Golden, Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 31, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 4 | 41 | 41 |
| Osprey | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 27 | 27 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 6 | 28 | 28 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 7 | 49 | 49 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 7 | 265 | 265 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 15 | 15 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 19 | 19 |
| American Kestrel | 21 | 102 | 102 |
| Merlin | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: | 46 | 573 | 573 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley |
| Observers: | Amanda Baker, Clay Gibson, Dori Edwards, Ellie Meng, Mike Serruto, Ric Olson |
Visitors:
Thank you to Clay Gibson, Amanda Baker, Ellie Meng, Dori Edwards, Ric Olson, and Michael Serruto for your help and company today on the ridge! As always it is a pleasure getting to experience the migration with you. We saw 27 visitors on the ridge today. Can't make it out to the ridge and still want to follow along? Check out our Trektellen page and follow along with live updates at https://www.trektellen.org/count/view/4515/20250301 .
Weather:
Today was warmer than yesterday with almost constant cloud cover. A haze settled into the area in the afternoon making some birds hard to spot until they were close. Winds were from the NE for much of the day, shifting to a more West wind in the late afternoon. The count was ended 30 minutes early due to high winds.
Raptor Observations:
The morning started off a touch slow but once it picked up migration was constant for a few hours. We had another eye level Osprey come on the East side of the ridge this morning, along with a few low Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawks. SS and CH continue to come in great numbers. We had another stellar American Kestrel flight for a day in March, leaving us with 102 AK counted in March. Turkey Vultures continue to come, earlier than usual. This leaves us with the highest March count for TV ever at this site, and 4th highest March count for AK at this site! This March was our second highest count overall since 2006. Local raptor activity was high in the morning through mid-afternoon, with many RT escorting migrant birds. The local PG (2) from Red Rocks were seen harassing an adult BE above Mt. Morrison. The highlight of the day was the FOY Swainson's Hawk (!!!!) that unfortunately could not be counted as it was spotted overhead and moved South. Other local raptors seen today include one GE, a male AK on the power lines west of us, and TV (at least 2) that perched on a rock along Dakota Ridge and watched cars pass by.
Non-raptor Observations:
Passerine activity was high in the morning but significantly declined by the end of the day. SPTO were heard singing all day on either side of the ridge. WEME continue to also be heard throughout the day. 10 WTSW were seen in the afternoon. The lack of Townsend's Solitaires is getting more obvious by the day, as we typically see at least one every day by this time of year. 4 Elk were seen just below the ridge on the E side. 9 Mule Deer were seen on the hike out. White-throated Swift 10, Black-billed Magpie 2, Common Raven 2, Western Bluebird 9, Spotted Towhee 4, Western Meadowlark 2
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like another cold and potentially wet spring day at Dinosaur Ridge, so bring your rain coats and a pair of gloves! We may have some strong gusts of wind but we are hopeful it won't be too bad.
Report submitted by Official Counter of the day shown above (dinoridgehw@gmail.com)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: www.dinosaurridgehawkwatch.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
Hawk Counter(s) and volunteers from March through early May.
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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