Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 16, 2018 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 1 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 5 80 80 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 3 3 American Kestrel 0 0 0 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 1 1 1 Prairie Falcon 0 0 0 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 1 3 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 7 90 90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Debbie James Observers: Visitors: A couple with their dog came up on the platform in the first hour--they knew I was counting hawks. There were a few hikers and bikers on the trail. A young woman from Montana moving to Colo. to attend CSU for grad school, and her friend asked questions about if Colorado's weather is like this. I said: "Welcome to Climate Change. Weather: WIND!!! Blasting hard straight out of the West. It was blowing about 20 mph when I got up on top of the Ridge, but in the first hour it climbed to 50 mph gusts, which it maintained most of the day until 2:00, when it settled a little but still at an est. 40 mph. Otherwise it was sunny, with temps in the 40's but of course freezing cold with wind/chill. Raptor Observations: Migrators were exclusively on the west side of the Ridge, fighting the crosswind. They zoomed past fast. I made sure with the Peregrine, to watch it disappear north out of sight. It was extremely difficult standing on the west side of the Ridge, kept getting blown and buffeted, so keeping binoc's on birds was hard. Local raptors: 3 Red Tailed Hawks, and the juvenile Golden Eagle swooped through at 2:00, escorted by a local Red Tailed Hawk. Non-raptor Observations: Most of the creatures were laying low out of sight today, but seen or heard were 2 Common Raven; 2 Townsend's Solitaire; 2 Black-billed Magpie:and 5 American Crow. A few other song birds zoomed past so fast I couldn't get them identified. I like listening to the Raven's croak and make knocking sounds. Predictions: Looks like it will be warmer tomorrow, and not even a fraction as much wind. ======================================================================== 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/ More site information at hawkcount.org: http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=123 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/38dbfa0e80aadafa503c6e4e97e3634e%40www.hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
