Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 06, 2017 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 3 | 21 | 21 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 5 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Only a few hikers were seen on the trails today. There were no visitors to the HawkWatch site; still, one passing hiker, with his dog, did give a wave to say hello before he headed downhill toward the parking lot.
Weather:
The day was cold and extremely windy, with highly variable cloud cover and about an hour of light snow near noon. Temperatures stayed just above freezing (1°C). Winds were mostly from the W and NW at bft 5-6. There were some short spans in the afternoon when wind speeds decreased to bft 3-4. Sun and blue sky appeared and disappeared several times during the watch; cloud cover ranged from about 90% to 50%. Visibility was generally good except for the hour of light snow at the HawkWatch site, when it was reduced to the southwest to about 5 km. Isolated regions of snowfall were also observed periodically to the south and north along the western ridges.
Raptor Observations:
Three migrants were counted today. Two Bald Eagles migrated about 40 minutes apart during the 11:00 am hour. The first was an adult moving north that appeared to be riding the orographic lift just to the west of SubPeak and WestRidge until it veered east toward Green Mountain. There it took the time to drop and circle twice, low along Green Mountain's western flank, before it gained a little height and headed steady northward. The second, a juvenile Bald Eagle, was spotted above Mount Morrison just as the "hour of snow" came over Mount Morrison and WestRidge and swept toward HawkWatch. This juvenile, which had a fair amount of whitish fading on its upperwings, went east and low to Green Mountain as well but did not tarry; it headed immediately north. Just after noon, an adult Peregrine Falcon flew intently north along the base of the eastern side of Dinosaur Ridge and was not seen to turn or to return. There was little local raptor activity today. A pair of local Red-tailed Hawks did eventually make an appearance in the afternoon when the winds lessened briefly to bft 3-4. After coming north up the Ridge, they circled together over WestRidge and near Cabrini. Early in the morning, a local Prairie Falcon came north low in Rooney Valley, then circled back and dropped lower as if hunting. An apparently local, immature Golden Eagle was also observed while landing on Green Mountain's flank, across from HawkWatch.
Non-raptor Observations:
The high winds seemed to suppress non-raptor activity. However, when the Common Ravens were out, it was evident they were masters of the wind: riding wind-lift to sail along the Ridge and doing half-flips high in the sky, even when the wind was rather ferocious. Also seen or heard, braving the winds today, were Townsend's Solitaire, Pink-sided Dark-eyed Junco, Black-billed Magpie, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, American Robin, and American Crow. A group of about 15 elk were seen near Cabrini in the afternoon.
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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