Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 21, 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 6 6 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 0 6 6 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 4 58 58 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Ferruginous Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 0 3 3 American Kestrel 1 6 6 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Prairie Falcon 0 5 5 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2 Unknown Buteo 0 2 2 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 6 96 96 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jennifer Hyypio Observers: Janet Shin, LeAnn Joswick Visitors: Mark was visiting from Montana and stopped to talk birds. 4 hikers came to the site for the view. 3 bikers and a couple joggers passed on the trail. Weather: Cool morning temperatures rising to 56 F by end of watch. Clear skies becoming cloudy with high, thin, patchy cloud coverage in the afternoon. Good visibility. Winds increased throughout the day from N-NE. Raptor Observations: 3 Red-tailed hawks flew over the ridge or just to the east side of the ridge. Great views of the hawks "stilling" as they hunted moving north. The other Red-tailed hawk took a steady course north over the west ridge. The resident male Kestrel chased a migrating male Kestrel up the west side of the ridge. The Sharp-shinned hawk came fast at eye level over the east side of the ridge. We did not observe the resident Red-tailed hawks as we did the previous week. Non-raptor Observations: Other birds: Townsend's Solitaire, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Junco, Scrub Jay, Robin, Magpie, Western Meadowlark and Raven. Small groups of deer in various numbers appeared on the flats at the bottom of the east side of the ridge. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (jeff.bi...@rmbo.org) Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.rmbo.org/ Site Description: Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawkwatch in Colorado and is the best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Dinosaur Ridge may be the best place in the country to see the rare dark morph of the Broad-winged Hawk (a few are seen each spring). Hawkwatchers who linger long enough may see resident Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks and Prairie Falcons, in addition to migrating Swainson's, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels and Turkey Vultures. Peregrine Falcons and Ferruginous Hawks are uncommon; Northern Goshawk is rare but regular. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, and sometimes Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, American White Pelican or Dusky Grouse. Birders are always welcome. The hawkwatch is generally staffed by volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory from about 9 AM to around 4 PM from the first week of March to the first week of May. 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 south side of lot to 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. -- 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. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
