Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 15, 2023
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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 1 14 14
Northern Harrier 0 1 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 4 4
Cooper's Hawk 0 2 2
Northern Goshawk 0 3 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 19 101 101
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 2 22 23
Golden Eagle 6 22 22
American Kestrel 1 7 7
Merlin 0 3 3
Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1
Prairie Falcon 0 3 3
Mississippi Kite 0 0 0
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 1
Unknown Buteo 0 1 1
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 2 2
Total: 31 187 188
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Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Emma Riley
Observers: Jim Lowe, Karen Fernandez, Mike Fernandez, Sammy Korengut,
Taina Brin
Visitors:
Thank you to Mike & Karen Fernandez, Jim Lowe, Taina Brin, and Sammy
Korengut for your help spotting our distant migrants today. We had 16
visitors at the ridge today, including some folks from Nashville! Many of
our visitors continue to engage with our count board, and have questions
about the work we are doing.
Weather:
Today started out with high temperatures and bright blue skies. As the day
continued cloud cover increased, with the sun getting fully covered by the
early afternoon. In the afternoon we could see scattered rain clouds all
along the western horizon, and we had some drizzle on and off for the rest
of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Migration kicked off bright and early this morning with a nice morning push
before the rain came in. Birds could be seen primarily high and distant
over the western ridge, with a few RT and one SS migrating low along the
Dakota Hogback. Despite the rain, we still counted migrants up until 1600
MST. We had a nice GE flight today with 6 birds counted, along with 5 other
species of raptors counted today. Local RT (2) were seen in the western
valley mostly, but we did see one southeast of us as well. 2 BE were seen
in the area that did not migrate but headed directly west. 2 local GE were
also seen, with one coming close to the ridge and the other seen out west.
Non-raptor Observations:
Corvids were seen all over the place today with 12 CORA and 4 noisy AMCR
that came by the ridge. We had our first PISI of the season heard at the
ridge, and had our second group of SACR (31) come high overhead. Many of
our commonly seen passerines were seen today including BCCH (3), TOSO (4),
HOFI (3), SCJA (1), and AMRO (5). Most non-raptor activity ceased when the
rain came in, minus the CORA.
Predictions:
We’ve got a nice storm rolling through the front range tonight bringing
snow and lowered temperatures. Precipitation is currently not expected for
tomorrow, so we are likely to have a full day of counting a cold but
hopefully good migration with winds from the NE.
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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
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at:
https://dunkadoo.org/explore/denver-field-ornithologists/dinosaur-ridge-spring-2023
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 hawk watch signs
from the southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch 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, and walk to the flat area at the crest of the ridge.
(Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)
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