May 14 [Day 81] (Valley View site) It was much more pleasant looking up at the snow covered ridge from the valley floor where the temperature reached 19C at 1500 from a low of 5C and remained at 17C at 1900. Ground winds were calm to light variable in the morning and W-SW occasionally gusting to 25 km/h in the afternoon, and ridge winds were W-WNW light to moderate to noon and moderate thereafter. Cloud cover was initially 80% altocumulus and cirrus diminishing to 5% at 0900 but then increased to 50-80% cumulus for the rest of the day providing excellent observation conditions. The first migrant raptor was an Osprey at 0945 and thereafter birds moved sporadically throughout the day with 5 of the day’s 12 migrants occurring between 1813 and 1902. The flight comprised 1 Osprey, 1 subadult Bald Eagle, 1 juvenile Northern Harrier, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a,1u), 1 light morph Swainson’s Hawk of unknown age, 3 calurus Red-tailed Hawks (2 light morphs (1j,1u) and 1 adult dark morph) and 3 juvenile Golden Eagles. The total bird count was a season high 39 species and for the first time bird song was strong both in the morning and evening. A 1st summer-plumaged Trumpeter Swan flying high above the Piitaistakis Ridge at 1110 was the season’s 76th bird species and a first record for May, and a male American Goldfinch was species #77. At 0855 two female American Three-toed Woodpeckers alternately drummed on opposite sides of a snag and were occasionally very vocal while a male bird was perched some way away. Was this female competition for a nest site (and/or for the male)? Despite the warm conditions a Clouded Sulphur was the only butterfly seen on the wing, but in the afternoon Mollie brought us a beautiful large saturniid moth that she had found nearby that was probably a Glover’s Silk moth (Hyalophora columbia gloveri). 12.16 hours (927.1) OSPR 1 (20), BAEA 1 (390), NOHA 1 (16), SSHA 2 (70), SWHA 1 (2), RTHA 3 (111), GOEA 3 (2167) TOTAL 12 (2972)