[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (21 Mar 2024) 17 Raptors

Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 21, 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	1	23	23
Northern Harrier	0	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	3	3
Cooper's Hawk	0	4	4
American Goshawk	0	1	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	12	168	168
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	0	0
Ferruginous Hawk	0	11	11
Golden Eagle	0	7	7
American Kestrel	2	5	5
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	0	1	1
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	17	227	227

Observation start time:	09:00:00
Observation end time:	17:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Dustin Kohler
Observers:	Barbara Retzlaff, Dave Erickson, Josephine Tongestad, Mariane Erickson, Trenton Voytko

Visitors:
We had 14 visitors to the ridge today including Trenton Voytko and Josephine Tongestad who paused their walk to check out the Hawk Watch and joined us for a couple hours. They just got back from Texas and Arizona trapping and banding birds with the Birding Conservancy of the Rockies (I'm sorry if I got any of that wrong, I am going off memory).

Weather:
Today was a very sunny day with little to no clouds. The wind was fairly strong from the Southeast before shifting to the Northwest. When the wind was a tail-wind (South based) or a head-wind (North based) we had a lot of activity, but we didn't have much on a cross-wind.

Raptor Observations:
This morning with the Southeastern wind all of our migrants were high above the horizon compared to previous days, but once the wind shifted to a Northwestern wind our migrants were lower than normal. Some of the migrants fighting a head-wind to migrate seemed to take multiple attempts to go north as the wind kept buffeting them back. We had a local Red-tailed fly from near Mount Morrison to the towers in the North, and then back, about a minute before I would have called it a migrant had it not turned around. Early in the morning, we had two kestrels flying along and either doing a courtship flight or fighting, either way it was passionate. Around 1 we had a prairie falcon flying near red rocks and went south along the ridge. We had two local Golden Eagles one was a juvenile, and we had one adult at the end fly about 10 feet over our heads before going to the Cabrini Shrine area. Right before the very close Golden we had a dark morph (but not Harlan's) Red-tailed fly South over our heads. We also had a Juvenile Sharp-shined Hawk fly South with the wind. This hawk was on the opposite side of the ridge of the Juvenile Sharp-shined Hawk we had migrate past us two hours before.

Non-raptor Observations:
We had my first Hawk Watch Mountain Chickadees, and we also had the first Canyon Wren that I have seen from the ridge. The Eastern Fox squirrel was spotted again today, but it didn't come up on the platform. Tomorrow once the snow is gone, I believe the squirrel might find its courage again.

Predictions:
Tomorrow looks to be another sunny day, but the wind appears to be more of a cross-wind (Eastern based). In the early morning and evening part of our survey there should be a tail and head wind, respectfully. I predict the bulk of our migration should be during those times.

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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]

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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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