Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 04, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 6 19 19 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 1 Northern Harrier 0 0 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 4 10 Cooper's Hawk 2 6 9 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 4 13 86 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 2 Golden Eagle 0 0 3 American Kestrel 0 6 25 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 3 Prairie Falcon 0 0 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 1 4 8 Unknown Buteo 2 3 6 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Total: 17 55 178 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 13:30:00 Total observation time: 5.5 hours Official Counter: Roger Rouch Observers: Alex Kelly, Mitchell Blystone Visitors: A hiking group from the Colorado Mountain Club gathered around for a short explanation of the program. Around 8 or 10 other folks stopped briefly and asked raptor related questions. Also Rob Reilly stopped for a few minutes to add his spotting help. Weather: Warm and cloudless with only an occasional light breeze of about 1 Bft from the SE. Temperatures quickly rose from the mid-40's to near 60 F. Raptor Observations: Most migration activity occurred between 9:00 and 11:00 (MST) with an interesting brief flurry of both local and migrating activity in most directions and heights that challenged spotting and identifications. A few local Turkey Vultures cruised the ridge and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks flirted around the power poles east of the ridge much of the day. Non-raptor Observations: Also see or heard were Black-billed Magpie, Spotted Towhee, Western Scrub Jay, Common Raven, American Robin, White-throated Swift, Western Meadowlark, chickadee, Townsend's Solitare, and a flock of about 14 American Crow. Predictions: Possibly similar with continuing sunny and warm days. ======================================================================== 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/20150404225230.21577.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
