Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 19, 2023 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 2 2 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 1 17 17 Northern Harrier 0 1 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 4 4 Cooper's Hawk 0 3 3 Northern Goshawk 0 5 5 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 8 116 116 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 25 26 Golden Eagle 0 24 24 American Kestrel 0 8 8 Merlin 0 3 3 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Prairie Falcon 0 4 4 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: 9 217 218 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Emma Riley Observers: Aarohi Barman, Susan Blansett Visitors: Thank you to Aarohi Barman, our weekend official observer, and DFO president Susan Blansett for your help with the count today. As always I couldn’t do it without your help! We had a nice and busy day at the ridge with 38 visitors today, many interested in what we were doing, where to find data, and what birds to expect. One group of visitors was from the east coast, and another visitor was from Dallas. Weather: Today started off cold with moderate cloud cover, but by late morning the clouds had cleared and the sun warmed up the ridge bringing some nice thermals. Winds were mostly from the general east all day until a switch to the west in the late afternoon. Wind speeds stayed mild all day. Raptor Observations: Today was another relatively slow migration day in comparison to the numbers we were seeing before the snow rolled through on Thursday. We had a nice little push of RT in the morning with a direct overhead line. Our typical afternoon lull lasted until we had a low BE come through the western valley and catch a thermal near Cabrini and continue on high. Overall we saw 9 RT and 1 BE migrating. Local raptor activity was pronounced today with 3 RT, 2 GE, and 1 BE seen many times throughout the day both east and west of us. The eagles in particular were very active today. Non-raptor Observations: Another day with BOWA seen along the ridge, this time in the afternoon briefly in a nearby pine south of the count platform. BUSH (20) were seen on the hike up, and BCCH (3), MOCH (1), TOSO (4), AMRO (3), HOFI (6), BBMA (3), CORA (17), and AMCR (4) also seen throughout the day. The elk continue to be seen NW of the count site. Predictions: Tomorrows weather prediction is similar to today with mild temperatures and partly cloudy conditions. Winds are predicted to be variable but generally E/NE and low speeds. ======================================================================== 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) -- -- 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. 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