Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 18, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 4 69 69 Osprey 0 5 5 Bald Eagle 0 0 1 Northern Harrier 0 1 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 23 29 Cooper's Hawk 15 47 50 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 1 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 50 123 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 3 3 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 2 Golden Eagle 0 1 4 American Kestrel 3 70 89 Merlin 0 3 3 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 5 Prairie Falcon 0 1 3 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 5 13 17 Unknown Buteo 0 5 8 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 4 5 Total: 40 298 421 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:45:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6.25 hours Official Counter: Roger Rouch Observers: Mitchell Blystone Visitors: None. Weather: A great day for weather drama. Mostly cloudy with pockets of low hanging moisture bearing clouds about the horizon and likely showers to the north in the morning. A brief squall with graupel mid-day. Breaking weather and a partly cloudy mix with sunshine by day's end. Most of the landscape was snow covered. Periods of slightly reduced visibility. Temperatures in the 40's with shifting light winds often from the SE and NE. Raptor Observations: Migrating raptors were generally low flying and between the ridge and Rooney Road, about tree height along the ridge (including a dark morph Broad-winged), and a few hugging the ridge to the west in the morning. In the afternoon migration was more typical with some high fliers spiraling into blue sky. Local raptors included an adult and immature Golden Eagle, and few Red-tailed Hawk and Turkey Vulture. A Cooper's Hawk was observed chasing down a robin sized bird below the ridge. Non-raptor Observations: Spotted Towhee, Common Raven, Townsend's Solitaire, American Robin, chickadee, Black-billed Magpie, American White Pelican, Western Scrub Jay, Western Meadowlark, White-Throated Swift, and Broad-tailed Hummingbird. Predictions: Chances for more unsettled weather may bode well for good peak season counts before and after fronts. ======================================================================== 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/20150419213543.17507.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
