Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 03, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 1 Osprey 1 1 1 Bald Eagle 0 0 12 Northern Harrier 0 0 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 5 14 Cooper's Hawk 5 6 12 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 25 28 121 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 4 Golden Eagle 1 1 4 American Kestrel 4 4 9 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 0 0 0 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 2 2 5 Unknown Buteo 0 0 5 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 1 1 3 Unknown Raptor 0 0 3 Total: 44 48 195 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:15:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5.25 hours Official Counter: Carol Cwiklinski, Joyce Commercon Observers: Carol Cwiklinski, David Gulbenkian, Jim Low, Mike Ramee Visitors: Carol Cwiklinski arrived early, hoping for some stragglers from yesterday's surge; she counted a few early migrants. Jim Low and Mike Ramee both arrived with scopes and binoculars at the ready. David Gulbenkian joined us and was able to catch some raptors passing by. A couple of women hikers, new to the Dakota Ridge trail, were interested to know what birds we might be watching for with our binoculars and were pleased that people did not need to stay "extra quiet" in order to hawkwatch. The other hikers who did come up were, as usual, mostly interested in the view. Weather: Cloud-cover was 100-percent during the watch, with a little thinning in the afternoon allowing some sun to filter through occasionally. Visibility was somewhat reduced for most of the watch due to a heavy haze which extended in all directions and which reached high enough along the ridges to be noticeable in front of Mount Morrison and to reduce Warren Peak to a shadow; visibility did, however, greatly improve at the end of the watch. Mild to moderate winds came from the southeast in the morning, shifting to the northeast near 11am MST then shifting again later in the afternoon to come again from the southeast and finally from the west, which may have helped clear the haze. Temperatures rose from about 8 C to 11 C. Raptor Observations: More eyes and lots of raptors moving in groups meant many migrants counted today. For the first three hours of the watch, the majority of the migrants passed on the west side of the Ridge either over the valley or the farther western ridges. Then for the next hour or so, the general average flight path shifted back east over the Ridge itself and over Rooney Valley. After about 12:30pm MST, migrants tended to move north more on the west side again with only a few moving overtop the Ridge itself. Heights-of-flight were variable but did average a slight increase during the day, leveling off at about HF3. Some highlights of the day were a couple of accipiters that passed close by the platform, an Osprey spotted far south that winged its way steadily north past us, and a couple of dark-morph Red-tailed Hawks. One immature Red-tailed Hawk migrant that moved north up Rooney Valley showed very interesting coloration: very warm brown overall with extra bright, warm tan upper-wing-panels and a tail with a whitish wash on its distal half. Another juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, of a more usual brown coloration, came north up Rooney Valley not too long afterwards but then turned and headed back south; it was not seen again. Since we had quite a number of unknown-age Red-tailed Hawk migrants move past us, hopefully we counted it that way, if it did return past us. Local Turkey Vultures were spotted south on the Ridge and near Mount Morrison, but none were reported to move north. Local Red-tailed Hawks were seen sometimes escorting migrant Red-tailed Hawks, sometimes flying together, dropping legs, and occasionally roller-coastering. Non-raptor Observations: Also seen or heard were Black-billed Magpie, about ten bluebird species, Townsend's Solitaire, American Crow, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Rock Pigeon, and seven Bushtits that trickled north over the platform late in the afternoon. ======================================================================== 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/b551ee9b878a00d3b6d4cfa42c92dc0a%40hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
