Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 19, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 6 86 87 Osprey 0 20 20 Bald Eagle 0 4 16 Northern Harrier 0 5 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 39 48 Cooper's Hawk 2 71 77 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 2 5 5 Red-tailed Hawk 1 206 299 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 2 2 Ferruginous Hawk 0 6 10 Golden Eagle 0 6 9 American Kestrel 0 47 52 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 4 Prairie Falcon 0 4 4 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 9 12 Unknown Buteo 0 4 9 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 1 3 Unknown Raptor 4 8 11 Total: 15 530 677 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 3 hours Official Counter: Debbie James Observers: David Gubenkaian Visitors: Good Friday pilgrims were up at the station first thing in the morning. They left after an hour, and praying the Rosary, to join scores of others climbing up to Mother Cabrini Shrine. Since it was such a beautiful day, the trail was very busy with hikers and bikers. One couple stopped to talk about migrating hawks. Weather: Warm weather started at 16 degrees Celcius at the beginning of watch and went up to 20 in three hours. Completely clear sky. There was a haze for two hours which made seeing high flying migrators nearly impossible. It burned off by noon. Raptor Observations: All but a few migrators were flying very high, and nearly all activity took place near 1-70 and Mother Cabrini. The first hour's TV and Cooper's Hawks flew close or over the Ridge. Nice once again to see Broad-winged Hawks come through. Local Hawks: 3 Red-tailed Hawks--two involved in courting behavior; 2 Golden Eagles; and 4 Turkey Vultures. Non-raptor Observations: Other species seen or heard: 4 Black-billed Magpie; 3 House Finch; 3 Meadowlark; 1 Rock Wren (up near the station on the west side rocks); 1 Townsend Solitaire; 14 White-throated swifts; 1 Spotted Towhee; 1 Northern Flicker; 11 Common Raven--(including 8 in a kettle above towers on Mt. Morrison); 1 American Crow; and 1 Woodhouse's Scrub Jay. Predictions: Seems migration is slowing down. ======================================================================== 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/c16d03ee995b8b4b39a9d55c912f530f%40hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
