Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 06, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 6 14 23 Osprey 0 2 3 Bald Eagle 0 1 28 Northern Harrier 0 1 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 5 13 Cooper's Hawk 4 19 30 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 34 168 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 6 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 9 Golden Eagle 0 2 5 American Kestrel 3 18 40 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 3 Prairie Falcon 0 1 15 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 3 7 Unknown Buteo 1 17 26 Unknown Falcon 1 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 1 1 Unknown Raptor 3 5 8 Total: 21 127 388 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Lee Farrell Observers: Bill Wuerthele, Karen Balog, Linda Farrell, Roger Rouch Visitors: The openspace trail was busy today with a number of folks coming up to the station. Several of them inquired as to what we were up to, others had heard about the hawkwatch and come to see what it was about. Weather: A generally nice day with temperatures ranging between 9 and 13 Celsius. Mostly cloudy skies with a fair amount of sunshine received at the station. A light breeze from the southeast for most of the day kept things cool on the east side of the station. Raptor Observations: Quite a number of observers on the ridge during the middle part of the day. Observers included Lee & Linda Farrell, Bill Wuerthele, Roger Rouch, Karen Balog, Steve Santangelo, Gail Ferris, Jamie Fader, David Gulbenkin, Pat Connor, Susie & Steve Price, Tom & Teresa Mapp. An overcast sky (poor lighting) combined with a high flight pattern made raptor identification difficult throughout much of the day. Local Raptors Observed included: Golden Eagle pair, Peregrine Falcon, Red-tailed Hawks. The highlight of the day involved a local male Kestrel flying up to relentlessly harass a migrating Cooper's Hawk. Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptor species seen and/or heard included: American Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Townsend's Solitaire, Spotted Towhee, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Black-billed Magpie, Great Blue Heron, Bushtit, Common Raven, a murder of American Crows, Western Scrub-Jay. Predictions: With sunny skies and light winds predicted, likely to be a day of high flying raptors. ======================================================================== 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 unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
