Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 20, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 22 | 22 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 12 | 156 | 156 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 17 | 210 | 210 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Dustin Kohler |
| Observers: | Bill Young, Clay Gibson, Kathleen Stewart, Mike Seruto, Mike Tupper, Steve Ryder |
Visitors:
We only had 3 visitors to the ridge today as most people wanted to avoid the muddy trails. Bill Young, Clay Gibson, Mike Tupper, Steve Ryder, Kathleen Stewart, and Mike Serrato didn't fear the mud and came up to help me observe this crazy day. If you come up to visit the site, PLEASE DON'T FEED THE SQUIRREL! He is already obnoxious and could become worse.
Weather:
Today was a sunny, cool spring day. The only bad part was that it was insanely hazy. I could see all of our landmarks, but there was a large haze over on all sides and definitely affected our visibility. The haze got better in the afternoon, and then got worse again around 3 MST.
Raptor Observations:
I saw a red-tailed hawk high overhead on my way up the trail, but I'm not sure if it left or not because of how low I was. Of our 17 migrants today at least 13 were escorted out by local birds. We had at least 9 raptors, mostly red-tailed and 2 unknown, that disappeared in the haze that probably migrated on, but I didn't count them because they could have dropped after we lost them (I have seen local red-tails behave similarly in the past). The 2 unknown were probably Coopers Hawks, with a blunt wing and long tail, but could have possibly been a prairie falcon. These two birds flew together and were lost in the haze before I could Identify them or see where they went. However, they did appear to attack and escort 2 red-tailed north. We had 12 raptors in the air at the same time in the 14-15 time slot, of the 12 only 6 seemed to migrate and the other half appeared to be locals escorting. One of the migrants was my first Unknown Falcon of the year. My gut feeling was Merlin, but it could have easily been a kestrel or an even further away Prairie Falcon. While I was trying to discover the UF identity a volunteer believed he saw a kestrel zip past us close by, but he had only saw a flash of brown/red zip past. He was most likely correct in his identification, but I did not count it as a migrant since he wasn't positive. We also saw a red-tail fly from north to south and get divebombed by a Harlan's Red-tail, and roughly 15 minutes later the big surge started and we saw the Harlan's continue his journey north along with the other raptors in this gust of wind.
Non-raptor Observations:
Big flocks of Corvids, both ravens and crows, were seen throughout the day. This was possibily a start of their movement up the mountains to breed. We had elk around bare slope all day. One of the craziest things we had today was an Eastern Fox Squirrel coming up and trying to get into our bags. We had to shoo it away multiple times, and sometimes it even required a few well placed snowballs.
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks to be a warm day with moderate to strong winds from the North/Northwest. Migrants shouldn't be bothered too much by the wind as they can either stay low or use the headwind to rise higher. I'd suggest more spikes or other mud-aiding devices to put on your shoes, waterproof shoes, and an extra pair of socks just in case. I'll see you up there.
Report submitted by Official Counter (j.f.peters58@gmail.com)
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. American 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 10th,
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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