Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 04, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 27 35 36 Osprey 0 5 5 Bald Eagle 0 0 12 Northern Harrier 0 3 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 13 22 Cooper's Hawk 4 17 23 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 16 120 213 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Ferruginous Hawk 0 3 7 Golden Eagle 0 2 5 American Kestrel 4 14 19 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 1 3 3 Prairie Falcon 1 1 1 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 2 4 7 Unknown Buteo 1 1 6 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 1 3 Unknown Raptor 0 0 3 Total: 57 223 370 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:45:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6.25 hours Official Counter: Roger Rouch Observers: Bill Wuerthele, Jim Low, Marc Kouzmanoff, Mike Ramee Visitors: Two pairs of hikers stopped for a brief explanation of our activities. Weather: A mild day all around with mostly sunny skies in the morning becoming mostly cloudy with a light atmospheric haze. Temperatures from the upper 40's to the mid-60's. A light breeze around 1 Bft. from the SE in the morning shifting to a light northerly wind around 2 Bft. Raptor Observations: Roughly half or more of the migrating raptors were over the west ridge and required binoculars to spot and often the aid a scope in identification. The remainder were pretty much a mixed bag in location and height flight. The early part of the day was slow but the 10:00 to 11:00 hour (MST) had 31 migrating raptors that included a kettle of 18 Turkey Vultures and a smaller loose kettle with 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Turkey Vultures and an accipiter. The afternoon had close views of a Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcon, and a dark Red-tailed. The local Red-tails and Turkey Vultures were enjoying the good thermals. Non-raptor Observations: Seen or heard were Spotted Towhee, Common Raven, chickadee, Townsend's Solitaire, and Black-billed Magpie. ======================================================================== 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/20ae1a686a8d723bf746beb95ea73076%40hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
