Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 27, 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 2 104 105 Osprey 0 24 24 Bald Eagle 0 6 18 Northern Harrier 0 7 8 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 46 55 Cooper's Hawk 0 85 91 Northern Goshawk 0 3 3 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 12 12 Red-tailed Hawk 2 220 313 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 9 9 Ferruginous Hawk 0 6 10 Golden Eagle 0 8 11 American Kestrel 0 48 53 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 4 Prairie Falcon 0 4 4 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 11 14 Unknown Buteo 0 4 9 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 1 3 Unknown Raptor 0 9 12 Total: 4 612 759 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 12:30:00 Total observation time: 3.5 hours Official Counter: Mitchell Blystone Observers: Jane Haddock Visitors: A busy day on the trail though few visitors came all the way up to the hilltop. One Gentleman stopped by a couple times while he explored every part of Dinosaur Ridge and chatted a bit on each stop. The highways on both sides had several Harley motorcycle groups riding together and some groups had 50+ riders. Weather: The morning started cold and with winds from the ESE. Clouds covered most of the sky and were low enough to hide the top of Mt. Morrison. The cloud cover slowly broke up and dissipated throughout the morning bringing more sunshine and warmer temperatures. Raptor Observations: Between 9am and 10am the sightings were all locals and we didn't see any migrant activity until after 10am. We had a wonderful close fly-by from a southbound Osprey and observed a Bald Eagle moving south along the Mt. Morrison hillside toward Mt. Falcon. All of our migrators were making the journey alone. Non-raptor Observations: The White-throated Swifts are everywhere and no matter where you looked they would pass by your lens! A Spotted Towhee made a quick appearance in the bushes to the south. Hummingbirds and Meadowlarks we heard all day but we not seen. Additionally Magpies, Robins, Ravens, Crows, and Starlings were observed throughout the morning. Predictions: Hoping for a good burst of activity before the next front moves through! ======================================================================== 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/eea1654ee47942bd236852a23d064c26%40hawkcount.org. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
