March 21 Daily Flight Summary

Official Counter         

Adam Richardson

Observers       

None

Weather         

-12.8C in camp at Fort Logan this morning at 08:30.  Mostly clear skies today with a light cirrus cloud cover which made for excellent conditions for spotting raptors.  A high of 4C with 4-9kph winds out of the south.  The barometer fell slightly during the count.  As has been the case for the last 10 days or so, the Smith River was running at the beginning of the count only to freeze over by the afternoon.  We currently have 33cm of snow along the banks of the river.  I am measuring from a new spot, but the measurements should be a little more accurate.  The bank I am measuring is NE facing and isn’t taking as much sun.

Raptor Notes 

Only one migrating sub-adult Bald Eagle came through today.  It was way up the draw to the SW of the OP but came all the way back to the Smith River and flew right down the canyon.  The few migrating raptors that have come through over the last couple of days have been primarily taking this line.

Our residents were not very active today either, although one of the adult GOEA may have been carrying nesting material when it escorted the migrant BAEA mentioned above away from Berkins Butte.  At first, I thought the GOEA had a radio backpack, but realized it was at a funny angle and speculated it was a large stick.  It then headed into the canyon to the NW of the OP that has been the sight of much recent resident activity.

Non-raptor Notes

I am seeing SACR flying south into the canyon more regularly now.  At the end of the day I spotted a SOSP.  It seems the new arrivals, much like myself have some major adjustments to make in their wintry habitat.

Visitors

Colin and Nate have taken me into their flock and offered me temporary lodging until things warm up.  I greatly appreciate this generosity on their behalf.  I will hopefully have all the data entry and blog caught up shortly as a result of having a place to do data entry and access to WiFi.  I will try to write up a post tomorrow with the current road and access conditions here at Camp Baker.   

Next Day Forecast

High of 47F low of 29F.

West winds 8mph.

Forecast notes – I finally realized to get a better idea of the weather here at Camp Baker subtract 10-15 degrees from the White Sulphur Springs forecast and that will give an idea of the temperatures one can expect here.  I also was given the information from the rangers on a better weather station down in the Smith River Canyon that has more accurate real time weather forecasts and current temperatures.