Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 06, 2014 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 1 1 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 2 2 2 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 1 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 0 0 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 0 0 0 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 3 4 4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Roger Rouch Observers: Bill Wuerthele, Claude Vallieres, Pat Conner, Wendy Wibbens Visitors: Two hikers stopped and asked a couple of questions but did not linger. Weather: Mostly cloudy with flat light all day with shifting and variable strength winds mostly from the W, stronger in the AM. Warm "flatland" temperatures were deceiving as the wind chill on the ridge made for a pretty cool day. Raptor Observations: Low migration activity, but included a dark morph Red-tail and a Ferruginous Hawk. Raptor of the day was the Ferruginous which tried to slip by vigilant observers late in the day below the ridge on the east side providing a good view of the light upper wing panels and rufous shoulders. A local Prairie Falcon(s) streaked up and down the ridge a couple of times and several local Red-tails with no real pattern of direction or height. Other local raptors were a Sharp-shinned Hawk and an immature Golden Eagle. Non-raptor Observations: Also observed: Dark-eyed Junco, Mountain Chickadee, Black- capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Black-billed Magpie, Common Raven, American Crow including two grouped murders, two small flights of Canada Geese, Townsend's Solitaire, House Finch, American Robin, Western Scrub Jay, and about a dozen elk below Cabrini. Predictions: Changing weather uncertainties, but the pattern seems to be low early season migrating activity. ======================================================================== 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]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/20140307160251.31571.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
