Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 04, 2014 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 6 | 11 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 3 | 7 | 22 |
| Northern Goshawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 6 | 19 | 149 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Total: | 13 | 48 | 280 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 15:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6 hours |
| Official Counter | Cynthia Madsen |
| Observers: | Debbie James, Janet Shin, Jim Schmoker, Joyce Commercon |
Visitors:
Although there were some hikers and bikers on the trail, none stopped by our site.
Weather:
To start the day, we had 90 percent cloud cover and a nice blanket of snow which provide the best conditions for spotting hawks both high and low. We were anticipating a River of Raptors taking off after yesterday's storm. The winds were from the southeast for the majority of the day, ranging from 3 to 11 mph.
Raptor Observations:
Our River of Raptors seemed more like a trickle with only 13 migrating hawks. We had 6 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Cooper's Hawks, 3 Turkey Vultures, and 1 Northern Goshawk, definitely our bird of the day. We saw it heading north over the west ridge, picking out the accipiter shape, but noting that it was almost the size of the 2 local Red-tailed Hawks that were harassing it. For our locals, we had 5 Red-tailed Hawks including one immature). Two of these adults spent some time perched on the poles to the east of the ridge. We also saw one American Kestrel flying south near the west side of the ridge, and a Golden Eagle over the west ridge being dive-bombed by a local Red-tail.
Non-raptor Observations:
Other birds seen on the ridge were 8 Canada Geese, 2 White-throated Swifts, 2 Northern Flickers, 1 Western Scrub-Jay, 4 Black-billed Magpies, 6 American Crows, 3 Common Ravens, 2 chickadee species; 6 Western Bluebirds, 4 Mountain Bluebirds, 1 Townsend's Solitaire, 8 American Robins, 1 Spotted Towhee, 8 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 2 Western Meadowlarks. There were 17 elk feeding near Cabrini.
Predictions:
Hopefully, tomorrow will bring the raptors out in force. Brace for mud on the trail!
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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