Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 17, 2024 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 2 18 18 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 0 3 3 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 122 122 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 10 10 Golden Eagle 0 4 4 American Kestrel 0 2 2 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Prairie Falcon 0 2 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: 3 163 163 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Dustin Kohler Observers: Audry Anderson, Ginni Dickinson Visitors: We had 5 visitors to the ridge today including a guy who came up the trail in skis. Weather: Today was very similar to yesterday except even more overcast. Today had gusts of wind on an otherwise still day. Raptor Observations: All of our migrants followed the same pathway, low and close to our ridge on the east side. Early in the day we had two local adult Bald Eagles and a local juvenile Golden Eagle hunting. Later in the day we had three Juvenile Bald Eagles flying around and chasing each other over the apex houses, but none of them left to go north. Non-raptor Observations: We had a large flock of roughly 40 Mountain Bluebirds and a flock of roughly 60 American Robins. We saw about 17 elk near two pines. Predictions: Tomorrow looks to be a day full of sunshine and a southern wind. Both of which should increase thermals and overall migratory behavior. After the last five days of being grounded or slow migration, I expect a surge of migrants. Snowshoes might still be needed in the morning, but in the afternoon I think spikes or at least waterproof shoes are a must. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Janet Peters (j.f.peter...@gmail.com) 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. American 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 10th, 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 * 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/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/0101018e4f5efe58-42fa4237-4687-4cc2-ad60-c1985cb06ae4-000000%40us-west-2.amazonses.com.
