Thursday 17 March 2022

[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (14 Mar 2022) 8 Raptors

Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 14, 2022
SpeciesDay's CountMonth TotalSeason Total
Black Vulture000
Turkey Vulture000
Osprey000
Bald Eagle188
Northern Harrier033
Sharp-shinned Hawk011
Cooper's Hawk000
Northern Goshawk022
Red-shouldered Hawk000
Broad-winged Hawk000
Red-tailed Hawk64343
Rough-legged Hawk000
Swainson's Hawk000
Ferruginous Hawk022
Golden Eagle01515
American Kestrel033
Merlin011
Peregrine Falcon000
Prairie Falcon022
Mississippi Kite000
Unknown Accipiter000
Unknown Buteo033
Unknown Falcon000
Unknown Eagle000
Unknown Raptor111
Total:88484


Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official CounterBen Jacques, Mike Fernandez
Observers: Ben Jacques, Janet Peters, Karen Fernandez, Mike Fernandez



Visitors:
UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 A pre-arranged (thank you Janet Peters) group of 18 students (5-6th grade) and three teachers from The Logan School for Creative Learning arrived at 09:30 MST and stayed ~3 hours with their 3 teachers. Karen F. (NPS educator) led interactive lessons and games on Raptor migration adaption. Ben J. (environmental educator) had a robust conversation with the students about what makes a Raptor a Raptor and citizen science. A beautiful event. 14 of 21 other visitors to the platform engaged with HW Observers to learn about our work. I am convinced that the sandwich boards are prompting greater visitor engagement. A birder from south Florida stopped by the platform with a couple of local buddies to find out about what we’re up to. Last, but not least, Stephen Hadley, who attended the HW introductory zoom meeting, stopped by at about 13:00 MST to help out… and stayed 3-1/2 hrs, the rest of the watch! He’s committed to spending a day a week on the hill. Thank you Stephen.

Weather:
UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 Clear skies and breezy all watch. winds out of the NE, shifting E later in the day. Weather source: Dark Skies app and local observations.

Raptor Observations:
UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 One local Red-tailed couple kept us guessing all day. The day was busy with local Raptor activity: Golden Eagles, Red-tailed, Falcon. Golden Eagle, 7. Details: Six adults one juvenile, all local. An unusually high number of locals for here. At 11 AM MDT, a group of 3 (2 adults and 1 juvenile) flew directly overhead at ~20m, but flew west and did not migrate north. Mid afternoon a group of 3 adults flew north to south out west and with a scope trained on them we estimated that these were 3 new adult individuals. One had a missing primary feather, which we did not see in the first group. And no juvenile. So the three of us made the call for 6 Goldens. A seventh flew directly south alone after the latter Bald Eagle: 1 Migratory adult. Red-tailed Hawk: Local 5 , migratory 6. Prairie Falcon: 1 Local. diurnal raptor sp.: 1 Migratory too remote to ID.

Non-raptor Observations:
UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, 4; Common Raven, 30; Bushtit, 16; Mountain Bluebird, 5 (Seen nearly every day from the HawkWatch hill this season); Townsend's Solitaire, 3; American Robin, 4; House Finch, 1.

Predictions:
Tuesday looks good for wind direction, with some cloud cover. Trail is mostly dry.


Report submitted by DAVID HILL ()
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.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 of any skill level are always welcome.
HawkWatch at Dinosaur Ridge is generally staffed by volunteers 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
southwest end of lot to the 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.
(Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)

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