March 24 [Day 36] (Valley View site) Ground winds were variable and light until 1400 after which they were mainly SW-SSW occasionally gusting to 15 km/h, and ridge winds were initially light W but after 1430 became light E which brought upslope cloud that first partially draped the Livingstone Range then obscured the top of Turtle Mountain and part of Bluff Mountain to the west. The temperature rose to 9C at 1300 from a morning low of 2C, and then fell steadily to 0C at 1900 after the passage of a cold front around 1430. Cloud cover was 80-100% stratus, cirrostratus and cumulus becoming thicker stratocumulus after 1300. After yesterday’s raptor rush I was expecting a continuation today but the calm conditions in the morning meant that the first Golden Eagle was not seen until 1135 and steady moment did not start until 1231 when 4 Golden eagles moved north together. Movement was slow but steady along the Livingstone Ridge until upslope cloud developed in mid afternoon, after which birds moved slowly with much soaring above the valley or above Bluff Mountain to the west, with the last bird, a Rough-legged Hawk, flying north into cloud on Bluff Mountain at 1909. Maximum movement was 24 birds between 1600 and 1700 which included 20 Golden Eagles many of which soared and flew low to the north overhead giving amazing views of the birds. An adult male Northern Harrier hunting near the site at 1433 [species #46] was almost certainly a migrant, and was one day earlier than the previous early record at the site in 2008, and one of the day’s 4 Red-tailed Hawks was an adult dark morph Harlan’s Hawk, which was also a season first. The 65 Golden Eagles counted comprised 58 adults, 5 subadults, and 2 birds of unknown age that disappeared into cloud. Non-raptor movement was thin but included a flock of 7 American Robins, a single California Gull flying north at 1530 and an unidentified swallow flying at 1315. 12.5 hours (412.6) BAEA 2 (282), NOHA 1 (1), NOGO 5 (39), RTHA 4 (7), RLHA 2 (21), GOEA 65 (1552) TOTAL 79 (1888)

Mount Lorette [Day 24] (Cliff Hansen) The temperature rose from -3C to 4C at 1200, then fell to 0C at 1300 after the passage of a cold front and was -4C at 1900. Ground winds were light W or calm in the morning, then E-NE 5-10 gusting 20 km/h in the afternoon, while ridge winds were also mainly light NW becoming NE in the afternoon. There was extensive upslope fog east of the mountains and some seeped into the Kananaskis Valley in the afternoon, but the ridges remained clear all day. Cloud cover was 100% stratocumulus and cumulus to 1500 after which it gradually diminished to 0% late in the day. A total of 59 raptors migrated steadily if slowly between 0841 and 1927, and as at P-SL many of the birds moved along the western ridges. The flight comprised 3 Bald Eagles (2a,1sa), 1 unknown large Accipiter (probably a goshawk), 2 adult light morph calurus Red-tailed Hawks and 53 Golden Eagles (36a,1sa,1u). Passerine migrants included about 30 American Robins and 20 European Starlings. 12.33 hours (268.7) BAEA 3 (47), UA 1 (1), RTHA 2 6), GOEA 53 (928) TOTAL 59 (1010)