Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 18, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 3 25 25 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 4 4 Cooper's Hawk 1 5 5 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 35 95 95 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 9 9 Golden Eagle 3 12 12 American Kestrel 0 3 3 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 1 6 6 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 1 10 10 Unknown Falcon 1 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 2 2 Total: 45 173 173 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Dave Hill Observers: Cynthia Madsen, Michael Kiessig Visitors: Michael Kiessig arrived @ 11:45 MST and departed @ 2:30 MST. He was a remarkable spotter. Weather: Today was an absolutely wonderful day for watching hawks. The air temperatures from 34-53°F were very well tolerated due to diminished wind/gust speeds of less than 10 mph throughout the day. Cynthia Madsen said, "This is the best weather day I've had up here in 2 years!" Raptor Observations: Today was a "Red Feather Day" as an abundance of Red-tailed Hawks showed themselves. The number of raptors recorded for today's HawkWatch far exceeded our expectations for the day. On 4 occasions a pair of Red-tailed hawks were noted but not counted Non-raptor Observations: 12 American Robin, 4 Black-billed Magpie, 10 Common Raven, 2 Mountain Bluebird, 1 Western Scrub-Jay, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 6 unidentified corvids over Cabrini Shrine, 1 Dark-eyed Junco (Gray Headed), 4 Black-capped Chickadee ======================================================================== Report submitted by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory ([email protected]) Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.rmbo.org/ Site Description: Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawkwatch in Colorado and is the best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Dinosaur Ridge may be the best place in the country to see the rare dark morph of the Broad-winged Hawk (a few are seen each spring). Hawkwatchers who linger long enough may see resident Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks and Prairie Falcons, in addition to migrating Swainson's, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels and Turkey Vultures. Peregrine Falcons and Ferruginous Hawks are uncommon; Northern Goshawk is rare but regular. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, and sometimes Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, American White Pelican or Dusky Grouse. Birders are always welcome. The hawkwatch is generally staffed by volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory from about 9 AM to around 4 PM from the first week of March to the first week of May. Directions to site: >From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take left into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow small signs from the south side of lot to hawkwatch site. The hike starts heading east on an old two-track and quickly turns south onto a trail on the west side of the ridge. When the trail nears the top of the ridge, turn left, head through the gate, and walk to the clearly-visible, flat area at the crest of the ridge. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
