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 which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
| Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 5 | 26 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 13 | 37 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 4 | 29 | 77 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 26 | 97 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 2 | 36 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 22 | 133 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Total: | 15 | 111 | 466 |
| Observation start time: | 09:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4.75 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
A couple, both with binoculars looked at a CH we were looking at, and surprising us by knowing what a CH looked like â€" he was a naturalist from Ohio who leads bird walks. 2 young men asked us whether we were birdwatching, I replying that we were hawk watching which is a specialized part of birdwatching, and explained to them why raptors from Northern US fly all the way to the southern US, up to Colombia and Argentina, and back in spring â€" mainly food related, but also the distance flown related to plate tectonics. A family with 3 small children inquired as to what we were doing and told us of their experience seeing numerous Bald Eagles in Western Vancouver Island.
Weather:
There was a prediction for smoke this morning from wildfires. There were plenty of gauzy cirrus clouds to the east. This is 1 of the few days when there were extensive clouds in Denver. The Soaring Forecast of the National Weather Service https://tinyurl.com/bwvtknej suggested no really high thermals for gliders as the trigger temperature of 78°F for thermal formation would not be reached, but looking at the numbers, there was lift/thermal formation up to 7000 feet, enough for small raptors â€" this hawk watch is at 7156 feet. The poor thermal formation was probably as a result of the extensive clouds, which both gives â€" being able to spot raptors easily, and takes away â€" prevents thermal formation. We were left with migrant raptors which didn't use thermals or used ridge lift. There was the usual high-pressure zone in SW Colorado.
Raptor Observations:
The 1st 3 raptors were low and slightly to the east â€" easily seen with the naked eye â€" 2 CH and 1 SS. We spotted the 2 SS overhead, and it took them 4 minutes to fly over the towers of East Lookout Mountain, a distance of 0.6 miles/1 km which I calculate to be 8.6 mph. https://www.birdful.org/how-fast-can-a-sharp-shinned-hawk-fly/ Most of the raptors were seen at the east end of Lookout Mountain or over Green Mountain. Bird of the day: 1st â€" an RT Western intermediate (rufous) morph with an even medium-rufous breast, belly and underwing coverts; 2nd â€" an adult Golden Eagle missing secondaries and a left inner primary that we have not seen before around here based on its molt pattern. To date we have had 5 intermediate or dark morph migrant raptors compared to 6 we had at the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch this past spring 2024. Non-migrant raptors: RT 6, NH juvenile flying north.
Non-raptor Observations:
2 paragliders were aloft at 12:55 PM at 1:29 PM MDT, and I predicted to Liza that they would not be able to fly high based on the meteorological data, and sure enough they were mostly soaring below us and only once at 2 PM did 1 of them get above our elevation. Common Raven 9, Townsend's Solitaire 1, Dark-eyed Junco 1, Steller's Jay 1, Black-billed Magpie 1, American Crow 1.
Predictions:
Light winds from the North. We will there be there to see what North winds can bring this site.
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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