Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle ParkGolden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site and the state's second spring watch site. Many raptors seen c. 1.5 miles to the West from Dinosaur Ridge, may be directly overhead at this site, we are hoping. 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: Feb 19, 2025 |
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Observation start time: | 10:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | |
Visitors:An older gentleman Joe who works at REI, I've seen hiking frequently to the top in fall came up, and I intoned "Neither rain or snow nor gloom of night....(inscribed on the original main post office building on 8th Ave.in New York City, a quote originally about Persian messengers) and he promptly and accurately retorted about the pot calling the kettle black, as he has seen me here in all conditions. A gentleman wanted to know what I was looking for and I explained. A young Hispanic man was very interested in raptor migration, and I explained where they come from, sometimes Canada or even the Canadian Arctic for RL, and the farthest they go - Colombia for BW and Argentina for Swainson's Hawk, he was much impressed with the distances, and said 'Cool.' A total of 11 hikers.
Weather:Yesterday morning forecast was for light East winds but very chilly temperature with only single digits to start and a high of only 22°F. I was hesitant, but February has very few days without North based winds, and by evening the winds had changed today SE initially, which was more of an incentive for Northward migrating raptors, and that's myself, but the really cold temperatures were a deterrent. After vacillating, I decided to go, wearing shoe heaters for the first time in my life. There was fairly dense fog at the top, rising rapidly, and at times I could not even see Lookout Mountain. Even after the fog rose, new fog was developing from the snow sublimating in response to the bright sunshine and dry air https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/sublimation-and-water-cycle#overview There was always some haziness even later. There was a strong inversion layer all day which blotted out anything east of the Table Mountains, and it took until noon to be able to see downtown Denver very ghostly, while in the west I could see Mount Blue Sky clearly at 39 km.
Raptor Observations:At 12:25 p.m. MST I saw an adult Golden Eagle to the north in Clear Creek Canyon going SW, well below eye level - a local. At 12:35 p.m. over Green Mountain far to the SE, I found a GE by binocular scanning which progressively flew NNE flapping a lot, but when it turned I could see its carpal bars, but it was never visible to the naked eye. At 1:50 p.m. I found a GE, again by binocular scanning between the 2 tall antenna on Lookout Mountain, it was then easily visible to the naked eye and flew NW, eventually losing it against brown mountains even with my scope. In my scope I could see carpal bars dorsally, faint ventral white on the secondaries, and a smooth trailing edge to the wings, suggesting a sub-adult III. At 2:25 p.m.(I was planning to leave at 2:30 p.m. for a meeting) I saw a GE along the Eastern slope of Lookout Mountain, and couldn't find it when I looked through my scope. I looked again with binoculars further north, and couldn't spot it again and decided it was a local. I packed my stuff but kept my binoculars around my neck in case I saw it again. 2 minutes later, on my way down, I saw it flying North. I stopped and saw with binos and my scope that it was an adult which soared over South Table Mountain (was it one of the locals which nested here?), where another adult joined it (most likely the local nesting pair), they rose in height, flying together and separating, eventually going east (definitely local), then kept rising and eventually went north (definitely migrants)!
Non-raptor Observations:Common Raven 2, Mountain Chickadee 1.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (
aiantony@earthlink.net)
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