Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 18, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 16 62 63 Osprey 1 10 11 Bald Eagle 0 2 8 Northern Harrier 0 4 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 10 13 Cooper's Hawk 6 38 46 Northern Goshawk 2 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 5 6 6 Red-tailed Hawk 5 62 213 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 2 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 2 Golden Eagle 0 2 9 American Kestrel 3 54 74 Merlin 0 2 4 Peregrine Falcon 1 4 7 Prairie Falcon 0 2 8 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 17 21 Unknown Buteo 2 9 17 Unknown Falcon 0 4 5 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 2 4 8 Total: 43 295 525 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jennifer Hyypio Observers: Janet Shin, LeAnn Joswick Visitors: Nathan Berry birded from 8-noon and was great company. Doug Faulkner stayed for an hour. Group of 7 friendly women hikers, A St. Bernard with 2 human friends, and 4 other hikers. Weather: Winds light to moderate from the E-NE. Light cloud coverage at the start, with 95% coverage by the end of the day. Good visibility. Raptor Observations: Exciting day! Highest numbers for Wednesday count this season. New birds for Wednesday counts Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk, Northern Goshawk and Turkey Vulture. Most raptors in the 9-10am hour. Birds were visible close or with binoculars. Fantastic views of the Broad-winged Hawks and Goshawks as they flew low overhead. Many interactions between birds. American Kestrel chased a migrating Red-tailed Hawk striking it on the body, dorsal side. Ravens harassed a resident Red-tailed Hawk down the valley on the west side of the ridge. Resident Red-tailed Hawk escorted a migrating Cooper's Hawk on north. Non-raptor Observations: Other birds Black-billed Magpie, Western Meadowlark, Scrub Jay, American Robin, Raven, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Spotted Towhee, House Finch, Mountain Chickadee, Black-capped Chickadee, White-throated Swift, Rock Wren, Townsend's Solitaire and...a White Pelican! Butterflies Whites, Sulfur, Yellow Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Painted Lady Predictions: Weather forecast for April 19 is for afternoon shower. Perhaps the birds will know this and they will be active in the morning making migration movement early. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (jeff.bi...@rmbo.org) 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 cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
