Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field OrnithologistsGolden, Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: May 10, 2025 |
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 6 | 381 |
| Osprey | 1 | 5 | 86 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 3 | 47 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 4 | 61 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 15 | 358 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 2 | 16 | 309 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 11 | 274 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 20 | 524 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 8 | 46 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 29 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 15 | 952 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 9 | 104 | 3144 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley |
| Observers: | Haley Caron, Janet Peters, Ric Olson |
Visitors:Thank you to Janet Peters, Ric Olson, and intern Haley Caron for your time spent on the ridge today! Haley was our Jefferson County High School intern for the 2025 count season. She plans on returning next year as a volunteer. Thank you Haley for all of your time dedicated to the site this spring! 19 people stopped by the ridge today. Many of them were out hiking this trail for the first time. We would like to extend a massive thank you to everyone who spent time on the ridge with us this season. We had a full staff this year made up of two counters, two weekend observers, and an intern. We also had a fantastic volunteer crew this season that dedicated hundreds of hours to this project- both on and off the ridge. Raptor migration is a spectacle that not many know can be seen just off of I-70. To have this site growing again year by year, in both bird counts and people, is a true testament to what can be accomplished when you put passion, time, and resources into a project. Thank you all and we will see you on the ridge next spring.
Weather:It was a hot and sunny day on the ridge with little to no cloud cover all day. Winds were light from the E/ENE. Temperatures reached 23+ celsius.
Raptor Observations:It was our final day of the 2025 count season today! Migration has very obviously come to a halt at this site since May started, even more so than in previous years. Today was no exception with a handful of migrants all day. Highlights from the day include two Swainson's Hawks that came overhead before one continued N and the other flew SE. Our final migrant of the 2025 season was an Osprey. A total of 3144 migrating raptors were counted at the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch this spring season of 2025. We have been saying it for weeks now, but what an incredible season we have had. We will be putting out an end-of-year report in the coming month that goes into more detail on our count efforts and results. For now, enjoy this non-comprehensive list of high counts on the season! - Highest season count since 2002 (3456). - Highest Broad-winged Hawk count at this site ever!! 274 birds this spring vs the previous high record of 207 in 1997. - Fourth highest American Kestrel count in site history with 952 migrants counted this spring. - Highest Osprey, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Cooper's Hawk season totals since the early 2000s. Other season highlights include: - 2 Rough-legged Hawks counted this season. These birds make #5 and #6 counted at Dinosaur Ridge since DFO took over management of the site. - Our second ever Short-eared Owl counted at the ridge by Audrey Anderson. We also had a number of first records for non-raptor species this year, including: Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch, Snow Goose, Common Merganser, Evening Grosbeak, and Long-billed Curlew. It is also worth noting that there has only been one other season in site history that had more observation hours than this season, and that was in 1997. It's been an absolute joy to experience the migration at Dinosaur Ridge this spring, and we are already looking forward to the next!
Non-raptor Observations:Today was World Migratory Bird Day and Global Big Day, and our passerines got the memo! We had our FOY Green-tailed Towhee and Orange-crowned Warbler today, as well as the second Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's Warbler, and Lazuli Bunting of the spring. A few Yellow-rumped Warblers were moving N during the day, but not much else. Another Prairie Rattlesnake was seen today, this time further down the trail from the count site. Luckily this snake was stretched fully across the trail, making itself very obvious to us. Mallard 2, White-throated Swift 1, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 3, Western Kingbird 2, Blue Jay 4, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 2, Black-billed Magpie 2, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Tree Swallow 1, Violet-green Swallow 9, Barn Swallow 2, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher 2, European Starling 2, American Robin 2, House Finch 2, Lesser Goldfinch 1, Green-tailed Towhee 1, Spotted Towhee 4, Western Meadowlark 1, Orange-crowned Warbler 1, Virginia's Warbler 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 2, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 3, Lazuli Bunting 1
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.orgMore information at
hawkcount.org: [
Site Profile] [
Day Summary] [
Month Summary]
Site DescriptionDinosaur 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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