Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 12, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 21 64 65 Osprey 2 11 11 Bald Eagle 1 2 14 Northern Harrier 2 5 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 29 38 Cooper's Hawk 19 53 59 Northern Goshawk 1 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 24 194 287 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Ferruginous Hawk 2 6 10 Golden Eagle 0 5 8 American Kestrel 11 40 45 Merlin 1 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 3 Prairie Falcon 0 3 3 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 7 10 Unknown Buteo 0 3 8 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 1 3 Unknown Raptor 0 2 5 Total: 88 432 579 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 5.5 hours Official Counter: Debbie James Observers: Carol Cwiklinski, Steve Small Visitors: Two women visited the station in the next to the last hour, asking what we were doing. After explaining about Hawk Watch, one said she is a volunteer for Jeffco Open Space, and last year was treated to a canyon to view nesting Golden Eagles, and many other raptors. Weather: Temps ranged from a brisk -1 to 5 Celcius for a high, with high humidity. Winds were low. Mt. Morrison had fog 1/3 way down first hour of the morning, and then it slowly lifted over the day. All but the last hour was completely overcast. Had a sprinkle of snow in the 2nd and 3rd hours. Raptor Observations: Migrating raptors were observed in all locations, except the West Ridge while fog was present, which makes me very glad that Carol and Steve were there to see over all the miles of range--they are terrific spotters. Throughout the day migrators could be seen from Green Mountain on the East, on the east side of the Ridge, overhead, and also on the west side of Ridge. Height of flights were various, but many were very high, at range of bins. Locals: 5 Red-Tailed Hawks; 2 male American Kestrels; 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk; and 1 Turkey Vulture. Non-raptor Observations: The trail was muddy and slick going up, but by this afternoon it was in good shape. Other birds seen or heard: 2 American Robin; 1 Townsend's Solitaire; 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet; 10 Black-billed Magpie; 15 House Finch; 3 Woodhouse's Scrub Jay; 4 American Crow; 4 Common Raven; 2 Chickadee (sp.); 5 Bushtit; and 1 Rock Pidgeon. Predictions: Saturday looks to have similar weather to today, so hopefully the migrator count will still be high. ======================================================================== 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/8c0ff922ef24a960785e3d618d10bd19%40hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
