Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 02, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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 0 0 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 0 0 0 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0 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: 0 0 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:30:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 4.5 hours Official Counter: Joyce Commercon Observers: Visitors: A few hikers were out on the snowy trails--perhaps five in total. Two hikers, one with a dog, took in the view briefly at the HawkWatch site. Weather: The day was sunny and cold (just above freezing) with clear blue skies through the morning, with small cumulus and thin translucent clouds rising up in the west and south in the early afternoon. Wind was light and mostly from the east. Visibility was not as good as usual, but acceptable (>10 km) above the valleys, which held a haze that reduced visibility somewhat (maybe to 7 km). The haze was noticeably brownish to the northeast and over the I-70 corridor. Solid snow cover in the area made it easy to see anything that moved. Raptor Observations: There were few active locals and no active migrants observed today. The highlight of the day was an adult, light-morph Harlan's Hawk that was spotted flying low and slow in Rooney Valley, heading south. Not migrating today, but probably soon. One local adult Red-tailed Hawk was observed perching and hunting, mostly in Rooney Valley. A local Prairie Falcon perched on the power pole directly north of the HawkWatch site then headed east to Green Mountain where it circled low, presumably to hunt. Non-raptor Observations: A group of Bushtits made their way north along the west side of the Ridge in the morning; a few hours later over twenty-five bushtits (accompanied by a few individuals of a Chickadee species) bustled back south along the same section of Ridge. Also seen or heard were Black-billed Magpie, Raven, Townsend's Solitaire and House Finch. ======================================================================== 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/20150303005433.32482.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
