April 2 [Day 41] The weather remains cool with the temperature rising to 3C from a low of -12C, but to compensate it was sunny all day with 5-10% cumulus to 1300 and cloudless thereafter. Winds were initially light but became strong W-SW after 1400 only abating after 1900. Raptors were very hard to detect in the blue-out conditions but fortunately I had the help of half a dozen observers without whom the count would certainly have been lower. The first Golden Eagle did not appear until 1015 and movement was slow but steady until the last Golden Eagle went north at 1918. The 15 Red-tailed Hawks were all adult calurus with 11 light and 4 dark morphs, and the total was the highest so far this season. The Ferruginous Hawk, an adult light morph, was only the second of the season, and 16 of the 38 Golden Eagles were immature birds (8 subadults and 8 juveniles), the highest percentage so far. The resident pair was conspicuous all day with the male and occasionally both birds displaying at various sites, and copulation was observed at 1148 on a snag atop the ridge of Bluff Mountain. The female has obviously not yet decided where she wants to lay her eggs! The 25 bird species seen today was the highest so far this season with the highlight being the first Tree Swallow of the year at 1405. 12.5 hours (441.7) BAEA 6 (321), SSHA 1 (2), RTHA 15 (42), FEHA 1 (2), UB 1 (1), GOEA 38 (2353) TOTAL 62 (2816)

Mount Lorette (Joel and Des) The weather was almost identical to that at Piitaistakis including a high of 3C, blue skies all day and strong W winds combing the snow of the ridges in the afternoon. The day produced only 3 migrants: 1 Bald and 2 Golden Eagles. 12.25 hours BAEA 1 (74), GOEA 2 (1126) TOTAL 3 (1217)