Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 08, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1 41 42 Osprey 1 6 6 Bald Eagle 1 1 13 Northern Harrier 0 3 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 18 27 Cooper's Hawk 4 24 30 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 7 162 255 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Ferruginous Hawk 0 4 8 Golden Eagle 1 4 7 American Kestrel 5 22 27 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 3 Prairie Falcon 1 3 3 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 1 6 9 Unknown Buteo 0 3 8 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 1 3 Unknown Raptor 2 2 5 Total: 26 304 451 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Joyce Commercon Observers: Jim Low Visitors: Jim Lowe arrived early and was a great help catching a few migrants that tried to slip undetected past the platform. Reston Witten arrived later in the afternoon, binoculars in hand, ready to spot raptors. Several hikers, runners, and bikers were on the trail; some came up for the view or to ask questions regarding the layout of the trail itself. Weather: Partly cloudy day with 70- to 90-percent, shifting, mostly thin, translucent cloud-cover. Wind speeds from 2-4 bft with a few gusts at bft 5. Winds in the first hour of the watch came from the east but shifted westerly until the 11:00am MST hour, during which the winds shifted back and forth from east to west. After Noon MST, the winds came from the east. Temperatures were warm, 17 C - 22 C. Visibility was good. Raptor Observations: There was a steady flow of migrants up until the 11:00am MST hour, after which the number of migrants dropped greatly. In general (but not as a rule), the larger migrants such as the Osprey, Red-tails and Eagles seemed to have higher heights-of-flight, soaring up then gliding north, whereas the smaller migrants such as the Kestrels and Accipiters passed lower and often closer to the Ridge, giving us some really nice but quick views. During the 10:00am MST hour, for whatever reason, the majority of the migrants passed north along and very close to Dinosaur Ridge, but otherwise there was no particular flight pattern for the day. Non-raptor Observations: Also seen or heard were American Robin, Townsend's Solitaire, Western Meadowlark, Common Raven, Spotted Towhee, a group of ten-plus Dark-eyed Juncos (one of which was a Pink-sided), Downy Woodpecker, White-throated Swift, Violet-green Swallow, Black-billed Magpie, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker, and White-breasted Nuthatch. ======================================================================== 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/33ec937f9af4e74f91745a6ce929e670%40hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
