Light SE winds at 6-11kph until 11:00. After 11:00 the winds slowly shifted
to the NW and this is when the flight came to a halt. Visibility was mostly
good except during a few brief rain squalls. Mostly cloudy skies for the
entire survey which made for good spotting conditions. Low temperature of
5C at 08:45 and a high of 11C at 11:00.
Raptor Notes
TV 1 (146) BE 1 (53) SS 1 (42) RS 1 (35) GE 1 (133) UR 2 (9) Total 7 (637)
GE Sub 11:15
A migrating sharpie was the first raptor of the day right in the cut just
below the OP at 10:30. The only GE of the day was spotted very low on
Leading Ridge. I would imagine many of these low GE’s would go undetected
if you stood at the normal OP. This eagle was working hard to gain
altitude, but never came up to the ridge. Instead, it just used a
combination of soaring and powered flight to move north over Stone Valley.
Once the winds started to shift slowly to the NW the flight came to an
abrupt halt.
A resident adult BE was spotted flying S along the ridgetop at 11:10. The
leading ridge RTHA was spotted occasionally on its territory. A possible
second RTHA was briefly detected a couple times late in the afternoon
soaring to the N along the cut.
Non-raptor Notes
First COLO of the season, but not migrating. It was spotted in Stone Valley
between Warrior’s Ridge and Leading Ridge flying south.
Canada Goose 80
Mourning Dove 6
Common Loon 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Pipit 1
American Goldfinch 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 8
Visitors
Angelina Minardi and Justin Nichol came up in the afternoon to see if any
raptors were migrating. We got to see our local BE’s, RTHA and TUVU’s.
Justin works with Jon Kauffman on checking AK nest boxes. I also had some
nice visits with hikers and a few students from the university.
Justin Nichol
Angelina Minardi
19 hikers
1 runner
Next Day Forecast
Increasing clouds, with a high near 49. Calm wind.
