Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 27, 2013 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 144 | 153 |
| Osprey | 0 | 21 | 22 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 2 | 29 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 82 | 90 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 93 | 104 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 2 | 28 | 28 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 86 | 220 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| American Kestrel | 10 | 102 | 124 |
| Merlin | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 12 | 13 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 31 | 35 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 23 | 32 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 12 | 15 |
| Total: | 17 | 667 | 928 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Bill Wuerthele |
| Observers: | Jennifer Clay, Julia Auckland, Karen Balog, Pat Conner |
Visitors:
We were pleased to have Che, Marian and Dominic Mincone spend the day with us helping to spot and identify raptors. Che and Marian, visiting from Pittsburgh, are veteran Hawk Watchers from the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch site in Pennsylvania. Dominic, their son who now lives in Colorado, is also an experienced birder and was a great help in spotting and identifying raptors. Che gave us lots of good information about the operation of and data collected from the Allegheny Front site. John and Vicki Greenwood also spent several hours on the ridge helping to spot and identify raptors. John is a former falconer and was especially good at finding Kestrels. With nice weather and a dry trail, there were lots of hikers, bikers and dogs on the Ridge (and one young man "driving" a small remote-controlled car up the trail). A few folks stopped by to ask what we were up to and were interested to learn about the Hawk Watch program.
Weather:
It was a warm, blue-sky day with just a few clouds on the southern horizon in the afternoon. Temperatures ranged from 15.5 - 20.5 C (60 - 69 degrees Fahrenheit). Winds were generally light (between 6 - 19 km/hr) and somewhat variable, westerly in the morning shifting to northwest, north and finally northeast winds as the day progressed. Visibility was good, but it was difficult to locate birds in the "dead-blue" sky.
Raptor Observations:
After the great days of this last week, it was a somewhat slow day on the Ridge. We had lots of experienced eyes, but few birds to see. We observed 17 migrating raptors of 4 species: Cooper's Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, and American Kestrel (our most active period was 5 American Kestrels in the last hour of observation). We also had 1 unidentified Accipiter and 1 unidentified Falcon. Although there were a fair number of Turkey Vultures in the air during the day, we did not consider any to be migrants. Non-migrating raptors included: Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, a Cooper's Hawk, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a close-in look at one of the local Peregrine Falcons sailing by the west side of the Ridge at eye-level.
Non-raptor Observations:
Also seen or heard were: Violet-green Swallow, White-throated Swift, Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee, Townsend's Solitaire, Northern Flicker, Western Meadowlark, Western Scrub-Jay, Black-billed Magpie, American Robin, Spotted Towhee, Bushtit, American White Pelican, and Broad-tailed Hummingbird (two males winging by the east side of the Ridge).
Predictions:
Another warm, sunny day, but hopefully one with more action.
Report submitted by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (jeff.birek@rmbo.org)
Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.rmbo.org/
Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawkwatch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Dinosaur Ridge may
be the best place in the country to see the rare dark morph of the Broad-winged
Hawk (a few are seen each spring). Hawkwatchers who linger long enough may see
resident Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks and Prairie Falcons, in addition to
migrating Swainson's, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels and
Turkey Vultures. Peregrine Falcons and Ferruginous Hawks are uncommon; Northern
Goshawk is rare but regular. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, and sometimes
Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, American White
Pelican or Dusky Grouse. Birders are always welcome.
The hawkwatch is generally staffed by volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Bird
Observatory from about 9 AM to around 4 PM from the first week of March to the
first week of May.
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 small signs from the south
side of lot to hawkwatch 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, head through the gate, and walk to
the clearly-visible, flat area at the crest of the ridge.
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