Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 07, 2014 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 33 36 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 25 Northern Harrier 0 1 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 8 13 Cooper's Hawk 0 10 25 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 5 35 165 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 9 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 8 Golden Eagle 0 1 8 American Kestrel 2 10 24 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 2 Prairie Falcon 0 1 6 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 5 7 Unknown Buteo 0 3 8 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 4 Total: 7 110 342 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:15:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 6.75 hours Official Counter: Bill Flowers Observers: Nelson Ford Visitors: A few hikers and some mountain bike riders were seen in the afternoon. Two women stayed for about 5 minutes and one of the women spotted a migrating Red-tailed Hawk. I tried to recruit them as observers, but they decided to finish their hike instead. Weather: The day had sunshine and snow. In the morning, about 10:00 AM, it started snowing and became heavy for the entire 10:00-11:00 survey hour. The snow became spotty from 11:00 AM through 1:00 PM. There were no raptors or very few other birds observed during these periods. A welcomed observer, Nelson Ford, showed up at 11:00 to help but the weather did not cooperate. Of course when he left, a few Red-tailed Hawks migrated through from 1:30 through 2:30 PM. Raptor Observations: A few raptors were observed migrating during the times when it was not snowing. These included 5 Red-tailed Hawks and 2 American Kestrels. These raptors flew low over Dinosaur Ridge or just to the East of the Ridge. Resident Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures were observed in the afternoon. Non-raptor Observations: Other birds seen or heard included Townsend's Solitaire, Western Meadowlark, Spotted Towhee, Black-billed Magpie, Western Scrub-jay, American Crow, Common Raven, American Robin, and Mountain Bluebird. Several mule deer were seen on both sides of Dinosaur Ridge. On the East side, two bucks and a doe stayed below the Hawk Watch site for most of the day. Predictions: As the weather warms, migration should increase significantly. Tomorrow should be much better than today. ======================================================================== 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/20140408010817.30080.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
