Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: May 04, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 11 | 36 | 381 |
| Osprey | 0 | 2 | 52 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 4 | 49 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 4 | 27 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 6 | 105 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 6 | 28 | 224 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 21 | 135 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 28 | 451 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 4 | 4 | 45 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 2 | 22 |
| Golden Eagle | 2 | 3 | 25 |
| American Kestrel | 3 | 51 | 484 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Total: | 33 | 195 | 2079 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9 hours |
| Official Counter | Dustin Kohler |
| Observers: | Jessica Colby, Lori Morton, Lynn Bocken, Natalie Uschner-Arroyo, Zach Haag |
Visitors:
We had 71 visitors to the ridge today. One person was jogging with hiking sticks. I have seen a lot of people with walking sticks and a lot of runners, but this was my first time seeing both. There was another visitor who sounded like the singer Reba. There was also a visitor to the ridge today who works in the HR department for Jefferson County Open Space, I believe. He was also from the St. Louis, Missouri area (like me), and was wearing a Kshe95 (radio station) T-shirt.
Weather:
Today started cold and cloudy and ended warm and relatively cloudless. The wind was very gusty and the gust were pretty far apart most of the day. The wind varied from Northeast to Southeast, but was mostly east all day. A distant haze affected our visibility all day.
Raptor Observations:
Today started slow and continued to do so throughout the day. The few migrants we had today were relatively low compared to the last couple of days, but they were still extremely high. Two Golden Eagles soared up and went North one a few hundred feet behind the other one and went way further north than the closest nest that I know of. A Cooper's Hawk was chased North juvenile Red-tail, and a different Cooper's Hawk was also attacked by a red-tail that I couldn't tell what age it was. We also had a dark morph immature Swainson's hawk and a non-Harlan's dark morph Red-tail. We had a Kettle of 11 Turkey Vultures, but only 8 migrated to the Northwest. In local news we had our usual Red-tails, and one of them was carrying either food or nesting material. I think I saw a squirrel's tail, but it could have been plant material. We also had a Red-tailed hawk chasing a Golden Eagle. There was a Cooper's hawk that went south. The male American Kestrel was back again today a couple times, hunting or just hanging out near us.
Non-raptor Observations:
There was a subdued start today in all activity. We had a lot of blue-gray gnatcatchers screaming all day long. They even outscreamed the Spotted Towhees and Western Meadowlarks. We saw a Western Kingbird, Common Raven, Double Crested Cormorant, American White Pelicans, White-throated Swift, and many swallows.
Predictions:
Tomorrow should be a mostly cloudy day with warm temperatures and a strong wind from the south. I am hoping for a good migrant day.
Report submitted by Official Counter (j.f.peters58@gmail.com)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may
see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare
dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson’s hawk, Ferruginous
hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden
and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons,
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey
Vultures. American Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor
species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane,
White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any
skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM from March 1st to May 10th,
weather permitting.
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 hawk watch signs from the
southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch 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, and walk to
the flat area at the crest of the ridge. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain:
259 feet)
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