Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 25, 2016 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 4 | 74 | 89 |
| Osprey | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 34 | 43 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 40 | 47 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 66 | 248 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 3 | 24 | 37 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 7 | 12 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 14 | 24 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 4 | 17 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Unknown Eagle | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Total: | 12 | 297 | 577 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 5.75 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Plenty of people were on the trail today. Many came just for the view. A fairly large hiking group, with leashed dogs, was on the trail early; one interested woman in the group inquired about the watch and also spotted one of the local Red-tailed Hawks. Later in the day, another hiker asked if we counted Turkey Vultures and commented on the good-sized population in the area; she also expressed her appreciation of the HawkWatch volunteers.
Weather:
The day was warm and breezy with temperatures ranging from 13 to 16 C (55 to 61 F) and winds from the east and northeast at mostly bft 2-3 levels. After 9 am MST, the cloud-cover hovered near 50% and consisted of a very mobile mix of scattered, thick clouds and thin, high diaphanous clouds. These latter produced a number of colorful sun halos. Visibility was good, if a bit hazy at distance.
Raptor Observations:
The majority of the migrants passed over or very near Dinosaur Ridge; many of these were during the afternoon and were at or near eyelevel. The early migrants, however, had highly variable heights-of-flight as well as no common northward flight path. An apparently local adult light-morph Swainson's Hawk was spotted near Cabrini but then it headed southeast over the Ridge, eventually passing the south end of Green Mountain. The local Rooney Valley Red-tailed Hawks were out and about; the female hunted while the male interacted repeatedly during the day with a local juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. This involved a number of instances of adversarial circling and diving at each other, along with some leg-dropping, until, in the afternoon, both seemed tired and slightly more tolerant. A local male American Kestrel was observed hovering and hunting many times in Rooney Valley, as well. The raptor highlight came at the end of the watch when a local adult male Cooper's Hawk, with a full crop, passed west over the HawkWatch platform, so close that his dark cap and gray cheeks could be easily seen.
Non-raptor Observations:
A lone American White Pelican flew south over Rooney Valley not long after noon MST. Two noisy Blue-gray Gnatcatchers hung around on the Ridge a good part of the day. Also seen or heard were Spotted Towhee, Bushtit, Western Meadowlark, chickadee species, Western Scrub-Jay, Black-billed Magpie, White-throated Swift, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's), Common Raven, American Crow, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Flicker, and Violet-green Swallow. About 8 elk were seen east of Cabrini in the morning. Five mule deer were spotted in Rooney Valley.
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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