Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 20, 2023 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 20 | 20 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 7 | 123 | 123 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 2 | 27 | 28 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| American Kestrel | 2 | 10 | 10 |
| Merlin | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 14 | 231 | 232 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony, Natalie Uschner-Arroyo, Paul Michalec |
Visitors:
Paul Michalec who teaches Education at Denver University had been to the watch once last year, and since he is on spring break and finished with his corrections, decided to come up to the watch with his binoculars and scope. He found us a non-migrant GE. A young couple came up and sat on the rocks of the watch, and what is unfortunately not uncommon these days and have seen this in NY as well â€" they ignored the view, each pulled out their cell phones, looked at them and when they had finished they left, in silence.
Weather:
Light then moderate winds from the East changing to NW for one hour and then from the South, temperature 5>11>9 degrees Celsius, low humidity 23- 32%, mostly overcast with some breaks of sunshine, good visibility with some haziness. The 1st day of spring didn’t feel quite springlike for the last few hours when the sun went behind clouds with a moderate wind. Interestingly the wind shifted in the afternoon from the South where usually at this location the wind switches to the East or Northeast. After 12 PM MST dark gray rain clouds came in from the West with virga hanging down from them. Presumably because of the height of the ridges west of the watch these clouds had to stream through the valley South of Mount Morrison to travel to the East
Raptor Observations:
The 1st raptor was found by Natalie at 8:59 AM MST when she pointed to one perched on 1 of the 3 utility poles north of the watch, which flew North â€" an AK. The last migrant was an FH at 3:37 PM light morph, moderately marked easily naked eye visible just east of the watch. The other FH at 3:05 PM was missing/molting a 1st left rectrix (innermost tail feather on the left). In the morning all the migrants were very far to the west, but interestingly after the winds shifted from the East to the NW>S every migrant was seen overhead! Bald Eagle 3 â€" 2 adult and one fourth year with a black band at the end of white tail. One BE came up over the ridges south of Mount Morrison with a dihedral. I remembered from my counting at the I-84 Overlook Hawk Watch, NY where we viewed raptors over the Kittatiny Mountains that a dihedral is a ridge-linked phenomenon and helps maintains their stability. https://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/aerodynamics/dihedral-keeping-your-wings-level/ Non-Migratory raptors: Red-tailed Hawk 2-6, Cooper’s Hawk 1, Bald Eagle 4th year (white head and tail with terminal black band, white axillars, dark belly). At 11:55 AM Natalie found an adult GE with a dorsal tan carpal bar (all GE except juveniles have that feature) which was a missing/molting a right 1st primary feather and which initially seemed to migrate, then closed its wings and dove steeply about 3-4 times pulling out each time, and eventually flew east. At 12:04 PM Paul found a juvenile GE under the sun, which proceeded to do exactly what the adult GE had done! At 3:46 PM while looking at the migratory BE Liza found a juvenile GE to the north which then flew south â€" non-migratory.
Non-raptor Observations:
Oddly, a seaplane. One paraglider low in the valley north of Lookout Mountain who didn’t seem to have any lift at all â€" no wonder with overcast skies. Mountain Chickadee 1, Townsend’s Solitaire 3, American Robin 6, House Finch 2, Northern Flicker heard, Common Raven 12, Black-billed Magpie 12 together. Elk 27, Mule Deer 19.
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 hawk watch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may
see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare
dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson’s hawk, Ferruginous
hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden
and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons,
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey
Vultures. Northern Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor
species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane,
White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any
skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th,
weather permitting.
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 hawk watch signs from the
southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch 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, and walk to
the flat area at the crest of the ridge. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain:
259 feet)
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