Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 19, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 205 | 235 |
| Osprey | 2 | 22 | 28 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 8 | 38 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 29 | 45 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 91 | 112 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 104 | 365 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 5 | 16 |
| American Kestrel | 6 | 222 | 244 |
| Merlin | 0 | 10 | 14 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 8 | 739 | 1165 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 11:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Dustin Kohler |
| Observers: | Cindi Inklebarger, Ed Forlong, Joyce Michael |
Visitors:
We surprisingly had 9 visitors to the ridge today. I will never underestimate the people of Colorado's willpower for running in bad weather. Thank you to my helpers today, even with their Denver Field Ornithology field trip canceled, they still braved the elements to be up with me most of the day.
Weather:
Today was pretty cold and snowy. When I first got up to the ridge we were pretty socked in up there in the clouds. After a half hour or so the clouds lifted slightly. I was snowed on just about the entire time, but visibility was way better than I was expecting. Around 11 MST (12 MDT) the snow and the wind picked up. With snow to continue the rest of the day I called the count.
Raptor Observations:
All of our migrants were barely above eye level to the east of us. This was where visibility was the best, and the wind could help them migrate. We had a local kestrel that headed North along the west of us, turned around at the break in the ridge where Highway 70 goes through, and started hunting over Green Mountain. We also had 2 local/ non-migratory Sharp-shinned Hawks. Both did the same thing low on our east side, heading straight South, and heading to some bigger juniper and pine trees assumably to wait out the storm.
Non-raptor Observations:
We had a migrating Great Blue Heron, at least it headed North with a purpose and was the highest bird I saw all day. Passerine activity overall was more active than the last couple of days. We heard/ saw Western Meadowlarks, Mountain Bluebirds, Spotted Towhees, Dark-eyed Juncos, Rock Wren, and a few others that I didn't write down and have since forgotten.
Predictions:
From now until 9am tomorrow there will be 4-10 inches of snow at the site. Afterwards looks to be about a 4 hour gap before mixed precipitation after that. Tomorrow's count might be delayed and end early, but I'll try and get up for the middle part unless the roads are bad tomorrow. I don't expect much to migrate, but I didn't today either and still got 8 migrants in the snow.
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 10:00 AM to 6:00 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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