Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 12, 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 2 7 7 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 1 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 17 17 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 3 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 1 3 3 Golden Eagle 1 1 1 American Kestrel 0 1 1 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 0 1 1 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 1 1 1 Total: 8 36 36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Roger Rouch Observers: Visitors: 3 visitors stopped briefly with a slight interest in things. Weather: A cold morning with temps near 20F rising to near 50F by day's end. A cloudless day with winds near 1 bft. mostly from the SE. The majority of the previous nights snow was melted by late afternoon. Raptor Observations: Not a high count day, but a very interesting one that included an adult Golden Eagle on a south to north course low and directly over the ridge and a Ferruginous Hawk below ridgeline between C-470 and the ridge. An adult Bald Eagle circled in tandem with an immature bald (showing distinct white axillaries) far to the south for several minutes until the mature eagle turned north in direct flight. The immature was lost. A second adult bald followed about a half hour later. Very few local raptors until late in the day when at one time at least eight Red-Tail Hawks were circling between Cabrini and Mt. Morrison with a probable local Golden Eagle popping up occasionally from behind the west ridge for a brief sighting. None of these Red-Tails were observed to turn north to migrate. Also, a local Prairie Falcon. Non-raptor Observations: Also observed: Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Common Raven, Northern Flicker, Townsend's Solitare, two flights of Canada Geese, and Black-billed Magpie. An agitated group of 4 or 5 Western Scrub Jay strafed up and down the ridge a few times, and 10+ American Robin browsed in the brush east of the ridge all day. Predictions: Possibly another interesting day. The trail is about half dry and half mud. ======================================================================== 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/20140312233740.2412.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
