Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 20, 2019 | |||
| 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 | 8 | 8 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 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 | 50 | 50 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: | 5 | 68 | 68 |
| Observation start time: | 09:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: | Jane Haddock |
Visitors:
Hikers and bikers were once again frequenting the trail, which was much improved but still had icy and muddy spots. Several, all polite, came up to the platform but only for the view.
Weather:
The sunny, clear, blue-sky day was reasonably warm with the temperature staying at 9 to 10 C during the watch. Winds from the east were fairly constant and ranged from bft 2 to low bft 4. Large patches of snow remained west of Dinosaur Ridge in the valley and on the ridges but there were only small scattered spots of snow to the east in Rooney Valley and on Green Mountain.
Raptor Observations:
Zero cloud-cover made it difficult to spot and follow any high-flying raptors today; it is possible we missed a few. The 10:00-11:00 am MST hour contained nearly all the day's migrants. These were spotted circling up far south of the platform and were able to be tracked with binoculars at an estimated Height-of-Flight 4. The migrating unidentified accipiter did take the time to briefly attack a concurrently migrating Red-tailed Hawk before shooting north. The local Red-tailed Hawks made a few appearances, mostly keeping to the western ridges and valleys. A local Golden Eagle was also spotted a few times in the distance. It was good to have two sets of eyes today.
Non-raptor Observations:
The excitement (or disturbance) of the afternoon was a pair of mid-sized, four-engine turboprop military transport planes that, flying close, one after the other, buzzed the platform as they headed south along the west side of Dinosaur Ridge; they continued low down the west-side valley, swerving to fly over Red Rocks. Of the half-dozen paragliders coming south from Lookout Mountain, only three came south of the platform, two near Mount Morrison and one at eyelevel just to the east. Also seen or heard were Townsend's Solitaire, Black-billed Magpie, several American Robins, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Northern Flicker, Rock Pigeon, Mountain Chickadee, and several American Crows.
Report submitted by Matthew Smith (matt.smith@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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