.
A nine-day October reconnaissance count at Piitaistakis-South Livingstone saw the same October 5 peak with 519 birds (453 Golden Eagles) recorded, followed by 508 birds (474 Golden Eagles) on October 6. The hourly passage rate of birds was almost twice that for the same period at Mount Lorette.
The highest count at the Steeples Ridge reconnaissance site on the western flanks of the Rocky Mountains near Cranbrook, BC, was also October 5, when 89 raptors (50 Bald and 28 Golden Eagles) were seen in 3 hours. A new late fall and winter count at Beauvais Ridge in SW Alberta found migration persisting well into the early part of 2012, but some of the movement may represent systematic evening roosting flights.
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