cobirds colorado rare bird

Sunday, 1 November 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (01 Nov 2026) 21 Raptors

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
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: Nov 01, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	0	270
Osprey	0	0	29
Bald Eagle	0	0	7
Northern Harrier	0	0	29
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	0	51
Cooper's Hawk	2	2	290
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	109
Red-tailed Hawk	18	18	706
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	0	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	3
Golden Eagle	0	0	32
American Kestrel	1	1	146
Merlin	0	0	7
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	0	4
Unknown Buteo	0	0	9
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	19
Total:	21	21	1908

Observation start time:	10:00:00
Observation end time:	15:00:00
Total observation time:	5 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
A Chinese family on top of Mount Zion not speaking English, and a man started looking through my scope. His son speaking perfect American English apologized for him, then asked what I was looking at. I explained. He explained to the family in a Chinese language. I found a distant binocular-only RT between the two Table Mountains and I mentioned it to them that they probably couldn't see it as it was probably 4 miles away but his younger brother a young teen could see it. I explained that children have better eyesight than adults. I found it in my scope and was able to show it to the father and son, the former was so pleased he wanted a picture taken with me! Another man I tried to show a different RT through my scope and he couldn't see it president probably gone out of the field, and I said Move away, so I can find it again, but he wouldn't instead trying to move the scope around trying to find it himself, by which time the RT could not be found again.

Weather:
Last night the Soaring Forecast of the NWS for today had predicted zero lift, so I thought the heavy cloud and fog as the day would persist until the cold front came through with very few migrants, so I was reluctant to do a count today but my dutiful nature took over especially when I looked out of the window and saw that there was no fog in Denver. The NWS predicted fog until after 10:00 a.m. but holfuy.com showed that the base cloud level was 9961 ft which would be 1200 ft above the watch. At the watch there was just the usual haziness over Denver, but by 11:15 a.m. Denver was slightly clearer and the brown cloud developed between North and NE, by 1:00 p.m. MST Denver could not be seen at all. The winds aloft were expected from the south. This is the third day in a row with zero left and low thermals for which there was no trigger temperature time given.

Raptor Observations:
Today we passed 1900 migrant raptors for the fall season! The only comparison I have is with the spring season at Dinosaur Ridge when volunteers like me were counting between 2017 and 2021 when their total numbers for the entire seasons were 692, 588, 828, 556, and 1101 respectively with excellent hawk watchers counting like Carol Cwiklinski and Steve Small. Even comparing with the last 5 years Dinosaur Ridge in Spring had paid professional counters which is not a valid comparison as they were at least four decades younger with far better eyesight and counted 8 hours every day, their numbers between 2022 and 2026 were not too much higher at 2406, 2321, 2150, 3144, and 2263 respectively. In fact we realized that in August we were very conservative deeming hawks as migrants until Lookout Mountain Road was closed in both directions one dat and we were forced to count from the Buffalo Bill Museum atop Lookout Mountain when we realized that most of the hawks we counted as non-migrants from Mount Zion were actually migrants past Lookout Mountain! Looking at my reports from then we have 10-17 non-migrant TVs and RTs which is certainly much too many, and by the end of the season I will have calculated how many of those 'non-migrants' were likely to have been migrants by subtracting the average number of RT and TV we see. The 1900th Hawk was a CH found High over North Table Mountain, it then glided strongly with only a few occasional flaps, went over antenna #1 (the easternmost antenna on Lookout Mountain), went SW circling and rising in height eventually going SSW. Even though the lift was expected to be poor, I scanned high to the East and was able to find a few hawks migrating. 2/3 of the hawks were first seen over Lookout Mountain and a 1/3 found over one of the Table Mountains, Green Mountain, or the Kestrel Channel as did the first hawk which was an AK flew through at 10:07 a.m. MST. In the last hour the pollutants causing the haze blew past the watch which could explain why the hawks stopped flying, as it irritates their lungs so they wait it out, fly around or above, it also reduces the height of any thermals by dissipating sunlight, together with the increasing overcast sky also reducing the height of thermals.

Non-raptor Observations:
Of 3 paragliders taking off at 11:25 a.m. only 1 reached a little higher than the level of the watch, consistent with the poor Soaring Forecast. STJA 2, TOSO 2, BBMA 2, RBNU 1, RBGU very high 16, CORA 4, AMCR 1.

Predictions:
The rain has already begun in advance of the powerful core front coming through tomorrow afternoon with a chance of rain at the watch of 57% from 8:00 a.m., so I will have a well-deserved day of rest. Tuesday and/or Wednesday should be very good after the front goes through for migrants.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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Saturday, 31 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (31 Oct 2026) 5 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	22	270
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	1	10	28
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	32	51
Cooper's Hawk	1	109	289
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	3	216	691
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	2	3
Golden Eagle	0	18	32
American Kestrel	0	16	145
Merlin	0	3	7
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	2	9
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	9	19
Total:	5	457	1890

Observation start time:	08:15:00
Observation end time:	14:30:00
Total observation time:	6.25 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Visitors:
We had four hikers who had seen us here before and consequently asked appropriate questions like How many have you seen today? Are hawks still migrating ? How long are you going to continue counting for? How many Golden Eagles have you seen today, from the man I showed a GE through my scope a few days ago. Many others asked what I could see with my optical equipment. A couple who recently moved to Denver with a 3-month old baby chatted with me for a while about the watch and whether I was given the equipment to use. I explained that was a volunteer, so it's all my own equipment. A mother and young teenage son asked about the count and I said it was low today because of the subsidence inversion layer, and explained how it develops and how it affects migration by creating a cap above which thermals cannot rise. The boy thanked me for explaining.

Weather:
Similar to yesterday there was a thick dense layer of haze up to 5� above the horizon blotting out Denver completely for the entire day. Green Mountain was mostly hidden by the thick stratus cloud/fog (which is really cloud which reaches ground). Lookout Mountain was hazy. However it was much less overcast with 40% cloud cover, all to the east. The NWS predicted severe fog, but the cloud base was 8957 ft so it would be 1786 ft above the watch. The winds aloft were mainly from the north. There was a very strong inversion layer today which did not clear all day, else we might have had some migration. By 11:00 a.m. the fog started lifting and blowing away from Denver so that at times the antennae of Lookout Mountain were completely blotted out and are visibility markedly decreased. By 1:00 p.m. we could see Lookout Mountain fairly well through haze.

Raptor Observations:
Very poor conditions for migration today so we were lucky we had 5 raptors. The first was an NH adult male at 11:00 a.m., the next raptor was only 2.5 hours later! I stayed until 4:00 p.m. as I kept hoping that the inversion layer would disperse and some sort of migration would begin but it did not. Non-migrant raptors: GE adult 1, SS 1, RT 3.

Non-raptor Observations:
One paraglider at 11:00 a.m. MDT had no lift at all and mostly descended, fitting with the soaring forecast which predicted zero lift.

Predictions:
It could be as bad today for migration since the Soaring Forecast predicts a lift of zero feet per second and the trigger temperature of 18.5�C is not predicted to be reached, so thermals should be very low. A 20 percent chance of rain after 3pm. Patchy fog before noon. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. The winds aloft are expected to be from the south.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (30 Oct 2026) 36 Raptors - 1 Update

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (30 Oct 2026) 36 Raptors

reports@hawkcount.org: Oct 31 01:46AM

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
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: Oct 30, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 22 270
Osprey 0 3 29
Bald Eagle 0 2 7
Northern Harrier 1 9 27
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 32 51
Cooper's Hawk 6 108 288
American Goshawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 0 7 109
Red-tailed Hawk 24 213 688
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson's Hawk 0 5 194
Ferruginous Hawk 1 2 3
Golden Eagle 3 18 32
American Kestrel 1 16 145
Merlin 0 2 6
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 1
Prairie Falcon 0 0 2
Mississippi Kite 0 0 0
Unknown Accipitrine 0 1 4
Unknown Buteo 0 2 9
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 9 19

Total: 36 451 1884
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 7 hours

Official Counter: Ajit Antony

Observers: Liza Antony

Visitors:
As soon as we got to the watch a trail runner asked us whether we were
looking at the sunrise. I explained about this hawk watch, and she offered
that she loves RTs. While I was looking at a non-migrant GE with my scope
and Liza with her binoculars we heard a voice asking what we were looking
at and I said A Golden Eagle, try and see where we are looking you should
be able to see it (as most hikers have never seen a GE and are thrilled to
be able to see one) and she couldn't she said, so I suggested she stand
behind me and look where I was looking with my scope and she was able to
see it. I told her it had a 7 ft wingspan and she was truly amazed.

Weather:
Weather.gov predicted dense fog over Golden, but I looked up
https://holfuy.com/en/weather/1295 which told me that the cloud base was
13,000 ft so I knew that Mount Zion would not be affected by the fog. When
we got to the watch it appeared that the fog, similar to a few days ago,
was actually low stratus clouds covering Denver. There was an overcast sky
mainly cirrus, so I knew the thermals would not be strong. In fact the
Thermal Soaring Index was poor with lift 0 ft per second, maximum height of
thermals would have been 2320 ft AGL except that there was no time given of
the time of trigger of 21.4� C indicating that the thermals would be low,
and that the haze would remain all day which it did.
Very dense fog covering Denver so that only the tops of 2 of the tallest
buildings was visible. By 11:30 a.m. MDT there was a very solid brown cloud
above the horizon between north and east and Denver was completely covered
by haze and could not be seen at all! The ESE winds blew the haze/pollution
toward the watch where it gradually accumulated at the SW end of the
Kestrel Channel/ Windy Saddle. By the 1:00 p.m. Denver could be faintly
seen and it stayed so for as long as we stayed at the watch.

Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a juvenile NH which was hunting low in the Kestrel
Channel and could not be seen after it went behind a small ridge. We
counted it because there are no NH locally, then was vindicated when we saw
an NH flying 10 minutes later over Lookout Mountain migrating SSE. Because
of the low height of thermals most of the raptors used the ridge lift at
the Eastern end of Lookout Mountain or went through the gap between it and
Green Mountain.
Another good day for GE - 3 migrants and 2 local, one of which had white at
the base of its tail and minimal white in its wings without any obvious
molt, a 1st year GE.
An RT was doing its territorial roller coaster flight so I told Liza look
for another hawk it was displaying for. It was an adult GE flying below and
North of the ridge top of Lookout Mountain. The RT dove onto it 3 times and
each time the GE turned and presented its talons to the RT, eventually the
GE migrated after going over the Eastern rim of Lookout Mountain more than
5 minutes after we had seen it.
We stayed later this afternoon as they were migrants every hour, but there
were no low migrants over the 2 Table Mountains or anywhere else low in the
late afternoon.
Non-migrant raptors: AK 1, BE 1 adult initially over Green Mountain so it
looked like a migrant but it flew NE, RT

Non-raptor Observations:
2 paragliders at 11:00 a.m. at no lift at all and could not even rise up to
the level that they took off from, consistent with the Soaring Forecast! At
2:41 p.m. at moderate lift reaching a little higher than Lookout Mountain
which is 200 ft above Mount Zion.
A helicopter we have seen twice before with a long cable hanging below it
carrying 2 maintenance workers of high tension wires could be seen dropping
them off at various spots and picking them up, and in between hovering far
to the West, fortunately not directly over, noisily, as happened yesterday
Liza told me.

Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near
62. Calm wind becoming north northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.
The winds alofft are predicted to be light from the West, become North
which is an unusual wind for this watch without rain or snow, so it will be
interesting to see what this wind will bring us in the way of migrants from
Wyoming.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)

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Friday, 30 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (30 Oct 2026) 36 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 30, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	22	270
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	1	9	27
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	32	51
Cooper's Hawk	6	108	288
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	24	213	688
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	1	2	3
Golden Eagle	3	18	32
American Kestrel	1	16	145
Merlin	0	2	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	2	9
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	9	19
Total:	36	451	1884

Observation start time:	08:30:00
Observation end time:	15:30:00
Total observation time:	7 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Visitors:
As soon as we got to the watch a trail runner asked us whether we were looking at the sunrise. I explained about this hawk watch, and she offered that she loves RTs. While I was looking at a non-migrant GE with my scope and Liza with her binoculars we heard a voice asking what we were looking at and I said A Golden Eagle, try and see where we are looking you should be able to see it (as most hikers have never seen a GE and are thrilled to be able to see one) and she couldn't she said, so I suggested she stand behind me and look where I was looking with my scope and she was able to see it. I told her it had a 7 ft wingspan and she was truly amazed.

Weather:
Weather.gov predicted dense fog over Golden, but I looked up https://holfuy.com/en/weather/1295 which told me that the cloud base was 13,000 ft so I knew that Mount Zion would not be affected by the fog. When we got to the watch it appeared that the fog, similar to a few days ago, was actually low stratus clouds covering Denver. There was an overcast sky mainly cirrus, so I knew the thermals would not be strong. In fact the Thermal Soaring Index was poor with lift 0 ft per second, maximum height of thermals would have been 2320 ft AGL except that there was no time given of the time of trigger of 21.4� C indicating that the thermals would be low, and that the haze would remain all day which it did. Very dense fog covering Denver so that only the tops of 2 of the tallest buildings was visible. By 11:30 a.m. MDT there was a very solid brown cloud above the horizon between north and east and Denver was completely covered by haze and could not be seen at all! The ESE winds blew the haze/pollution toward the watch where it gradually accumulated at the SW end of the Kestrel Channel/ Windy Saddle. By the 1:00 p.m. Denver could be faintly seen and it stayed so for as long as we stayed at the watch.

Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a juvenile NH which was hunting low in the Kestrel Channel and could not be seen after it went behind a small ridge. We counted it because there are no NH locally, then was vindicated when we saw an NH flying 10 minutes later over Lookout Mountain migrating SSE. Because of the low height of thermals most of the raptors used the ridge lift at the Eastern end of Lookout Mountain or went through the gap between it and Green Mountain. Another good day for GE - 3 migrants and 2 local, one of which had white at the base of its tail and minimal white in its wings without any obvious molt, a 1st year GE. An RT was doing its territorial roller coaster flight so I told Liza look for another hawk it was displaying for. It was an adult GE flying below and North of the ridge top of Lookout Mountain. The RT dove onto it 3 times and each time the GE turned and presented its talons to the RT, eventually the GE migrated after going over the Eastern rim of Lookout Mountain more than 5 minutes after we had seen it. We stayed later this afternoon as they were migrants every hour, but there were no low migrants over the 2 Table Mountains or anywhere else low in the late afternoon. Non-migrant raptors: AK 1, BE 1 adult initially over Green Mountain so it looked like a migrant but it flew NE, RT

Non-raptor Observations:
2 paragliders at 11:00 a.m. at no lift at all and could not even rise up to the level that they took off from, consistent with the Soaring Forecast! At 2:41 p.m. at moderate lift reaching a little higher than Lookout Mountain which is 200 ft above Mount Zion. A helicopter we have seen twice before with a long cable hanging below it carrying 2 maintenance workers of high tension wires could be seen dropping them off at various spots and picking them up, and in between hovering far to the West, fortunately not directly over, noisily, as happened yesterday Liza told me.

Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 62. Calm wind becoming north northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. The winds alofft are predicted to be light from the West, become North which is an unusual wind for this watch without rain or snow, so it will be interesting to see what this wind will bring us in the way of migrants from Wyoming.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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Thursday, 29 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (29 Oct 2026) 11 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	22	270
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	8	26
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	32	51
Cooper's Hawk	2	102	282
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	6	189	664
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	2
Golden Eagle	1	15	29
American Kestrel	0	15	144
Merlin	0	2	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	2	9
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	9	19
Total:	11	415	1848

Observation start time:	09:15:00
Observation end time:	13:00:00
Total observation time:	3.75 hours
Official Counter	Liza Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
One man wanted to know the ID of a close raptor he had seen which was the NH. A woman wanted to know if "my friend" was OK as he wasn't there today. I reassured her that Ajit was fine!

Weather:
A light haze noted over Denver throughout the watch with few cumulous clouds southeast of Denver at the start of the watch. The clouds gradually increased, mostly cirrus clouds and covered 80% of the sky at the end of the watch.

Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a CH noted at 10:15 MDT as I was ascending the steps to the watch. I noticed an immature NH while driving along Lookout mtn. rd. to the parking area around 9:45 AM MDT. It was hunting and did not go south to Lookout mtn. I saw it again just east of the watch almost at eye level. It was still hunting along the southeast and east face of Mount Zion and did not migrate.

Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders started at 1:08 MDT and only moderate lift. Maximum height of thermals was 3430 ft AGL Non migrant raptors: RT 2, NH 1 Other birds included CORA, AMCR, TOSO, RBGU, BBMA and 12 distant Sandhill Cranes noted far south of Denver

Predictions:
Partly sunny with a high near 64 F. Calm winds becoming northeast around 6 MPH in the afternoon.

Report submitted by Liza Antony (liza.antony15@gmail.com)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Station; some quick post season thoughts

Hi All,

What would have been the final day of banding (Oct 23) was cancelled due to serious winds. This is a bit of an early summary on this very busy season. (More info will be available after data has been entered and we've had a chance to really dig into the numbers.)

We ended the season with a total capture of 2,189 individual birds (2,175 banded this season and 14 returns from prior years). That is a 12% increase over 2020, our highest previous year.

There is one factor that needs to be taken into consideration - in 2021 we increased the banding season by about 10 days, moving to 9 weeks instead of 7; a better measure of the increase will come when we can compare birds per net hour (a number we don't have yet). However, since the increase in days was at the end of the season when the number of birds caught is at its lowest, it will still be a very good season. (Using an estimate of the net hours this year based on the 2021-2025 seasons, this season may drop below 2020, 2018 and 2012, but we'll see.)

We've been focused on the increase in Wilson's Warblers, both because it was huge (976, compared with the now 2nd highest in 2020 when we caught 654) and because it was the most of any species ever caught in one season. But a quick look at other species that have a real impact our total number (17 species where we normally catch 20+) shows that all but 2 were equal to or above the average number caught in previous seasons. Species caught at a rate well above the 20 year average included:

Red-breasted Nuthatch 34, average 4

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 52, average 32

Hermit Thrush 50, average 30

Gray Catbird 24, average 10

Townsend's Warbler 44, average 14

Common Yellowthroat 34, average 23

Green-tailed Towhee 22, average 11

Song Sparrow 75, average 30

Lincoln's Sparrow 57, average 28

Thanks to the amazing crew of volunteers, some of whom worked extra days as it became clear that we were going to be really busy! And thanks to all who visited; we love discussing bird conservation and just enjoying these lovely birds with you!

Meredith

Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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Wednesday, 28 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (28 Oct 2026) 18 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	22	270
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	8	26
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	30	49
Cooper's Hawk	4	100	280
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	9	183	658
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	2
Golden Eagle	4	14	28
American Kestrel	0	15	144
Merlin	0	2	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	2	9
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	9	19
Total:	18	404	1837

Observation start time:	09:00:00
Observation end time:	13:00:00
Total observation time:	4 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Visitors:
A hiker expressed surprise that we were still counting, as he had been here before. He asked about thermals and I explained ridge lift that the hawks were using today. I showed him a GE flying next to one of the antenna on Lookout Mountain and he could see it without binoculars. I pointed my scope at the GE and an RT close by and he said that was the most thrilling part of his hike! I was able to show 2 other hikers a perched RT on a tree in the Kestrel Channel, then 2 RT which circled and rose very close to the watch, and showed them how to tell adult versus juvenile using the tail color.

Weather:
A slight haze at the bases of the buildings of downtown Denver, excellent cirrus clouds to the east to 40� above the horizon and altostratus over Lookout Mountain to the South. By 10:43 a.m. an SS which rose out of the Kestrel Channel we could see using a moderately strong thermal to rise quite high before moving south.

Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a CH at 10:22 a.m. MDT. At 10:35 a.m. Liza said that there were 2 Ravens over Green Mountain and when I looked one of them looked like a buteo, and at the same time she said no they're buteos. Through my scope they were Golden Eagles, one having escorted the migrant, turned back North. Today was the day for Golden Eagles - 4 migrants at 10:35 a.m., 10:40 a.m., 10:44 a.m., and 10:53 a.m. and 3 locals, 6 adult, one too far to tell. More migrants used Lookout Mountain than over the Table Mountains and to the east. The 1st hour we had 7 migrants, 1 in the next hour so we scanned with binoculars much higher using the good cloud cover but could not find any high migrants, 7 more in the next hour and 3 in the last hour. Non-migrant hawks: RT 5 sightings.

Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders started at 1:18 p.m. and consistent with the Soaring Forecast of the NWS of lift at 6 ft/sec and height of thermals of 5257 ft AGL by 12:45 p.m. - 3,500 ft above the watch- 10 flew very high until they were not visible with the naked eye. Monarch butterfly 1.

Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 62. Good cloud cover. Calm wind becoming east around 6 mph in the afternoon.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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