Denver, Colorado, USA
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated so only in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch.
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 18, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 3 | 8 | 8 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 16 | 16 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 | 25 | 25 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 6 | 39 | 39 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 16 | 122 | 122 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 11:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Weather:
Very pleasant and coolish weather, 61-77°F, low humidity as usual, steady barometer, low cloud cover 10-2%, unlimited visibility to 39 km with some haze to the NE.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrants were 2 AK flying in the valley between the watch and Lookout Mountain. We had our 1st dark morph adult Broad-winged Hawk â€" a real beauty. So far, it appears that site East winds are better for fall raptor migration than SSE, SE, S winds at this site. East-based winds would push any migrants toward the mountains and the site, easier to spot. Since we notice that many raptors lose lift between downtown Denver and the hawk watch site, presumably because of the large amount of trees in the area, not conducive to thermal formation (which needs a rocky ridge or a large parking lot to form), and consequently drop in height, we had to observe them until they flew past Green Mountain and out of view to confirm that they were migrants indeed, and not local birds looking to roost. While we found 16 raptors compared to yesterday’s 10 in roughly the same number of hours, there weren’t as many as we had on September 15 when we had 61. This suggests that the storm yesterday was not the cause of the slow migration, but more related to either the strong winds yesterday and/or winds from the South. However, the winds did change today to SE, and then East (which seems favorable here), so I wonder whether raptors “decide,†or are moved not to fly that day depending on the initial wind direction when they awake. We had found a flight path that Kestrels take below to the east of the watch, so we only see them behind us to the SE, below the top of Lookout Mountain against trees which is a difficult enterprise finding raptors. Many raptors have upperwings that glint sunlight if seen at the correct angle. Late morning I noticed that there were many car windshields and windows glinting reflected sunlight, so I suggested to Liza that we should look for sunlight glinting on the backs of kestrels, and sure enough we were able to find one using this technique. Non-migrant raptors: Golden Eagle adult flying east; RT 5; AK 1 â€" which was seen over Lookout Mountain, flew toward Green Mountain, flew to the south end, and then turned around; TV 4.
Non-raptor Observations:
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1, Rock Wren 1, Green-tailed Towhee 1, Mountain Chickadee 1, Steller's Jay 1, Spotted Towhee 2, American Crow 1, Common Raven 3. A man asked us if we minded his playing the trumpet up at the watch. I asked Why? he said he was celebrating the "Feast of trumpets" from the Old Testament â€" he said they would have used a shofar, then. He played a few notes, not very well, said a silent prayer with his arms outstretched, thanked us and left.
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 82. West-southwest wind 5 to 8 mph, becoming east in the afternoon.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Directions to site:
From I-70 from Northeast Denver, take Route 58, then a left turn going south on
Route 6, the 1st exit is for Lookout Mountain Road. Windy Saddle Park parking
lot is on the right.
From I-70 from points west of Denver, take the Lookout Mountain Road and follow
it to the Windy Saddle Park parking lot.
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