Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: May 03, 2013 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 5 | 6 | 162 |
| Osprey | 2 | 2 | 24 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 4 | 9 | 106 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 3 | 113 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 4 | 235 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 1 | 152 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 46 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 34 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Total: | 16 | 31 | 1033 |
| Observation start time: | 08:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 15:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Cynthia Madsen |
| Observers: | Janet Shin, Tom Dennehy |
Visitors:
Observers today were Cynthia Madsen, Janet Shin, and Tom Dennehy. There were about 16 hikers on the ridge today, but only one asked if we were seeing any eagles. Unfortunately, at that time we hadn't seen one.
Weather:
The day began with only 5% cloud cover, light winds from the east, and a temperature of 48ºF (8.8ºC). As the day progressed, the winds shifted from the ENE and increased in intensity reaching 10 mph for the last 2 hours. The haze was very bad today causing some of the raptors we spotted over the west ridge just to disappear.
Raptor Observations:
Although our 16 migrating raptors may seem like a slow day, we enjoyed every one of them. We had 5 Turkey Vultures, 2 Osprey, 1 Northern Harrier, 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, and one immature Golden Eagle. We had great looks at the Sharp-shinned Hawks and one of the Osprey when they came close by the ridge. There was also a lot of activity over the west ridge today. Our local raptors included 5 Red-tailed Hawks, one of which was harassed by a Common Raven, 2 Golden Eagles engaged in an aerial dog fight with 2 of the local Red-tails, 1 local accipiter, and 5 Turkey Vultures.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds seen or heard included: 3 American White Pelican, 9 White-throated Swift, 2 Broad-tailed Hummingbird, 1 Northern Flicker, 3 Western Scrub-Jay, 1 Black-billed Magpie, 1 American Crow, 8 Common Raven (7 of these were seen in a flock or "unkindness"), 12 Violet-green Swallow, 6 Barn Swallow, 2 Mountain Chickadee, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Rock Wren, 1 Mountain Bluebird, 1 Townsend's Solitaire, 8 American Robin, 3 Spotted Towhee, and 3 Western Meadowlark.
Predictions:
The trail was tough going up, but hopefully, it will be pretty dry by the morning. Since HawkWatch ends on Tuesday, it's hard to know if things are slowing down or if we will see a big surge at the end. Fingers are crossed for the "big surge" option!
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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