Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 20, 2014 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 17 | 17 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 47 | 47 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Total: | 7 | 96 | 96 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7 hours |
| Official Counter | Claude Vallieres |
| Observers: | Claude Vallieres, Rob Reilly, Roger Rouch |
Visitors:
Visitors included a returning birder/photographer Jim Esten. A family from Ft. Collins had heard of the Hawk Watch via RMBO came down for several hours, to watch and to celebrate their son's birthday. They were Mike & Lori Kimball and two sons Liam and Conor. Numerous hikers, bicyclists and joggers were on the trail enjoying the beautiful weather.
Weather:
A good weather day for observations. Winds were 0-2 on Beaufort Scale with late afternoon gusts 29-33 MPH. Temperatures started at 44F and gradually increased to 60F with mostly sunny conditions and cloud cover consistently at 30%. Visibility was 50 km plus.
Raptor Observations:
Seven migrating raptors included 5 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 male American Kestrel, and 1 very distant adult Bald Eagle who appeared from the East side of Green Mountain. All of the other 6 were seen flying along the Dinosaur Ridge within eyesight. Numerous other raptor sightings were mostly of local Red-tailed Hawks, a pair in courtship flight, another diving toward another juvenile R-t., another fending off a Common Raven and others out for a leisurely flight. 1 adult Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen hunting the eastern side of the ridge.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other bird sightings included several small flocks of female Mountain Bluebirds, American Crows, Common Ravens, Mountain Chickadees, American Robins, Black-billed Magpies, singing Northern Flickers, Western Scrub Jays, Townsend's Solitaires, a singing Western Meadowlark, Dark-Eyed Juncos and 2 Canada Geese (heading south). The highlight bird was a flock of 5 Cedar Waxwings who flew into the watch sight for a short visit before flying off. Several butterflies and other insects were also present.
Predictions:
Tomorrow's forecast calls for cloudy with cooler temperatures ranging 20s to a high of mid 40s in advance of a colder, wet/snow front to arrive late Friday into Saturday.
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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