Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 18, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 5 69 76 Osprey 3 14 15 Bald Eagle 0 4 37 Northern Harrier 2 4 7 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 20 32 Cooper's Hawk 7 53 66 Northern Goshawk 1 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 6 11 11 Red-tailed Hawk 9 106 266 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 10 Golden Eagle 0 1 13 American Kestrel 20 142 174 Merlin 0 3 4 Peregrine Falcon 1 1 1 Prairie Falcon 1 6 15 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 4 19 19 Unknown Buteo 0 10 24 Unknown Falcon 0 11 13 Unknown Eagle 0 1 1 Unknown Raptor 2 3 6 Total: 65 480 795 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:15:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.75 hours Official Counter: Lee Farrell Observers: Bill Wuerthele, Linda Farrell, Roger Rouch Visitors: Brock Moran, recently moved to Denver from the Chicago area, spent the morning with us. Anne Price, Curator of Raptors with the Raptor Education Foundation, helped watch for a couple of hours. Anne was accompanied by her daughter Glenna who spotted a couple of birds for us. Chris Teremelling was back for a second time helping out. David Gulbenkian came up for the last hour of the day. Weather: The morning started off quite calm under mostly cloudy skies. A consistent wind out of the northwest developed and picked up in velocity over the day. Skies were almost completely overcast at about 9:00 AM MST and remained so for the rest of the day. High temperature was 20C cooling down to about 16C at day’s end. Raptor Observations: So as not to be confused with the local Northern Goshawk observed on a couple of occasions, in the first hour a Goshawk was observed headed rapidly and directly north in line with the ridge at binocular height. Not long after that a Peregrine was observed at about ridge height moving rapidly and purposely north at the west side of the ridge. While it possibly could have been one of the local Peregrines from Red Rocks, it was last seen heading north, we did not see it again during the day, it was counted as a migrating bird. A Swainson’s Hawk initially demonstrated migrating behavior as it flew to the northwest from an area south of the ridge. It appeared to go into a hunting mode along the ridges and residences south of Tower Mountain and was not counted as a migrating bird. Non-migrating raptors included: 1 Cooper’s hawk, 4 Turkey Vultures, 8 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Golden Eagles, 1 Osprey. Non-raptor Observations: We heard and observed what has become the typical list of birds local to the ridge: Spotted Towhees, Western Meadowlarks, American Robin, Mountain Chickadees, Western Scrub Jay, White-throated Swifts and Tree Swallows. A flock of about 20 Gulls were headed north as they passed quietly by to the west of the ridge. The Swifts continue to entertain and delight with their flying skills. They do cause a bit of a stir when they come ripping though the station about head high. Predictions: With similar weather, hopefully more of the same. ======================================================================== 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.
