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
| Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 21, 2026 |
| Species |
Day's Count |
Month Total |
Season Total |
| Black Vulture |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Turkey Vulture |
9 |
17 |
17 |
| Osprey |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Bald Eagle |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Northern Harrier |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| Cooper's Hawk |
1 |
4 |
4 |
| American Goshawk |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
6 |
35 |
35 |
| Rough-legged Hawk |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Swainson's Hawk |
0 |
5 |
5 |
| Ferruginous Hawk |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Golden Eagle |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| American Kestrel |
5 |
12 |
12 |
| 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: |
22 |
76 |
76 |
| Observation start time: |
07:45:00 |
| Observation end time: |
12:30:00 |
| Total observation time: |
4.75 hours |
| Official Counter |
Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Liza Antony |
Visitors:
An older gentleman asked weather we were looking at a hawk, and confidently told me that hawks don't migrate. I explained that we count up to 14 different species which do. He said that he has a small ranch near Pikes Peak, and he sees Red Tails throughout the year. I explained that 'his' RT move South to be replaced by other RT from further north, so he would think they're the same hawks. He was amazed. He asked me to tell him the names of all the raptors we could see. He said he knew to make out a Red Tail but not an SS. I told him to look for a longer narrower tail on a smaller hawk. Another visitor was curious what we were looking at.
Weather:
There was a light haze from wildfire smoke over Denver which gradually cleared. The winds from the West were subjugated by winds from the NE. Light then increasing winds from the NE. Visibility 8 km>39 km, good cloud cover of cirrus and cumulus clouds. By 1:30 p.m. DST it was unbearably hot in spite of my using a golf umbrella all day and, feeling sick from the heat, I called it quits. The temperature was 101�F!
Raptor Observations:
Lookout Mountain Road was closed in both directions, because of the annual ceremony of the Colorado School of Mines for incoming students participating in the annual Mount Zion Rock Hike, a 118-year-old welcoming tradition where over 1,000 new 'Orediggers' hike 3 miles up Mount Zion carrying a 10-pound rock from their hometown to add to the iconic huge "M" made of white rocks on the NE face of Mount Zion . As the result we had to choose an alternate observation site which was the Buffalo Bill Museum area on top of Lookout Mountain at 7,375 ft elevation, at 39.7335, 105.2384. We were observing from around 700 ft east of the 3 large antenna, around which we saw most of the raptors, both migrant and non-migrant. Interestingly, I learned something about the migration from Mount Zion Hawk Watch today. Many of the raptors which went around the East face of Mount Zion and lost to view behind the trees of Lookout Mountain we considered non- migrants, trying to be conservative and honest. From a vantage point at a higher elevation we could see that all of these were migrants, in fact, practically every taptor which flew toward the South was a migrant. In addition, Mount Zion being about 200 ft lower, when we saw a migrant flying south just over the trees of Lookout Mountain we would sometimes think they were dropping into trees, whereas from our vantage point today we could see that they were actually migrating past. The only ones we would count from Mount Zion as migrants were the ones which were much higher than the trees and flying in a horizontal plane without dropping. The only ones that did not migrate today were the ones that flew in an East to West direction or the reverse, or of course flying North. We had a juvenile RT we saw frequently. Another puzzling thing we saw two years ago from Mount Zion Hawk Watch was that a number of migrants were first seen around the towers of Lookout Mountain, and today I could see that very few raptors were flying above the horizon from the north, a few did, migrating far to the east. Most of the migrants would be first seen close to the three antenna, without having been seen further north where we were scanning regularly. My conclusion is that they were flying at a low level over the Golden Fault over which is the town of Golden, and looking down, it's close to impossible to see raptors flying over the trees and houses, in fact any local raptors we saw there with binoculars, we quickly lost to view while we watched. So my conclusion is that when they reach Lookout Mountain, they use the ridge lift on the East face of the mountain to rise to the level of the antenna where we can see them above the horizon, against the sky. Non-migrant raptors: AK 2, RT 7, TV 5.
Non-raptor Observations:
Three hot air balloons in the air a little beyond North Table when we arrived. WEBL 3, WTSW 1, STJA 2, CONI 10 migrants, PYNU 5, BTHU 6, RBNU 1, WBNU 1 interior West subspecies, HAWO 1, DOWO 1,NOFL 1,HOFI 1, YRWA 4, CORA 1, AMCR 1
Predictions:
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 90. Light and variable wind becoming east northeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (
aiantony@earthlink.net)
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