Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 10, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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 2 2 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 5 18 18 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 1 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 0 0 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 0 0 0 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 6 21 21 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5.5 hours Official Counter: Mike Fernandez Observers: Carol Cwiklinski, Jeff Wang Visitors: Carol there on site & Steve positioned opposite side of the Hwy 93 valley part way up towards Two Pines landmark. They compared sightiings via radio. Several groups of hikers came through but made little or no contact with us; a busy day on the trail. Jeff Wang, an avid bird photographer, arrived ~11:00 MST with camera and great questions and very solid raptor knowledge. He stayed to help with spotting 3 hours until 14:00 MST. He helps out at the Raptor Ed Foundation in Brighton. Plans to return to the DinoHawk hill on future weekends this season to help again. Weather: Colder and windier on the exposed platform versus the nearest personal weather station below (Solterra PWS reported). Cloud cover, mostly dark, increased from the west to at least 30% at end of watch. Raptor Observations: Migrating Raptors: RTHA (5), FEHA (1). Non-Migrating Raptors: Red-tailed Hawk (4), American Kestrel (2). In 12-1 MST hour: two Red-tailed Hawks moments apart from each other glided low east of ridge, rose up on thermals over the Golden area, and then continued north. While keeping an eye on them, three raptors appeared in my binocular field of view, probably from the southwest, also circling up over Golden, closer to the foothills. Two of these were Red-taileds, the other one was larger, possibly an Eagle. Thus, we saw four RTHA's migrating almost simultaneously. Non-raptor Observations: Common Ravens (2 provided repeated escorts to migrating red-taileds on the east side). Dark-eyed Juncos (2) in the scrub mostly east side. Rock Pigeons (4) criss-crossed the ridge. Woodhouse's Scrub Jay (2) alighted next to the platform in a juniper and another perched briefly on the leafless tree near the southeast corner of the platform. Also seen or heard: Black-billed Magpie (4), Canada Goose (1), Gull sp (1). Predictions: On the way up: mostly dry with some patches of frozen mud. On the way down: lots of patches of wet sticky mud in the shaded portions of the trail. ======================================================================== 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. 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