Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 19, 2018 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3 66 68 Osprey 1 3 3 Bald Eagle 0 2 5 Northern Harrier 0 2 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 11 15 Cooper's Hawk 2 23 31 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 1 2 2 Red-tailed Hawk 7 47 215 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 3 3 Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 3 Golden Eagle 0 1 9 American Kestrel 5 13 27 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 3 Prairie Falcon 0 1 3 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 2 7 11 Unknown Buteo 5 10 15 Unknown Falcon 1 3 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 6 7 Total: 27 204 428 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Roger Rouch Observers: Bill Wuerthele, Heidi Hayes, Joel Chapa, Rob Reilly Visitors: A few curious hikers stopped for a short time with questions. Weather: Temperatures from the mid 30's to the mid-50's with a good horizon cloud backdrop for spotting early, then mostly clear in the afternoon. Light winds generally from the east around 2 Bft all day. Light atmospheric haze. Raptor Observations: Interesting birds were a Broad-winged early in the day low over Rooney Valley and a below eye level Osprey on the east side of the ridge. Other migrants were mostly over the ridge and to the west and tended to be higher fliers after mid-morning and continued through the watch. Local activity was relativity light, but included a Peregrine Falcon. (Steve and Carol were stationed across the valley near two pines and alerted us a couple of times to activity there. A few of their sightings may have been spotted by us and generally could not be accurately identified due to distance, but it seemed for the most part they were beyond our detection limits for whatever reason). Non-raptor Observations: Black-billed Magpie, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Meadow Lark, Woodhouse's Scrubjay, Common Raven, White-throated Swift, Bushtit, Townsend's Solitaire, American Robin. Predictions: The incoming front and possible clouds for good spotting could make for an interesting day. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Matthew Smith ([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/a3c2f7173b63b3949cda0030e56a1228%40www.hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
