Golden, Greater 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. To get to the site, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion in Google Maps.
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 21, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Osprey | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 10 | 10 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 8 | 26 | 26 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 38 | 38 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 2 | 24 | 24 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 30 | 77 | 77 |
| 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 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Total: | 52 | 202 | 202 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Archer Silverman, Liza Antony |
Visitors:
Archer Silverman 13 years old joined us for the whole day, finding us raptors with his young eyes.I was telling him Jerry Liguori's suggestion for finding raptors in a blue sky by scanning with binoculars down, across, up, across, down and so on â€" and using the technique he immediately found us the immature dark intermediate morph SW. We imparted our almost 35 years love of, and knowledge of hawk watching to the next generation.
Weather:
Light winds from the NE, temperatures 15-21°C, humidity 30-35%, barometric pressure slightly dropping, cloud cover 15% to start with between West and SW â€" useless for finding raptors to the east â€" then the same clouds moving East giving us a good background to spot raptors, clear visibility limited by haze to 6 km for the first 4 hours, then increasing the last 2 hours to 9 and 12 km.
Raptor Observations:
We were excited as this was the first day with North-based winds this fall. North winds would help migrants fly south, but we didn’t know for sure for this site. At the 3 hawk watches I counted at in New York State, the best flights were after the passage of a cold front with NW winds. A front did go through, leaving a high-pressure zone and NE winds. This is the 2nd time we have seen over 50 migrant raptors, albeit in only 9 days of observing. When we got to the watch there were tiny thermal clouds forming through adiabatic cooling, and dissipating because of the low humidity. Later we had large numbers of almost confluent cumulus clouds between NE and SE, favorable to finding raptors. Some of the smaller raptors caught thermals which pushed them up rapidly, as if going up an elevator. Non-migrant raptors: an adult GE we recognized at the same one we saw on another day because of its molt pattern, missing bilateral secondaries and a left outer primary â€"which we saw in this morning today as well as in the afternoon, an immature GE with another-molting adult GE; BE 2 adults, SS 1; CH 1 which stooped onto prey just NW of the watch as we were leaving, and didn’t come up again so it must have been successful ; TV 1, AK 1, RT 8 sightings â€" 2 of them chased 2 different GE.
Non-raptor Observations:
There were 4 paragliders in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. They as well as raptors use thermals. Mountain Chickadee 1, Common Raven 3, Black-billed Magpie 1, Northern Flicker 1, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1, Townsend’s Solitaire 2, Hairy Woodpecker 1, Canada Goose 24, White-throated Swift 4, Rock Wren 1, Barn Swallow 1; and heard by Archer â€" Chipping Sparrow, House Finch, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Bushtit 1.
Predictions:
A 47% risk of rain before 9 AM, then a decreasing chance of rain till noon, winds from the SE. I will stay home tomorrow site does not have good flights in the afternoon, but Monday and Tuesday have prediction for NE winds, when I will be back â€" could be as good as today.
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, turn right and follow the
clothes to find Windy Saddle Park parking lot 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, a longer route.
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