Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 29, 2017 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 1 9 9 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 10 10 Cooper's Hawk 0 5 5 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 9 170 170 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 4 4 Golden Eagle 0 3 3 American Kestrel 0 12 12 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 2 Prairie Falcon 0 1 1 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 4 Unknown Buteo 0 13 13 Unknown Falcon 0 3 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 1 7 7 Total: 14 243 243 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:45:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5.25 hours Official Counter: Roger Rouch Observers: Visitors: None. Weather: Low clouds obscured Mt. Morrison and the west ridges and mostly cloudy early, but the clouds quickly lifted turning to a partly cloudy (or partly sunny) day. A brisk wind of about 3 Bft. from the NE all day. Temperatures from 40 F to the mid- 50's. Raptor Observations: Most migration was straight north flight at the "eye level to 30 meter" elevation and just east of the ridge, leading one to think ridge lift from the NE wind and lack of good thermals influenced the flight pattern. A Bald Eagle was a nice highlight. I will post a photo for comment or correction, but I believe it was a 4th year sub-adult. A distant raptor high and beyond the west ridges had Golden Eagle clues but was recorded as an unidentified raptor. Other than the local Red-tailed pairs there was little activity over the western ridges. Non-raptor Observations: A dozen Western Bluebird landed in the dead pine just SE of the platform. A few other smaller groups of 1 to 4 flew by and all seemed to have a northern direction to their flight. Also seen or heard, Black-billed Magpie, Townsend's Solitaire, Common Raven, American Robin, Woodhouse's Scrub-jay, Western Meadowlark, Spotted Towhee. Predictions: Optimistically, it is near peak season and maybe a little post storm make-up migration, so a good day? In spite of last night's rain and snow the trail is just fine. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies ([email protected]) Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.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 Bird Conservancy of the Rockies from about 9 AM to around 3 PM from March 1st to May 7th. 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/541a6a1579e684df14d29defe700b5f8%40www.hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
