May 21 [Day 88] (Valley View site) Strong W winds continued to prevail so I decided to spend the last day of the count at the Valley View site where the temperature briefly reached a high of 9C at 1600 from a low of 1C at 0700. The ground winds were W-SW gusting 40-60 km/h for most of the day moderating slightly after 1500 but still occasionally gusting to 45 km/h in the late afternoon, and ridge winds were strong W all day. Cloud cover was 40-70% cumulus for much of the day giving excellent observing conditions, with cirrus and then altostratus cloud developing to 80% after 1800. Three migrant raptors went north, which is a satisfying number to finish on: a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk at 1246, a subadult Bald Eagle at 1540 and a juvenile Golden Eagle at 1637. I was pleased that I ended my counting career with a Golden Eagle just as it started with a single Golden Eagle seen at Mount Lorette at 1130 on March 20, 1992, for I have decided that this spring will be my last count. A female Red-winged Blackbird perched near the site at 0912 was the 86th species for the season and only the second time the species has occurred on a count here. Two more flocks of Canada Geese flew high to the east over the ridge today: 11 at 0944 and 16 at 1241. 12.5 hours (1015) BAEA 1 (396), SSHA 1 (82), GOEA 1 (2185) TOTAL 3 (3039)

May summary We spent 19 days in the field (13 at the Valley View site and 6 on the Piitaistakis Ridge) with 2 full days (May 5 and 6) lost to bad weather and 3 further days (May 3,4 and 8) significantly curtailed for the same reason. The number of days is 11.6% below the 2008-9 average and the number of hours (215.8) is 18.74% below average. The combined species total of 242 is 36% below average and only 6 species had counts that were above average: Osprey 16 (+60% and a new high count for the month), Broad-winged Hawk 13 (+100% and a new high count), Swainson’s Hawk 4 (+14.3%), Rough-legged Hawk 1 (+100% and equaling previous high monthly count), American Kestrel 5 (+11.1%), Merlin 2 (equaling the counts of the previous two years) and Peregrine Falcon 4 (+60%). All other species occurred mainly in significantly lower than average numbers: Turkey Vulture 2 (-55.6%), Bald Eagle 20 (-9.09%), Northern Harrier 8 (-46.7%), Sharp-shinned Hawk 40 (-53.5%), Cooper’s Hawk 5 (-72.2%), Northern Goshawk 3 (-86.7%), Red-tailed Hawk 25 (-47.9%), Ferruginous Hawk 2 (-42.9%), Golden Eagle 88 (-25.74%) and Prairie Falcon 2 (-42.9%).

Final Count (February 15 to May 21)
(Percentage variance from average spring 2008-2009 Piitaistakis-South Livingstone counts in parenthesis)

DAYS 88 (+2.9)
HOURS 1015 (+3.1)

TURKEY VULTURE (TUVU) 7 (=)
OSPREY (OSPR) 20 (-9.1)
BALD EAGLE (BAEA) 396 (-11)
NORTHERN HARRIER (NOHA) 20 (-38)
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (SSHA) 82 (-49)
COOPER’S HAWK (COHA) 17 (-41)
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (NOGO) 84 (-33)
Unidentified Accipiter (UA) 5 (=)
BROAD-WINGED HAWK (BWHA) 13 (+73.3)
SWAINSON’S HAWK (SWHA) 4 (-11)
RED-TAILED HAWK (RTHA) 121 (-45)
FERRUGINOUS HAWK (FEHA) 5 (-55)
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (RLHA) 39 (+85.7)
Unidentified Buteo (UB) 2 (-33)
GOLDEN EAGLE (GOEA) 2185 (-23.57)
Unidentified eagle (UE) 3 (-45)
AMERICAN KESTREL (AMKE) 5 (-9.1)
MERLIN (MERL) 11 (-48)
GYRFALCON (GYRF) 1 (-80)
PEREGRINE FALCON (PEFA) 4 (-43)
PRAIRIE FALCON (PRFA) 14 (-13)
Unidentified Falco (UF) 0 (-100)
Unidentified raptor (UU) 0 (-100)

TOTAL 3039 (-24.41)

Principal Observers: Peter Sherrington (73 days and 7 partial days), Bill Wilson (6 days), Denise Coccioloni-Amatto (1 day and 4 partial days), Doug and Teresa Dolman (1 day), and Dawn Hall (3 partial days), with assistance from Keith McClary (40 days), Nel Van Kamer (32 days), Denise Coccioloni-Amatto (32 days), David Thomas (24 days), Dawn Hall (8 days), Pat Lucas (3 days), Doug and Teresa Dolmen (2 days), Phil Nicholas (2 days), Jan Aikins (1 day), Karole Michalsky (1 day), Paul Vandervelde (1 day), Wilbert Tripp (1 day), Patricia Wagenaar (1 day), Jocelyn Thomas (1 day), Elizabeth Miles (1 day) and Bob Simons (1 day).

Acknowledgements: To the members and supporters of the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation for their continuing financial support, and to members of the Crowsnest Conservation Society for their support and many contributions to the success of the project. To Dale and Karen Paton who welcomed us to watch from their property near the base of the ridge (the “Valley View” site) until the snow finally melted sufficiently to allow us to watch from the ridge top, to Denise Coccioloni-Amatto, David and Jocelyn Thomas, Mary-Lou and Jennifer Campbell, and Chris McMurdo for their many dinner invitations and understanding of my indecently early departures in order to write and publish the daily blog, and to Nel Van Kamer who generously provided pre-prepared dinners that allowed me more time to sleep than would have otherwise been the case.