Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 28, 2014 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 7 | 112 | 112 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| American Kestrel | 2 | 13 | 13 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Total: | 11 | 201 | 201 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 15:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Cynthia Madsen |
| Observers: | Dave Hill, Debbie James, Janet Shin, Jim Schmoker |
Visitors:
We would like to thank Jonelle Balais for her great assistance today. We also had 9 visitors to our site. It was nice to see so many people out on this windy day.
Weather:
Today was a drop-an-anchor-day with strong chilling NW winds averaging around 20 mph and gusts over 30 for the majority of the day. At times the winds made it impossible to use a scope and even difficult to use binoculars to track a hawk. We had two brief bursts of snow flurries to add to the excitement.
Raptor Observations:
The strong winds seemed to curtail much of the raptor movements today. We had 3 local Red-tails patrolling the area with one escorting a migrating Red-tail out of its territory over the west ridge. We saw one local American Kestrel. The migrating hawks today included 7 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 American Kestrels, one juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk, and one unidentified buteo.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds sighted today were 3 Rock Pigeons, 2 Western Scrub-Jays, 3 Black-billed Magpies, 1 American Crow, 7 Common Ravens (all flying together), 2 Mountain Chickadees, 2 Western Bluebirds, 1 Mountain Bluebird, 3 Townsend's Solitaires, 4 American Robins, and 4 House Finches. We also saw 2 Mule Deer on the east side of the ridge. The Yellow Mustard is in bloom and the leaves of the Sand Lilies are coming out just below the southeast side of the platform. Thanks always to Janet for keeping us abreast of what's happening in the plant world.
Predictions:
Hopefully, tomorrow will prove to be a productive day for migrating hawks since many of them may have decided to hunker down for the day.
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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