Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: May 03, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 5 6 162 Osprey 2 2 24 Bald Eagle 0 0 29 Northern Harrier 1 1 7 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 9 106 Cooper's Hawk 1 3 113 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 33 Red-tailed Hawk 2 4 235 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 6 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 7 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 9 Golden Eagle 1 1 11 American Kestrel 0 1 152 Merlin 0 0 3 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 15 Prairie Falcon 0 0 17 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 1 46 Unknown Buteo 0 1 34 Unknown Falcon 0 0 7 Unknown Eagle 0 0 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 16 Total: 16 31 1033 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:45:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6.25 hours Official Counter: Cynthia Madsen Observers: Janet Shin, Tom Dennehy Visitors: Observers today were Cynthia Madsen, Janet Shin, and Tom Dennehy. There were about 16 hikers on the ridge today, but only one asked if we were seeing any eagles. Unfortunately, at that time we hadn't seen one. Weather: The day began with only 5% cloud cover, light winds from the east, and a temperature of 48ºF (8.8ºC). As the day progressed, the winds shifted from the ENE and increased in intensity reaching 10 mph for the last 2 hours. The haze was very bad today causing some of the raptors we spotted over the west ridge just to disappear. Raptor Observations: Although our 16 migrating raptors may seem like a slow day, we enjoyed every one of them. We had 5 Turkey Vultures, 2 Osprey, 1 Northern Harrier, 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, and one immature Golden Eagle. We had great looks at the Sharp-shinned Hawks and one of the Osprey when they came close by the ridge. There was also a lot of activity over the west ridge today. Our local raptors included 5 Red-tailed Hawks, one of which was harassed by a Common Raven, 2 Golden Eagles engaged in an aerial dog fight with 2 of the local Red-tails, 1 local accipiter, and 5 Turkey Vultures. Non-raptor Observations: Other birds seen or heard included: 3 American White Pelican, 9 White-throated Swift, 2 Broad-tailed Hummingbird, 1 Northern Flicker, 3 Western Scrub-Jay, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 1 American Crow, 8 Common Raven (7 of these were seen in a flock or "unkindness"), 12 Violet-green Swallow, 6 Barn Swallow, 2 Mountain Chickadee, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Rock Wren, 1 Mountain Bluebird, 1 Townsend's Solitaire, 8 American Robin, 3 Spotted Towhee, and 3 Western Meadowlark. Predictions: The trail was tough going up, but hopefully, it will be pretty dry by the morning. Since HawkWatch ends on Tuesday, it's hard to know if things are slowing down or if we will see a big surge at the end. Fingers are crossed for the "big surge" option! ======================================================================== 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.
