Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: May 05, 2017 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 1 70 Osprey 0 4 13 Bald Eagle 0 1 15 Northern Harrier 0 0 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 14 62 Cooper's Hawk 0 6 69 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 2 21 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1 264 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 14 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 8 Golden Eagle 0 0 4 American Kestrel 1 4 46 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 11 Prairie Falcon 0 0 6 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 15 Unknown Buteo 0 1 28 Unknown Falcon 0 0 8 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 3 27 Total: 2 42 683 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Debbie James Observers: Visitors: Various visitors stopped to chat. One woman knew a little about birds and mentioned all that she had seen on her hike. She was there to see the Kestrel migrate. Weather: A very, very warm day on the Ridge. Winds were light, and sky was "dead" blue as Joyce calls it. Haziness started moving in about 2:00 MDT--filled the Denver Basin and then ran up the valleys. Raptor Observations: Arrived at lot, looked across to Sub-Peak and saw 4 raptors swirling high--so high I couldn't I.D. Then about two hours later 6 raptors were in a kettle--4 T.V.'s and two Red Tail Hawks. These were all local birds. Also counted 1 local Cooper's Hawk and 1 Peregrine Falcon flying through Rooney alley. A slow, end-of-season day for migrators. Just a Red Tail and Kestrel, both flew directly over the Ridge, very low. Non-raptor Observations: At the lot a Western Kingbird flew down, grabbed a grasshopper, flew up to the lot sign, whacked it twice hard on the metal, then swallowed it in two gulps. On walk up to station, saw one cottontail rabbit and 4 Mule Deer--3 in velvet. Other birds: 1 American Robin; 2 Northern Flicker, 3 Black-billed Magpie; 2 Spotted-winged Towhee; 4 Woodhouse's Scrub Jay; 2 Violet Green Swallows; 1 hummingbird species; 7 American Crow; and 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher busy most of the day collecting nesting material. All bird activity dropped off at about 1:30 MDT, and remained quiet thru the end of the watch. Predictions: Weather report has it even warmer tomorrow than it was today. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (jeff.bi...@birdconservancy.org) 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/26867cff9819344e2179268ee03f0c8e%40www.hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
