Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: May 04, 2017 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 1 | 70 |
| Osprey | 1 | 4 | 13 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 14 | 62 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 6 | 69 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 2 | 2 | 21 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 263 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 3 | 45 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 4 | 15 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 28 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 2 | 3 | 27 |
| Total: | 7 | 40 | 681 |
| Observation start time: | 07:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 5.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Tom Williams arrived in the second hour armed with his binocs. He was very patient, monitoring the dead blue sky, and helped out by spotting a high-flying migrant overtop the ridge. Several bikers and hikers (with and without dogs) were on the nice, dry trail today. A few came up for the view.
Weather:
The day was unremittingly sunny and bright with a dead blue sky. There was no cloud-cover until in the later hours the sky produced a few teeny clouds low along the eastern and western horizons. Contrails did not last long. Winds were from the east and alternated between mild breezes and sustained gusts of bft 3. Temperatures rose from 14C to 17C. A brownish haze was visible in the Denver Basin. A whitish haze was evident to the southeast. General visibility appeared to be slightly reduced at distance, perhaps due to heat haze or glare.
Raptor Observations:
All observed migrants passed within a little more than an hour's time early in the watch (about 8:30am to 9:30am MST). Most, including one of the adult Broad-winged Hawks, were easily visible, passing along or near Dinosaur Ridge. Only a couple of migrants moved north along the western ridges. For the remainder of the watch, either there were no migrants or they were too high to easily detect. Overhead scans of the dead blue sky mostly caught only bits of cottonwood fluff moving west on the breeze. A local Peregrine Falcon was spotted twice on the east side of the ridge, apparently hunting. The local male American Kestrel made one appearance to harass a local Sharp-shinned Hawk as it went north in Rooney Valley; the Sharpie later returned, heading southeast, with a full crop. A local Red-tailed Hawk was observed carrying a small rodent in its beak as it descended into the western valley. In the afternoon, a local Golden Eagle made its way south, performing a few shallow rollercoaster moves over the western valley.
Non-raptor Observations:
As the day wore on, the crickets seemed particularly loud. Still, the appearance of an extremely interesting warbler in a Ponderosa pine on the platform was a pleasant highlight for the day. It hung around for several minutes and was at first suspected to be a Townsend's Warbler, except that its face seemed too lightly marked and the thick black of its throat wrapped a little too far back toward its olivey back. Luckily, Tom had a camera and a Sibley's guide handy. With the full black throat, the pale-marked face, the black stripes on whitish flanks and yellow wash under its tail (vent area), one might think it was a Black-throated Green Warbler, but it did have much more of a yellow wash under the black throat than would be expected, given the Sibley illustration, so maybe it was a Townsend's Warbler after all. A Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay perched for a few minutes near the platform with some grassy nest-building material in its beak; it soon departed when its partner flew by. In the afternoon, a Western Wood-Pewee chased insects first from a perch down the ridge and then from a perch next to the platform. Also seen or heard were American Robin, Western Meadowlark, Canyon Wren, American Crow, House Finch, Spotted Towhee, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, White-throated Swift, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Black-billed Magpie, Bushtit, Tree Swallow, and Common Raven.
Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (jeff.birek@birdconservancy.org)
Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.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 Bird Conservancy of the
Rockies from about 9 AM to around 3 PM from March 1st to May 7th.
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.
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