Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 20, 2015 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 7 | 78 | 78 |
| Osprey | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 27 | 33 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 3 | 53 | 56 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 52 | 125 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| American Kestrel | 5 | 77 | 96 |
| Merlin | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 14 | 18 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| Total: | 33 | 341 | 464 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Two young women, who arrived with their well-behaved dog, stopped by and were interested to find out that HawkWatch involved counting migrating raptors. They had seen and photographed some (local) Turkey Vultures sunning on some rocks further south along the Ridge. Richard Cuellar returned to HawkWatch this afternoon and ably provided much needed help as the second onslaught of migrants swept past the site. He had hoped to see some Broad-winged Hawks and was rewarded with several.
Weather:
The day was partly cloudy with 10 percent cloud-cover in the morning, mostly at the horizons, which morphed later in the day into 60 percent cloud-cover, which included some thick gray clouds, scattered about the sky mostly to the south, west and north. Some remaining snow was scattered on the flanks of the surrounding mountains. Winds came consistently from the east and southeast. The wind blew mostly at beaufort level 2 but gusted often to level 3 in the afternoon. Temperatures on the hill appeared to stay between 10 and 12 C (50 and 54 F). A light snow fell briefly in the afternoon. Visibility was good, although it was a bit hazy to the south.
Raptor Observations:
The morning opened with a lot of raptor activity, including 12 migrants during one hour. Migration stalled for the next hour until a dark-morph Swainson's Hawk was spotted making its way north just to the east of WestRidge. More migrating raptors soon followed, often passing in rapid succession. A major highlight of the day was five Broad-winged Hawks, the last four of which came by within 10 minutes of each other; the final Broad-winged Hawk seen to pass was a beautiful adult dark-morph. More than half of the raptors migrated north over (or close to) the Ridge; most of the rest passed west of the Ridge. Local activity included Turkey Vultures making the rounds up and down the Ridge. A few times in the morning, a local Peregrine Falcon was seen near the site soaring then diving (apparently hunting). A local Prairie Falcon perched on the power pole for a while. The local adult Red-tailed Hawks made a few appearances, with the darker adult of the Rooney Valley pair perching on its usual phone pole in the valley in the afternoon. Two apparently local juvenile Red-tailed Hawks were seen together near Cabrini; one, that was seen often during the day, was heavily marked, a possible dark- or intermediate-morph.
Non-raptor Observations:
Also seen or heard were Spotted Towhee, Black-billed Magpie, Mountain Chickadee, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Raven, American Crow, Northern Flicker, Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Swift, Western Scrub-Jay, Western Bluebird, American Robin, Townsend's Solitaire, and Rock Pigeon.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment