Golden, 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. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT.
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 06, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| Osprey | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 6 | 7 | 39 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Golden Eagle | 3 | 6 | 20 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: | 18 | 26 | 95 |
| Observation start time: | 10:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Two women were interested in what I was doing. As I was leaving a young man asked me what I could see through the scope and I explained what I was doing. He thought there was only one type of hawk, and I explained that we could potentially see 17 different species here. I showed him pictures Liguori's Hawks from Every Angle, which he was about to take a picture of. I asked him why, and he wanted to buy and browse the book. I told him this book was for hawk watchers and suggested he get the Raptor ID app which he did. He wanted to know the common hawks he could see, and he wrote down Red-tailed Hawk so he could remember it. We also talked about how far north and south they migrate. He wanted to know whether their numbers were increasing or decreasing. I told him of the monocrotophos disaster where 5,000 Swainson's Hawks were killed in one field in Argentina a few decades ago. He said he was glad he asked me the initial question, and said he always wanted to learn new things.
Weather:
The forecast was for light winds from the NE>NNE, which corresponded to the prediction of earth.nullchool.org at 700 hPa pressure which would correspond to up 700-3,000 ft above ground level. After two days of inclement weather I would expect an improvement in raptor migration. At 12:30 p.m. MDT that was excellent service cloud cover most of the sky to provide a good backdrop to be able to see raptors.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a PrF at 11:10 a.m. initially seen at the East end of Lookout Mountain, went North, found it in the scope, lost it when I shifted my feet to reposition the scope, it was in a tight glide and only seen from the side, so a really tough ID, eventually was able to see falcon wings, a pale tail, paler than the back indicating an adult. At 2:02 p.m. an adult's GE started in the NE, went West progressively circling and rising and eventually went North. At 2:26 p.m. an adult GE circled and kept going west and far away and very high, it finally turned North at 2:31 p.m.. At 4:12 p.m. an adult GE was seen directly overhead, initially going south, then North, was missing 2 secondaries from the left wing. Non-migrant raptors: at 12:54 p.m. an adult GE overhead went SW. At 2:18 p.m. a TV facing north frequently, and seemingly being pushed back, eventually went SW, a TV at 12:57 went SW, a TV at 2:18 p.m. went East. CH with deep flaps doing its courtship display initially flew West, then South. SS 1. RT 1.
Non-raptor Observations:
A beautiful 22° halo around the sun. Western Bluebird 2. Mountain Bluebird 1. Townsend's Solitaire 1. Common Raven, American Crow. This ws the day for paragliders, 16 of them, a few of them went really high, it fit in with an excellent soaring forecast with lift of 4.3 m/s, and thermals going up to 10,586 feet above ground level.
Predictions:
Light South to Southeast winds which could be favorable for migration. Earth.nullschool.org suggests light winds from the SSW aloft.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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