Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 24, 2019 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 4 | 98 | 99 |
| Osprey | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 6 | 18 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 41 | 50 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 74 | 80 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 208 | 301 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 47 | 52 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 9 | 12 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| Total: | 5 | 562 | 709 |
| Observation start time: | 09:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
No visitors until the last hour, when two hikers, a hiking couple, and a biker each decided, at about the same time, to come up for the view and sit down for a rest; one might have considered them to have been a little bit in the way, but by then, even the local raptors seemed to have disappeared from the sky.
Weather:
The winds were primarily from the northeast (bft 2-3). Patchy and fairly mobile cloud-cover held at 90-percent (including some thin translucent clouds) until around 1pm MST when a few bigger areas of solid blue opened in the sky, reducing cover to about 80-percent. Near Noon MST, light rain or heavy virga appeared to move south along the western ridges for about an hour. Temperatures stayed near 17-18 C. Visibility was very good.
Raptor Observations:
Four migrating Turkey Vultures passed north along the Ridge at the very beginning of the watch; even though they moved steadily north, they were, at first, suspected to be locals, except that they were not seen to return by any path in the next hours. The only other migrant was a Cooper's Hawk that winged its way north up the west-side valley. The local Turkey Vultures were scarce today: only seen a few times, usually not passing the platform, or coming north only to immediately turn back south. Early in the watch, the local Red-tailed Hawks did a fair amount of circling and hunting, as well as a bit of roller-coastering. A local female American Kestrel glided intently north above the Ridge in the morning only to drop straight down not far past the platform; when she rose up again it was alongside a male American Kestrel. She went to circle over Rooney Valley while he began to hunt in the west-side valley. Maybe they were a pair...
Non-raptor Observations:
Also seen or heard were Chipping Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Black-billed Magpie, White-throated Swift, Violet-green Swallow, Western Meadowlark, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, four Mule deer, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Rock Wren, Common Raven, and Bushtit.
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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