Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 1 1 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 0 1 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 4 6 8 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 0 6 14 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 4 7 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 5 5 American Kestrel 2 6 8 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Prairie Falcon 0 0 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 6 32 49 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:45:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 4.25 hours Official Counter: Ajit Antony Observers: Visitors: Interestingly not a single person hiking the Hogback Trail today, and only saw a young woman hiking up on my way down. Weather: earth.nullschool.net showed light winds from the West becoming South and then SE, while weather.gov predicted 3-5 mph winds starting in the West, becoming North and then NE by the afternoon. From the parking lot going up the trail there was a distinct South wind while at the watch the wind started WSW at Level 5, then became east by 9 AM MST, then there was a stronger Level 3 wind from the East with a lighter Level 2 with from the South at the same time! After the 1st hour I could see both above and below the horizon from NE to SE a grayish brown smog. Raptor Observations: On days when there was a perfectly blue sky I wondered whether I was missing migrating hawks, and wanted to come on a day with a lot of cloud cover regardless of the wind to see whether I could find more hawks against the clouds. Today I had excellent broad cumulus cloud cover both north, overhead and south of the watch and was able to test my eyesight by looking at very high local RT which I was able to see against clouds as well as backlit against the blue sky with my naked eye (and polarized sunglasses) – so I know I'm not missing large numbers of hawks, i.e. the low daily numbers are because they're not flying past the watch. The first migrants were 2 CH at 8:26 AM MST one behind the other at a moderate distance far to the West and very high, at the limit of binocular ID – I required my scope to confirm my suspicion that they were accipiters. I put up my Great Horned Owl decoy which has drawn many species of migrants hawks in the East to buzz it, but none of the migrants nor the locals here seemed interested, nor were any of the passerines bothered by it. Non-migrant raptors: TV 1, RT 2. Non-raptor Observations: Townsend's Solitaire 2 all morning singing and calling, White-throated Swift 6, House Finch 2, American Robin 1, Black-billed Magpie 1, Black-capped Chickadee 1. 1 hot air balloon to the NE. ======================================================================== Report submitted by DAVID HILL () Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=123 Site Description: Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson’s hawk, Ferruginous hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey Vultures. Northern Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th, weather permitting. 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 southwest end of lot to the 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. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet) -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- 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]. 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