Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 15, 2019 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 12 | 79 | 80 |
| Osprey | 2 | 15 | 15 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 32 | 41 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 2 | 58 | 64 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 200 | 293 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| American Kestrel | 3 | 43 | 48 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Total: | 27 | 473 | 620 |
| Observation start time: | 07:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: | Ajit Antony, Liza Antony, Mike Ramee |
Visitors:
Ajit and Liza Antony arrived early and were skilled spotters, holding down the west side, catching high and distant raptors, which were par for the course today. Up for a few hours, Mike Ramee also arrived early, and helped spot, catching the two Ospreys moving together north along Green Mountain. Later, when the migrants slowed, he shared some of the history of the HawkWatch site. Somewhat unusually, several of the visitors to the platform were actually interested to know what we were doing and did not come up just for the view. A pair of women hikers, who had visited before, stopped by early to see what had been seen and were interested to hear about raptor migration strategies such as riding orographic lift along the ridge or employing thermals to gain height for gliding; not long afterwards another pair of hiking women, Bev and Daria, also stopped by to see if they could catch anything migrating by. Two other hikers were able to see a Turkey Vulture migrating northward over the west-side valley. In the afternoon, a few more hikers inquired about the raptor monitoring station and raptor migration.
Weather:
A partly-cloudy day with mobile cloud-cover averaging about 70-percent. Winds (bft 2-4) were initially from the northwest but had shifted easterly by about 9:30am MST. Temperatures rose from 11.5 C to 18 C. Visibility was good.
Raptor Observations:
By far, the majority of the migrants today were high and to the west, either high over the west-side valley or high over the western ridges. The average height-of-flight after 9am MST was HF4 (visible by 10X binocs). Many of the spotted accipiters were scoped for identification by Ajit Antony (thanks!). A group of seven Turkey Vulture migrants were spotted high to the south over the Ridge and eventually streamed steadily to the northwest. In the early morning, a Peregrine shot along the Ridge near the platform. Also early on, two Ospreys moved north along the top of Green Mountain.
Non-raptor Observations:
Also seen or heard were Dark-eyed Junco, Spotted Towhee, American Robin, Townsend's Solitaire, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Western Meadowlark, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, White-throated Swift, Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Tree Swallow, nuthatch species, and Bushtit.
Report submitted by Matthew Smith (matt.smith@birdconservancy.org)
Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.org/
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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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