Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 03, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 5 | 46 | 76 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 | 2 | 32 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 5 | 21 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 4 | 13 | 34 |
| American Goshawk | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 12 | 25 | 286 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| American Kestrel | 6 | 15 | 37 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 33 | 112 | 538 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Dustin Kohler |
| Observers: | Clay Gibson, Emma Riley, Janet Peters, Kathie Moses, Lynn Bocken |
Visitors:
We had 28 visitors to the ridge today not including several of their dogs that wanted to play.
Weather:
A very sunny day with gusty Northeast and Northwest winds. Plenty of clouds in the sky, but rarely did they block the sun. Our temperature recordings varied a lot with the wind and cloud cover.
Raptor Observations:
Our migrants today were for the most part, very high above us or below our eye level. I think the gusty headwinds caused this behavior. We seemed to have more migrants when the wind was from the Northeast, but that was also most of the day. We had a Juvenile Red-tailed migrate that was being hotly pursued by an adult Red-tailed Hawk. We had a Golden Eagle that was migrating while being attacked by a tiny bird. From our vantage point (miles away) the tiny bird was at least 1/8th the size if not smaller than the golden, I would guess Merlin, but there is no way to know. The same Golden Eagle was later escorted out of town by another Golden Eagle. Now for the one we have been waiting for, especially me, the Immature Goshawk. From a distance we see this bird with a very long tail and powerful flight. My first thought was a Northern Harrier until I realized that this bird was way closer than I had originally thought. As we were watching this bird debating Cooper's vs Goshawk, an adult female Cooper's Hawk appeared in the view and was attacked by the Goshawk. These two birds appeared to be roughly the same size, but the immature bird had a slightly longer tail. After the adult Coopers left the Goshawk did a few circles without gaining much height and then left as well. A few books were consulted confirming Immature Goshawk. Thank you Kathie for finding the hawk and Emma with a nice ID which as most know for an immature accipiter can be quite challenging. In local news we had a local Red-tailed attack a local Golden Eagle keeping the bigger bird away from its nesting area. We also saw a couple red-tailed hawks carrying food, either to eat themselves or to give to their mate. I also had a lot of locals on my hike up the trail including 3 red-tailed, a bald eagle, and a turkey vulture. All going south/ hanging around the area.
Non-raptor Observations:
My friendly neighborhood Common Raven that is missing the two or three secondary flight feathers was seen a few times today. We saw a different Raven a couple times today that had something wrong with its wing. Where it could still fly but the gait of the flight seemed very different. This might not be as evident if we weren't seeing dozens of Ravens everyday. WE also saw two parachuters today to the North of us.
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks to be a very warm day (touching the 70s) and has a varying mostly southern-based wind. Bring some sunscreen, lightweight clothes, and maybe a neck pillow because I think we will have a lot of high flying migrants tomorrow.
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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