Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado. To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 07, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 | 24 | 129 |
| Osprey | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 13 | 27 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 9 | 59 | 216 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 4 | 19 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 13 | 109 | 432 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 12:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
A hiker coming down while I was going up asked Counting hawks again? She walked up and down the trail 5 times, and was consequently very slim. Another hiker asked what I was looking at and I explained. She had many questions, wanting to know how far they migrate and I explained depending on the species from the Southern United States to Argentina. She made a comparison with the migration of Monarch butterflies. I commented on the tiny brain it had and how evolution results in its migration. Or some higher power she said, walking away without any more questions! Another couple earlier wants to know how many raptors I had seen. I explained I hadn't seen any at that point with the heavy overcast sky, thermals would not form which the raptors depend on, so I wasn't hopeful.
Weather:
For the first time there was no smoke over Denver. Heavily overcast though DIA could be seen 25 miles to the east in sunlight, with dark clouds to the SE with virga falling from the SE to the East, light winds initially from the WSW changing to the ESE and actually feeling cool. The winds aloft were from the WSW. With 100% clouds I expected no thermals and consequently a late flight if any. The Soaring Forecast of the NWS had lift at 12 feet per second with the maximum height of thermals 8,315 ft AGL which is only 1,000 ft over this watch, so any hawks should be fairly low. By 11:00 a.m. DST there was filtered sunlight coming through thinning clouds and by 11:20 a.m. there was sunshine and it started becoming hot.
Raptor Observations:
There were no raptors in the sky until 11:21 a.m. DST and RT that was local. The first migrant was an RT at 11:23 a.m. Most of the migrant activity was over Lookout Mountain with a few going through the gap between it and Green Mountain. Non-migrant raptors: juvenile dark morph RT that was seen yesterday as well was seen on 2 different occasions today "escorting" migrants out of its territory, total RT 4, TV 1. It appears that for this watch and myself 1:30 p.m. DST is the time when raptors either fly so high that I can't see them or stop flying, less likely, corresponding to the time at which the heat becomes oppressive, when I leave.
Non-raptor Observations:
A paraglider at 11:00 a.m. had no lift staying well below my level and over Golden, 1 at noon had moderate lift going a little higher than my level, and one at 12:35 p.m. seem to have no lift at all dropping over the Coors Brewery. WTSW 1, VGSW 8, WEBL 1, SPTO 1, BTHU 1, MOCH 1, CORA 3, AMCR 2 Two young male mule deer with 6 point antlers each on the hillside below me.
Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 7 mph in the morning. The winds aloft at the level raptors would fly is expected to be from the East.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
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