Golden, Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 23, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 9 | 281 | 322 |
| Osprey | 8 | 58 | 62 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 14 | 41 |
| Northern Harrier | 9 | 46 | 54 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 32 | 216 | 244 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 20 | 199 | 248 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 43 | 129 | 129 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 10 | 160 | 425 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 12 | 28 | 28 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 1 | 14 | 29 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 5 | 24 |
| American Kestrel | 177 | 705 | 807 |
| Merlin | 2 | 11 | 16 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 3 | 11 | 14 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Total: | 329 | 1890 | 2463 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 18:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 12.75 hours |
| Official Counter | Audrey Anderson, Emma Riley, Audrey Anderson |
| Observers: | Amanda Baker, Emma Riley, George Mamalis, Janet Peters, Leslie Mamalis, Noah Sanford, Ryan Gannon |
Visitors:
Thank you to all of our volunteer observers today for your help spotting birds! It is one thing to experience this migration as counters, but getting to share this with others makes it so special. We had a total of 52 visitors today, with 20 of them being a Jefferson County all women's volunteer trail maintenance crew! We also saw three hikers early in the morning and then again at the end of the day after their summit of Mt. Morrison. 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:
It was another really pleasant day on the ridge until the temperatures dropped at the end of the day when some heavier cloud cover came in. Temperatures were mild, winds were from the NE at low speeds for most of the day. Verga and dense storm clouds could be seen west of us for the last few hours of the day, but never came over us. Precipitation was possible today but we were spared.
Raptor Observations:
We had a record day at Dinosaur Ridge today with an absolutely outstanding daily count of 329 raptors! This is the 6th highest daily count at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch on record. We have the American Kestrels to thank for making up almost half of today's count. This puts us at the 5th highest season total in site history, with over 2 weeks left in the season! We continue to be completely amazed by the afternoon movement we have been seeing from these birds. The flight was incredibly similar to yesterday's, but we started the afternoon with a good count of them already. Across the board there were fantastic numbers of most other species as well. Today was our highest Broad-winged Hawk day this season by one bird! A few came right overhead, and one came right below us on the E side. All 3 of our Peregrine Falcons moved along the ridge, with #3 coming close enough for us to see the notable 'helmet' on this species. Today's 9 Northern Harriers also make it so that we have doubled (and then some) last year's count for this species! To top it all off, today's flight puts the 2025 season as the highest season total since 2005, with many more days to go. Non-raptor migrants came in force this morning! It was a great morning flight for Chipping Sparrows (61), Yellow-rumped Warblers (37 Audubon’s and 2 Myrtle), and Dark-eyed Juncos (33). Other highlights this morning were Vesper Sparrows (4), 4 types of swallows, and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds (7). Today was the largest and most diverse passerine flight of the season, the songbird migration has really kicked up a notch! There were 3 main pushes in the morning starting at 6:30 MST, flight lines directly eye level on the main ridge. A really cool morning flight and first truly noticeable passerines flight of the season. Hopefully there will be another push of songbirds tomorrow as conditions are predicted to be similar in the morning. ** To see final numbers for this mornings passerine flight please visit our Trektellen site, linked under the 'Visitors' comment section.**
Non-raptor Observations:
Canada Goose 18, White-throated Swift 163, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 7, Eurasian Collared-Dove 8, Mourning Dove 1, Ring-billed Gull 1, Double-crested Cormorant 1, Great Blue Heron 1, American White Pelican 3, Say's Phoebe 3, Blue Jay 1, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 2, Black-billed Magpie 32, Common Raven 15, Black-capped Chickadee 3, Tree Swallow 18, Violet-green Swallow 25, Barn Swallow 5, Cliff Swallow 5, Rock Wren 4, White-breasted Nuthatch 1, European Starling 1, Mountain Bluebird 1, Western Bluebird 1, Townsend's Solitaire 1, American Robin 9, Chipping Sparrow 61, Dark-eyed Junco 33, Vesper Sparrow 4, Song Sparrow 2, Spotted Towhee 3, Western Meadowlark 1, Common Grackle 3, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 37, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2
Predictions:
Tomorrow's conditions look pretty similar to today's conditions, with a higher chance of afternoon showers. Winds from the NE again with variable cloud cover. A rain coat is recommended, as we will do our best to stick out the rain!
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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