Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 21, 2018 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 95 | 95 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 3 | 113 | 113 |
| Observation start time: | 09:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Arriving near the end of the watch were Bill and Ruth, who had visited on the last count day in May 2017 and were very interested to know what had been seen today. They were able to observe a pair of local Red-tailed Hawks that seemed to appear in Rooney Valley just for them. Before noon, a small group of twenty-somethings engaged in an off-trail hide-and-seek game to the north of the platform. Otherwise, there were only a few runners and hikers on the trail, which, today, offered something for everyone: dry patches, ice, snow, soppy wet puddles, frozen mud, slick mud, and that thick, cling-to-your-boots mud.
Weather:
The sunny, blue sky morning shifted to an overcast, thick, solid, cloudy day near noon MST, with cloud-cover increasing from 30% (at the horizons) to 90%. The winds (bft 2 and 3) occasionally came from the southeast but were predominately from the east. Temperatures ranged from 8 C to 11 C. Visibility was good. Wide swaths of snow still remained on Green Mountain and the western ridges and valley.
Raptor Observations:
All three adult Red-tailed Hawk migrants passed by during the 10:00am-11:00am MST hour. One was a nice-looking western dark-morph that glided right above the Ridge. It was accompanied by what was at first thought to be a local, escorting it along, but when the dark-morph paused to circle up a bit over I-70, the other Red-tail just kept moving north. At the beginning of the watch, a local Prairie Falcon was observed to pass south down Rooney Valley, below eye-level to the Ridge. A pair of local GOEAs were spotted near Bare Slope to the northwest. In the afternoon, a pair of local Red-tailed Hawks, with matching tan back-pack straps, perched together on a phone pole in Rooney Valley, taking a break from hunting. The female appeared to have a noticeable light or white patch on the front of her head. Yesterday (Tuesday March 20, 2018), Jane Haddock, not an official counter (yet), ascended to the platform and watched from 10:00am to 1:00pm MST. She noted one American Kestrel migrant. Here are her notes, corrected to MST: 3 Red Tailed Hawks, 2 of which were flying north directly over the ridge. I was hopeful that they were migrants but later concluded they were locals as I saw them again about a half hour later. They definitely kept me on my toes as I saw them a couple of other times near the ridge and toward Green Mountain. One American kestrel which appeared to be hunting in the area. Around 12:45pm MST, I saw a second kestrel which I feel was a migrant, as it was flying in a direct line north at a very determined speed. It was very windy at the time and the poor bird was having a heck of a time flying straight into the wind, but it was determined.
Non-raptor Observations:
A Common Raven pair took a quiet rest from flying and sat on the nearby power poles for a while this afternoon. One gave two mid-pitched honks before leaving the pole to fly toward a group of four American Crows coming north along the Ridge. This was perhaps unremarkable, except that a few minutes later, when the raven pair left the poles, one after the other, the same raven repeated the two mid-pitched honks. Soon afterwards, three crows were spotted coming north over the valley to the west. Coincidence? Ten elk moved south along the eastern flank of the Ridge in the morning. Also seen or heard were Townsend's Solitaire, Black-billed Magpie, American Robin, Northern Flicker, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Spotted Towhee, and Say's Phoebe.
Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (jeff.birek@birdconservancy.org)
Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.org/
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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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