Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 26, 2020 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 4 46 48 Osprey 4 20 20 Bald Eagle 0 1 15 Northern Harrier 0 0 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 37 42 Cooper's Hawk 10 51 57 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 29 95 95 Red-tailed Hawk 6 29 112 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 2 7 8 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 2 4 6 American Kestrel 7 52 57 Merlin 0 6 7 Peregrine Falcon 0 5 7 Prairie Falcon 0 0 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 2 Unknown Buteo 0 2 6 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 4 Total: 74 356 490 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:15:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5.75 hours Official Counter: Carol Cwiklinski Observers: Joe Elliott, Steve Small Visitors: We had three helpful visitors today, Susan, Joe, and a nice man with a camera. Weather: Cloud cover was high throughout the day. Early, clouds were thin and it was sunny, so thermals were excellent. Later in the day, the clouds thickened, cooling thermals and making it easier to locate migrating birds. Winds were variable, southerly early and switching to north by days end. Raptor Observations: Raptor movement was dispersed, at times over Dino and others along the western ridges. There seemed to be regular movement of raptors, but at times it was a challenge to find them. Birds were generally very high. Non-raptor Observations: Many, many hikers were on the trail today. Today’s count was conducted from the power line to make social distancing easier. ======================================================================== 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/e289a259575920946c5f142ea425d595%40hawkcount.org.
