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Wednesday, 5 August 2026
[cobirds] DO NOT OPEN EMAIL HACKED INVIATION DRISCOLL
INVITATION EMAIL --SO SORRY EMAIL WAS HACKED..DO NOT TRY TO OPEN M. DRISCOLL -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate. * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/D21D6C24-47E3-4B44-9E3D-14A0C2E95E4C%40gmail.com.
Tuesday, 4 August 2026
[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (04 Aug 2026) 2 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
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. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Visitors:
6 hikers were curious as to what we were looking at and we explained.
Weather:
A cold front had gone through last evening and it was cooler and pleasant, the temperatures ranging from 64 to 73�F, light winds from the East, and low humidity. However there was more smoke in the air from wildfires than the last 3 days reducing clear visibility to 0.3 km.. When we got on to I-70 on our way to the watch, the Rocky Mountains could not be seen at all 18 miles away, whereas it is usually easily and clearly visible with no smoke. Particulate matter PM 10 and 2.5 were elevated in Denver but at the there was no particulate matter but there was a moderate amount of ground level ozone at 51 AQI, so we wore N95 masks, as I looked up and found out that ozone can reach 1000-3,000 ft above ground level and in the afternoon can even go as high as the troposphere which at Golden CO would be 5.8 to 6.9 miles high. Denver was blocked out by the smoke as long as we observed.
Raptor Observations:
Swainson's Hawk 4, the first ones seen this fall season at the watch, seen over the West end of Lookout Mountain to the South, and two of them with my 'scope could be identified as adults, but they progressively flew to the NW -either a family group or pre-migratory flocking, or even possibly migrants looking for a thermal. Migrant RT and an AK today. Non-migratory Raptors: TV 4, RT 8, CH 1. The first raptor aloft was a local TV at 9:48 a.m. DST low over the trees over Lookout Mountain. The first migrant was an RT at 9:10 a.m. MST High over Lookout Mountain, and the AK found moderately high to the east went through at 9:39 a.m.
Non-raptor Observations:
The first 3 paraglider were at 10:08 a.m. DST and had not much lift, not reaching our eye level. At 11:45 a.m. 2 others had the same issues but one was able to go perhaps 200 ft higher, then dropping. This, of course has implications for raptor migration. Red Crossbills 2, Red -breasted Nuthatch 1, Violet-green Swallow 5, Common Nighthawk 5, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 2, American Crow 3, Common Raven 9, Spotted Towhee 2.
Predictions:
Patchy smoke before 9am. Sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
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. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
| Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 04, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 11:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
6 hikers were curious as to what we were looking at and we explained.
Weather:
A cold front had gone through last evening and it was cooler and pleasant, the temperatures ranging from 64 to 73�F, light winds from the East, and low humidity. However there was more smoke in the air from wildfires than the last 3 days reducing clear visibility to 0.3 km.. When we got on to I-70 on our way to the watch, the Rocky Mountains could not be seen at all 18 miles away, whereas it is usually easily and clearly visible with no smoke. Particulate matter PM 10 and 2.5 were elevated in Denver but at the there was no particulate matter but there was a moderate amount of ground level ozone at 51 AQI, so we wore N95 masks, as I looked up and found out that ozone can reach 1000-3,000 ft above ground level and in the afternoon can even go as high as the troposphere which at Golden CO would be 5.8 to 6.9 miles high. Denver was blocked out by the smoke as long as we observed.
Raptor Observations:
Swainson's Hawk 4, the first ones seen this fall season at the watch, seen over the West end of Lookout Mountain to the South, and two of them with my 'scope could be identified as adults, but they progressively flew to the NW -either a family group or pre-migratory flocking, or even possibly migrants looking for a thermal. Migrant RT and an AK today. Non-migratory Raptors: TV 4, RT 8, CH 1. The first raptor aloft was a local TV at 9:48 a.m. DST low over the trees over Lookout Mountain. The first migrant was an RT at 9:10 a.m. MST High over Lookout Mountain, and the AK found moderately high to the east went through at 9:39 a.m.
Non-raptor Observations:
The first 3 paraglider were at 10:08 a.m. DST and had not much lift, not reaching our eye level. At 11:45 a.m. 2 others had the same issues but one was able to go perhaps 200 ft higher, then dropping. This, of course has implications for raptor migration. Red Crossbills 2, Red -breasted Nuthatch 1, Violet-green Swallow 5, Common Nighthawk 5, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 2, American Crow 3, Common Raven 9, Spotted Towhee 2.
Predictions:
Patchy smoke before 9am. Sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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Monday, 3 August 2026
[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (03 Aug 2026) 1 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
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. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Visitors:
A Brit who was planning to hike the Colorado Trail 486 miles chatted with me awhile. He wanted to know if raptors migrate in flocks, and I told him about SW and BW and the numbers we get in New York, he was amazed, so I told him about Vera Cruz and how he could see the numbers a different hawk watches at Hawkcount.org. A four-year-old girl with the family saw my scope and said Here's a picture guy. Addressing me she asked Are you the picture guy? I replied I can be if you want me to be.
Weather:
Initially comfortable when it was cloudy with stratocumulus, then became hot when the sun came out, later cooler when cloudiness prevailed again. Winds were from the West initially as predicted on earth.nullschool.net, but in the 10:00 hour there was a 'tussle' between this wind and the ridge lift coming up from the East, the latter prevailing by the next hour. Smoke continued from wildfires in Utah, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest with reduced clear visibility to 6 km, downtown Denver barely visible through the haze - coarse 10 and fine <2.5 particulate matter and ground level ozone. I had brought an N 95 mask with me in case, fortunately smoke is mostly in the 500 ft above ground, and this watch is at 7156 ft above MSL and 1876 ft above Denver. Local raptors and nighthawks were disappearing into the haze over Lookout Mountain 0.6 miles to the South.
Raptor Observations:
The cloudy sky was encouraging as it gave me some hope of finding raptors, though the sole migrant I could find was an RT at 11:55 a.m. MST. They were probably flying much higher, since Denver is already a mile high with hotter sunshine, a thinner atmosphere and the Rocky Mountain foothills (where this watch is) granite heating up rapidly, resulting very strong thermal formation, often 10,000-15,000 feet above ground level (AGL). Non-migrant Raptors: RT 5 the first being seen at 10:50 a.m. MDT, TV 2.
Non-raptor Observations:
Common Nighthawk 30 above and beyond Lookout Mountain 0.6 miles to the South, migrating to the WSW/W; Violet-green Swallow 4; White-breasted Nuthatch Rocky Mountain/Interior West subspecies 1; Common Raven 3; American Crow 3.
Predictions:
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Patchy smoke. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. East wind 6 to 8 mph.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
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. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
| Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 03, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Observation start time: | 08:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 12:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
A Brit who was planning to hike the Colorado Trail 486 miles chatted with me awhile. He wanted to know if raptors migrate in flocks, and I told him about SW and BW and the numbers we get in New York, he was amazed, so I told him about Vera Cruz and how he could see the numbers a different hawk watches at Hawkcount.org. A four-year-old girl with the family saw my scope and said Here's a picture guy. Addressing me she asked Are you the picture guy? I replied I can be if you want me to be.
Weather:
Initially comfortable when it was cloudy with stratocumulus, then became hot when the sun came out, later cooler when cloudiness prevailed again. Winds were from the West initially as predicted on earth.nullschool.net, but in the 10:00 hour there was a 'tussle' between this wind and the ridge lift coming up from the East, the latter prevailing by the next hour. Smoke continued from wildfires in Utah, Nevada and the Pacific Northwest with reduced clear visibility to 6 km, downtown Denver barely visible through the haze - coarse 10 and fine <2.5 particulate matter and ground level ozone. I had brought an N 95 mask with me in case, fortunately smoke is mostly in the 500 ft above ground, and this watch is at 7156 ft above MSL and 1876 ft above Denver. Local raptors and nighthawks were disappearing into the haze over Lookout Mountain 0.6 miles to the South.
Raptor Observations:
The cloudy sky was encouraging as it gave me some hope of finding raptors, though the sole migrant I could find was an RT at 11:55 a.m. MST. They were probably flying much higher, since Denver is already a mile high with hotter sunshine, a thinner atmosphere and the Rocky Mountain foothills (where this watch is) granite heating up rapidly, resulting very strong thermal formation, often 10,000-15,000 feet above ground level (AGL). Non-migrant Raptors: RT 5 the first being seen at 10:50 a.m. MDT, TV 2.
Non-raptor Observations:
Common Nighthawk 30 above and beyond Lookout Mountain 0.6 miles to the South, migrating to the WSW/W; Violet-green Swallow 4; White-breasted Nuthatch Rocky Mountain/Interior West subspecies 1; Common Raven 3; American Crow 3.
Predictions:
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Patchy smoke. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. East wind 6 to 8 mph.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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[cobirds] Nesting success, Arapahoe county
I live on some ponds just outside Littleton. There’s nothing rare here, but I’ve never had as much success with nesting birds as I’ve had this year and I just wanted to share the news. We’ve had successful Canada geese, mallards, wood ducks (5put of 8 surviving), Say’s Phoebes, lesser goldfinch, American goldfinch, house finch, broadtailed hummingbird, black capped chickadees, tree, swallows,and bushtits. I also suspect white breast nuthatches are nesting here. It has been a great joy to watch the birdfeeder and the ponds with all this activity! The wood ducks take so long to mature! Although they hatched two months ago, they still gather together at dusk to mom‘s calling and settle in for the night. We also have our first red eared slider nest here that I know of. I made my very best protective cage over it with hardware cloth and slammed it into the ground with heavy duty tent stakes. I’m really hoping for a family of turtles here! Deb Carstensen, Arapahoe county Sent from my iPhone -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate. * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/39B7E1DA-4740-4C5E-A83F-EF4D8697FEFB%40aol.com.
[cobirds] Re: Crissal Thrashers in the San Luis Valley
Thanks to David Suddjian for letting me know, it seems the maps image didn't fully make the journey; here are the maps referenced.
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[cobirds] Crissal Thrashers in the San Luis Valley
Birders,
Well, I originally posted this back in May, but it apparently disappeared into the Google Groups ether for unknown reasons. Since Crissal Thrashers are still expanding, let's talk about it.
After multiple failed attempts looking for Crissal Thrasher in far corners of the state, I finally caught up to a few (3!) on the morning of May 15 in Costilla County, in some dry pinyon-scattered sagebrush at 37.012855, -105.513509. During first detection, one individual was giving a song that incorporated imitations of Pinyon Jay, a locally abundant species at this pinyon-littered site, which suggests these thrashers are no immediate newcomers to the area. https://ebird.org/checklist/S339550422
Here are six eBird maps of the Crissal Thrasher progression since 2016 (read left-right, top-bottom), when the northernmost record near Colorado was held by Carl Bendorf from 2011 in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico.
You might notice that most of the promising progression of this species was originally centered in the Upper Rio Grande Basin--the greater hydrologic/topographic region of what we call the "San Luis Valley" in Colorado. That's where some birders had speculated this species would first make an entrance into the state. That is, until Luke Pheneger and Brian Genge threw everyone for a loop discovering multiples of this species in the far southeast in late 2024, straddling Las Animas and Baca counties. Then the thrashers upended expectations again when Mike Thompson discovered some in the opposite southern corner of the state in Montezuma County, just a few months later in 2025. Finally in April this year, an observant home owner in Costilla County photographed a couple not more than 10 miles from those I had today, completing their San Luis Valley trajectory into Colorado.
Now, as if being among the northernmost Crissal Thrashers in the world weren't enough, the pair photographed in April was at a mind-boggling 8,500 ft. The family group on Old Stage Coach Road were a few hundred feet lower, at 7,800 ft. Cornell's All About Birds lists the species as reaching "nearly 8,000 ft" only in Mexico.
If you do look for these particular Costilla County Crissal Thrashers, please be mindful that they are on private property but can sometimes be viewed from Old Stage Coach Road. They are quite secretive, but at the time were giving quiet songs and diagnostic calls.
Cheers,
David
David Tønnessen
P.S. These thrashers are among multiple "desert southwest" species creeping into, or very close to entering into Colorado in this part of the state. A Greater Roadrunner was photographed 6 miles south of the border here in 2020, and Canyon Towhees are reported regularly 10 miles south. Curve-billed Thrashers seem to be regular further south, but this is complimented by a bird photographed by Luke Pheneger and Brian Genge in Alamosa County last year, although that bird was almost certainly a vagrant.
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