Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Dec 13, 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 1 Bald Eagle 0 0 1 Northern Harrier 0 0 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 2 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 13 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 22 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 7 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 2 Golden Eagle 0 0 11 American Kestrel 0 0 10 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 1 Prairie Falcon 0 0 3 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 1 Total: 0 0 78 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 10:45:00 Observation end time: 12:45:00 Total observation time: 2 hours Official Counter: Ajit Antony Observers: Weather: I had been looking for a day with reasonably favorable winds (i.e. without strong West or NW winds at the Colorado Wyoming border which would push migrant hawks to the East of Denver and East of the (?) high-pressure zone around the city) in the past 3 weeks except for one day a few weeks ago when there were North winds but of course that was the day when we had a snowstorm. For the past 5 days I had been watching earth.nullschool.net and today had North-based winds predicted. Fortunately there was only a dusting of snow overnight in Central Park where I live with only very light flurries this morning, and checking weather.gov the forecast was for North-based winds at up to 20 mph with gusts to 31 mph with a high temperature of 31°F with windchill temperature of 18°F. I checked the I-70 WebCams online and found there was no snow falling. I had planned on observing from the north end of the Stegosaurus parking lot which has a view to the north as good as from the watch, but there were such light winds when I reached that I decided to go to the top of the ridge. When I had gotten to the parking lot the winds seemed to be from the SSW and so it was at the watch on the West of the ridge but walking over to the East side of the watch the winds were Beaufort level 3-4 from the SE. Such is Dinosaur Ridge where the forecast for Morrison, CO doesn’t always hold good. The last 15 minutes of the watch there were light fine snow flurries which reduced distant visibility a little. Raptor Observations: I was hoping to find at least one late migrant of any of the species GE/RL/GH. Non-migrant raptors: At 10:59 AM on binocular scanning I found one and then 2 adult GE soaring over the ridges to the NE with a higher-than-an-RT-dihedral. One went south and I lost it behind the ridge and couldn’t find it further south, and the other went North – neither counted. Adult RT flying south at the bottom of the ridge to the west. Non-raptor Observations: Common Raven 3, Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay 1, Townsend’s Solitaire flew and landed near the hawk watch repeatedly and made for good company, American Robin and Northern Flicker heard only. A herd of 29 elk grazing on top of the ridge just north of the Mother Cabrini statue. ======================================================================== 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 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) -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/010101850ddb4320-c2f963b3-a28b-4fd9-8620-2830c03fa422-000000%40us-west-2.amazonses.com.
