Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 05, 2019 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 | 37 | 38 |
| Osprey | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 16 | 25 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 2 | 19 | 25 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 31 | 151 | 244 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 15 | 20 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Unknown Buteo | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Total: | 43 | 266 | 413 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6 hours |
| Official Counter | Debbie James |
| Observers: | Marc Kouzmanoff, Mike Ramee |
Visitors:
Two men riding mountain bikes stopped to ask what we were doing. One man mentioned he'd seen lots of hawks in the air last evening at dusk above Superior. A couple from Toronto stopped at the station and before long they became fascinated with what we were doing, and helped us as we watched a T.V. and RTHA migrate.
Weather:
It was shirt-sleeves weather today on the Ridge, even though snow is still visible on north-facing slopes. Winds were low all day, nearly dead-calm at most times, while skies were overcast. The Denver Basin was heavily polluted with Brown Cloud, and there was a faint haze early morning at the Ridge. The mine to the south was doing blasting, and kicking up quite a bit of dust high in the air.
Raptor Observations:
Most migrators today were flying very high, possibly because of lack of winds at lower elevations. This made identification very difficult without a scope. It was great that Mike Ramee came up to help spot, and had one. Only the Sharp-shinned hawk and Cooper's Hawk in the first two hours came close to or directly over the Ridge. All the rest were over to the west. In the last hour there was a kettle of 9 Red-Tailed hawks swirling just to the north of towers on Mt. Morrison. Three pealed off, and migrated, leaving 5 locals. I spotted a local Kestrel early morning perched on a power line, and during the day we had two local Turkey Vultures.
Non-raptor Observations:
Spring Beauties are now blooming. Other birds seen or heard were 4 House Finch; 2 Black-billed Magpie; 1 Blue Jay; 1 Northern Flicker; 12 Spotted-wing Towhee; 5 Common Raven; 3 Meadowlark; 5 Bushtit; 2 White-breasted Nuthatch; 2 Townsend's Solitaire; 18 American Crows with 14 of them in a murder migrating north; 1 Western Kingbird; and 3 Swallow (sp.)
Predictions:
Migration is in full-swing. Tomorrow looks to be close to today's weather, with slightly lower winds, so be prepared to be looking at limit of binoculars.
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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