Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Colorado, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 16, 2020
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 3 9 9
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 1 1
Cooper's Hawk 0 1 1
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 12 44 44
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 2 2
American Kestrel 0 1 1
Merlin 0 1 1
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 1 1
Mississippi Kite 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 3 3
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 2 2
Total: 16 65 65
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Observation start time: 07:45:00
Observation end time: 14:00:00
Total observation time: 6.25 hours
Official Counter: Joyce Commercon
Observers: Carol Cwiklinski, David Gulbenkian
Visitors:
Many hikers and some bikers were on the trail today. Many of these came up
to the platform, mostly for the view. There were more small groups of
teenagers and also families with young kids and dogs than usual for a
weekday. Everybody tried to practice “social distancing.” A few
visitors did ask what we were doing or seeing. John Dwyer came up in the
afternoon armed with a big camera and binoculars; luckily he did get to see
a few raptors including some local Golden Eagles. David Gulbenkian also
came up for a while to help spot.
Weather:
Early morning blue skies were replaced by 90- to 95-percent thin, gauzy
cloud-cover by mid-morning, the perfect type of hawk-watching sky! Winds
were initially from the west (bft 2) but shifted by 9am MST to come
steadily from the east (bft 3) until about noon MST when they shifted once
again to come from the northeast (bft 4), bringing a smoky haze over the
area and dropping the temperature a bit. Temperatures rose from 9C to 16.5C
then dropped to 13C with the northeast winds.
Raptor Observations:
In spite of the perfect sky for hawk-watching, the watch was mostly pretty
slow. At least we were fairly sure nothing was getting by us. Then, the
flood gates opened briefly for about 10 minutes just after 11:00am MST when
a kettle of Red-tailed Hawks was spotted by Carol very high over the north
end of the west side valley. Six of the eight Red-tails circling there soon
peeled off and shot north, two of these being dark-morphs. Just a few
minutes later two more adult Red-tailed Hawks were spotted high, migrating
north. At about the same time, a north-bound sub-adult Bald Eagle was seen
high above the platform, dark winged with a dark-tipped whitish tail. Some
of this migrant burst might well have been missed if Carol hadn’t been
there to help. Thanks Carol! Later in the afternoon, two similarly-sized,
white-headed and white-tailed, adult Bald Eagles flew in from the southeast
up Rooney Valley; they continued together, at a leisurely pace, north of
Cabrini Hill, eventually disappearing to the northwest.
Early in the morning, a local Red-tailed Hawk pair was spotted flying
over
the west side valley. The larger female carried a fairly short flat stick
of sorts in her beak. Her partner flew not far above her, apparently
escorting her as they flew to the west.
The local Golden Eagle pair made a few appearances today, coming south
together only to circle up over the west side valley in the morning. In the
afternoon, the GOEA pair was seen heading south down Rooney Valley. Shortly
after these GOEAs had passed, a local Red-tailed Hawk could be heard
calling out and was soon seen flying south straight down Rooney Valley.
Within minutes, one of the Golden Eagles was observed heading back north up
Rooney Valley and it was being closely followed by said Red-tail. Both were
slightly below eye-level to the HawkWatch platform, giving a beautiful
view. John Dwyer and I truly enjoyed the moment.
Non-raptor Observations:
At least four Townsend's Solitaires flew up and down the Ridge today; one
sang some of its beautiful song for us. Several American Robins were seen
moving about on the ridges, seemingly heading north. A half-dozen or so
Mountain Bluebirds flew north past the platform in the afternoon. Also seen
or heard today were Black-billed Magpie, Spotted Towhee, Mountain
Chickadee, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch, Rock Pigeon, Common Raven,
and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay. Six elk were seen near Cabrini Hill in the
afternoon.
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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.
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