Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 25, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3 109 110 Osprey 0 12 13 Bald Eagle 0 2 8 Northern Harrier 0 4 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 18 21 Cooper's Hawk 0 55 63 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 10 10 Red-tailed Hawk 1 77 228 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 2 Swainson's Hawk 1 10 11 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 2 Golden Eagle 0 3 10 American Kestrel 1 77 97 Merlin 1 3 5 Peregrine Falcon 0 5 8 Prairie Falcon 0 4 10 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 1 32 36 Unknown Buteo 0 14 22 Unknown Falcon 0 5 6 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 1 8 12 Total: 9 450 680 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Jennifer Hyypio Observers: Janet Shin, LeAnn Joswick Visitors: 12 hikers from the Colorado Mountain Club. A women hiker stopped by plus two other visitors. Justin and Chris stayed for awhile and helped observe. Weather: Started the day with 100% high cloud cover which changed to moisture bearing clouds that increased through the day. Temps increased 19C to 23C in the last hour. Good visibility, winds from the east switching to N and W by the close of the day. Raptor Observations: Majority migrating raptor activity took place from 9 to 11. From 11 to 2:30 we saw only a resident male Kestrel. The Merlin was close on the east side of dinosaur ridge, affording us good views of the black/white banded tail. Swainson's Hawk flew north up the road on the west side, a first for Wednesday count as was the Merlin. Some migrating Buteos were too far away to call over the west ridge north of Mount Morrison. Turkey Vulture flew overhead and resident Red-tailed Hawks displayed courting dives. Non-raptor Observations: Birds: Scrub Jay, Eastern Blue Jay, White-throated Swift, Black-billed Magpie, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, 3 White Pelicans, Raven, Western Meadowlark, Spotted Towhee, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Mourning Dove. Lizard, Rattlesnake, Butterflies Predictions: It seems the migration is slowing. 3 hours was a long time for Wednesday count to not have a migrating raptor. ======================================================================== 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.
