Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 1 1 1 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 3 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 3 11 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 3 4 7 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 2 2 4 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 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: 7 12 29 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 11:30:00 Total observation time: 3.5 hours Official Counter: Ajit Antony Observers: Liza Antony Weather: Cool and pleasant when we started, getting hot later. Earth.nullschool.net predicted light SW winds all morning into afternoon, but weather.gov had winds coming from the WSW>SSE>SE by afternoon. At the watch the wind was from the South on the west side of the ridge and by the 1st one half hour there was a ridge lift developing from the East of the ridge starting at Beaufort Level 3 going up to Level 5. Thermal topping clouds were seen by the end of the 1st half hour. On the way down the trail the wind was from the South. There was a brown haze along the NE horizon ?smog which gradually dissipated. Raptor Observations: All the raptors found today were found by binocular scanning against a perfectly blue sky. The limited cloud cover unfortunately was along the horizon to the East-SSW. The 1st migrant was an SS seen just south of Green Mountain at 8:41 AM EST. There are some encouraging signs that the migration is picking up with increasing cold weather. Non-migrant raptors: an adult GE flying North, a pair of GE flew to the West – an adult and a juvenile. RT 3, TV 14 rising a little south of Green Mountain. Non-raptor Observations: Townsend Solitaire initially heard then seen, Mountain Chickadee 1, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Rock Wren 2, Common Raven groupings with a maximum of 8 at one time, immature Red-headed Woodpecker 1 in flight, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 2, what looked like a very distant kettle of BW was instead a murder of 21 American Crow flying South when looked at through my scope. When we started there were 4 hot air balloons rising to the NE. Predictions: There is a prediction for rain tomorrow night through Thursday night with SW winds in the morning on Friday changing to very strong NW winds up to 21 mph. If this forecast holds true Friday could be a good day for migration. ======================================================================== 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. 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