Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 14, 2016 | |||
| 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 | 5 | 5 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 | 73 | 73 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 7 | 102 | 102 |
| Observation start time: | 07:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.75 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
There were many hikers and runners on the trail and several stopped by for the view, with a few asking if anything interesting had been seen. Later in the afternoon, Reston Witten dropped by with his binoculars, hoping to catch some good views of raptors; unfortunately, local and migrating raptor activity was slow just then.
Weather:
The day was mostly sunny with little cloud cover (10-30% lining the horizons) until the afternoon, when clouds blown in from the west covered more than half the sky. The winds were initially from the east and mildly breezy but shifted to come from the west by 9am MST, strengthening to bft 4 and eventually to bft 5 between 10am and noon MST, before slackening again to bft 4. (The protection afforded by the junipers was greatly appreciated.) Temperatures ranged from 8 to 15 C (46 to 59 F).
Raptor Observations:
One of the highlights of the day was an immature Bald Eagle migrant; a possible sub-adult I, it had a very light, whitish back, a white belly and a slightly ragged look to the wings. The local Red-tailed Hawks were very active up and down the Ridge, mostly on the west side. The local Prairie Falcon made a few welcome appearances near the HawkWatch platform but stayed to the south. A local male American Kestrel passed nearby, kek-kekking, perhaps complaining about the wind… All of the migrants passed or were spotted initially on the west side of the Ridge, except for the male American Kestrel migrant, which came north directly along the Ridge. At the end of the watch, a second highlight of the day was the appearance of a juvenile Bald Eagle, headed west.
Non-raptor Observations:
Early in the morning, eleven elk were spotted on Bare Slope east of Cabrini Shrine. During the strong winds, a group of 5 to 10 bluebirds, likely Mountain Bluebirds, were spotted at eye-level over the west valley, fighting their way north; they appeared to be flying sideways: facing northwest as they moved north, buffeted by the wind. Also seen or heard were Western Meadowlark, American Robin, Black-billed Magpie, Northern Flicker, Rock Pigeon, Townsend's Solitaire, American Crow, Common Raven, Dark-eyed Junco, and Western Scrub-Jay.
Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (jeff.birek@birdconservancy.org)
Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.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 Bird Conservancy of the
Rockies from about 9 AM to around 3 PM from March 1st to May 7th.
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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