Re: [cobirds] Re: Ruby-throated Hummingbird(?) post - THREAD CLOSED

Dear CoBirders, please do not reply further to the list on this topic. 

David Suddjian, list moderator

Littleton, CO

On Thu, Jul 31, 2025 at 5:48 PM 'Joey Kellner' via Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Paula,

Please do not apologize.  As a friend of mine says, "Birds have wings."  The statement, "...Ruby-throated nest 'in Pennsylvania' and could not be in Colorado at this time of year." is painting with a VERY broad brush.  Yellow Grosbeaks should be in Mexico.  The Golden-crowned Warbler found several years back, "should be in Mexico."  Crissal Thrashers and Cactus Wrens should be south of Colorado.  Magnificent Frigate birds should be along the southern coasts.  The point is, we have found that birds can show up almost anywhere.  Summer is a time that birds wander.  These "wanderers" could have been lost and off course during spring migration and are now roaming around looking for the proper habitat and/or a mate.  This is one way species expand ranges.  These "wanderers" could also be post-breeding dispersal birds.  Birds that bred earlier this year and are now wandering around (with nothing to do)?  Many young birds also disperse once on their own.

 I'm not sure if you had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird or not, but maybe!  The best we can do when we find what we think is something odd, is document, document, document.  

Joey Kellner

Littleton, Colorado

On Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 2:44:34 PM UTC-6 Paula Hansley wrote:

Birders,

Several days ago I reported several hummingbirds, including a possible Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding at my red Zauschnaria flowers in Louisville.

Ted Floyd says this is not possible in July as the Ruby-throated nests "in Pennsylvania" and could not be in Colorado at this time of year.

I thought I queried my post. If I didn't, I should have done so.

I'm truly sorry Dr. Floyd and apologize to the birders who read my post.

Paula Hansley

Boulder County 

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[cobirds] Re: Ruby-throated Hummingbird(?) post

Paula,

Please do not apologize.  As a friend of mine says, "Birds have wings."  The statement, "...Ruby-throated nest 'in Pennsylvania' and could not be in Colorado at this time of year." is painting with a VERY broad brush.  Yellow Grosbeaks should be in Mexico.  The Golden-crowned Warbler found several years back, "should be in Mexico."  Crissal Thrashers and Cactus Wrens should be south of Colorado.  Magnificent Frigate birds should be along the southern coasts.  The point is, we have found that birds can show up almost anywhere.  Summer is a time that birds wander.  These "wanderers" could have been lost and off course during spring migration and are now roaming around looking for the proper habitat and/or a mate.  This is one way species expand ranges.  These "wanderers" could also be post-breeding dispersal birds.  Birds that bred earlier this year and are now wandering around (with nothing to do)?  Many young birds also disperse once on their own.

 I'm not sure if you had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird or not, but maybe!  The best we can do when we find what we think is something odd, is document, document, document.  

Joey Kellner

Littleton, Colorado

On Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 2:44:34 PM UTC-6 Paula Hansley wrote:

Birders,

Several days ago I reported several hummingbirds, including a possible Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding at my red Zauschnaria flowers in Louisville.

Ted Floyd says this is not possible in July as the Ruby-throated nests "in Pennsylvania" and could not be in Colorado at this time of year.

I thought I queried my post. If I didn't, I should have done so.

I'm truly sorry Dr. Floyd and apologize to the birders who read my post.

Paula Hansley

Boulder County 

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[cobirds] Historical bird data from pre-1850?

Hiya birders,

The Littleton Museum is looking for information about historical bird numbers, for a new exhibit. We're hoping to include an informational panel about the changes to bird populations due to the westward expansion and gold rush, after 1850.

If you can help with any of these questions, please let me know. I'd love to chat with you.

·        - What would the most common species in the Littleton area have been before the 1850s?

·         - What species would have been a common sight but are now extremely uncommon, or the reverse?

Thank you!

Jen Small

Littleton Museum

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[cobirds] Re: Ruby-throated Hummingbird(?) post

Birders,

Several days ago I reported several hummingbirds, including a possible Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding at my red Zauschnaria flowers in Louisville.

Ted Floyd says this is not possible in July as the Ruby-throated nests "in Pennsylvania" and could not be in Colorado at this time of year.

I thought I queried my post. If I didn't, I should have done so.

I'm truly sorry Dr. Floyd and apologize to the birders who read my post.

Paula Hansley

Boulder County 

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RE: [cobirds] Jaeger Trends

Not the front range and certainly not a 'trend' given the historical data, but central KS (Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County) had a Long-tailed observed 22 June 1955 and collected 23 June as a museum specimen.  The summer Pom sightings are interesting.

 

Chris Hobbs

chobbs.f1@gmail.com

 

From: cobirds@googlegroups.com <cobirds@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of John Rawinski
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 4:22 PM
To: Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Jaeger Trends

 

Thanks Ted. Looks like mostly fall occurrences. Thanks!

 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO

On Monday, July 28, 2025 at 2:41:39 PM UTC-6 Ted Floyd wrote:

On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 1:47 PM John Rawinski <johnra...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

Hi all: I am wondering when the jaegers have their peak arrival along the front range. With only two records for the San Luis Valley, I always watch for them and would like to know their pattern for occurrence along the front range. Thanks.

Good question, John!

The short answer is: Long-tailed first, then Parasitic, then Pomarine. The following is oversimplified, but:

* Aug.—probably Long-tailed.

* Sept.—any of the three, with Parasitic most likely.

* Oct.—mostly Pomarine from mid-month onward (and well into Nov., even Dec.); Parasitic possible, esp. early in the month; Long-tailed unlikely.

Here is eBird output for nine (n=9) Front Range counties:



(Midsummer jaegers, very rare in Colo. and elsewhere in the Lower 48 Interior, tend to be Poms, a pattern borne out both in the Front Range counties and statewide. Spring jaegers—we have a handful of well-attested Colo. detections!—defy reason.)

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder Co.

Blanca Wetlands had 12 species of shorebirds today. North Mallard was a hotspot and is easily accessed. 

 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO 

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Re: [cobirds] Jaeger Trends

Thanks Ted. Looks like mostly fall occurrences. Thanks!

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO

On Monday, July 28, 2025 at 2:41:39 PM UTC-6 Ted Floyd wrote:

On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 1:47 PM John Rawinski <johnra...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all: I am wondering when the jaegers have their peak arrival along the front range. With only two records for the San Luis Valley, I always watch for them and would like to know their pattern for occurrence along the front range. Thanks.

Good question, John!

The short answer is: Long-tailed first, then Parasitic, then Pomarine. The following is oversimplified, but:

* Aug.—probably Long-tailed.

* Sept.—any of the three, with Parasitic most likely.

* Oct.—mostly Pomarine from mid-month onward (and well into Nov., even Dec.); Parasitic possible, esp. early in the month; Long-tailed unlikely.

Here is eBird output for nine (n=9) Front Range counties:



(Midsummer jaegers, very rare in Colo. and elsewhere in the Lower 48 Interior, tend to be Poms, a pattern borne out both in the Front Range counties and statewide. Spring jaegers—we have a handful of well-attested Colo. detections!—defy reason.)

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder Co.

Blanca Wetlands had 12 species of shorebirds today. North Mallard was a hotspot and is easily accessed. 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO 

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[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (29 Jul 2025) Raptors

Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Jul 29, 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	1	1
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	0	1	1
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	1	1
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	1	1
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Prairie Falcon	0	1	1
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	0	0
Short-eared Owl	0	0	0
Total:	0	5	5

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	11:00:00
Total observation time:	3 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Weather:
Cooler temperature 26-30°C, 100% cloud cover, light winds increasing from the NE, high humidity around 50%, resulting in clear visibility reduced to 2-4 km only, the sun came out partially through the clouds at 10 am MDT, and we figured that it would take over an hour for any thermals to form, so we waited another 2 hours. Interestingly, though the winds at the watch were from the NE, the radar images showed the winds going from South to North. This would be at the altitude of c. 17,000 feet above sea level, shown clearly on earth.nullschool.net when the height variable is changed to 500 hPa.

Raptor Observations:
No migrants today. Non-migrant Raptors: Golden Eagle 4 (2 adults together without any molt soaring over the Western Ridge going North at 11:30 AM MDT, an adult missing a right 8th primary feather, with a juvenile with white on its wings at 11:40 am further north); a probable Swainson's Hawk with long pointed wings and dihedral came from the North, but dropped to the side of the ridge above the Martin Marietta quarry; RT 5; TV 1. The prediction was for overcast skies, so I wasn't hopeful for any flight, as this would reduce the formation of thermals that buteos depend on. Last night I was correlating Carol's and Steve's findings (at Dinosaur Ridge and Mount Vernon between 2017 and 2022) with the winds aloft on nullschool.net to look for any pattern of winds that predicted a good flight. Carol's notes were hourly, and when I had placed them in chronological order by month and week 3 years ago, I realized I had inadvertently typed 8/5/18 instead of 8/25/18! This is why we had been counting the last week. I realized we should put off further observations until the end of next month. Anyway, I did learn that a few raptor migrants do come through quite early. We came up today as earth.nullschool.net had predicted winds from the North, though in retrospect with no migrants today this was wind spinning anti-clockwise around a low-pressure zone in Colorado rather than a long stream of wind coming all the way down from northern US or Canada which would have been favorable for migration South.

Non-raptor Observations:
Lark Sparrow 1, Spotted Towhee 3 - 2 adults with a juvenile, Northern Flicker 1, Swallow species 3, Lesser Goldfinch 1, hummingbird sp.

---

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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[cobirds] Registration for the Colorado Birding Challenge is now OPEN!

Howdy folks,

You can now register for the COBC, which will take place on September 6. This event is designed to be a friendly competition to see who can find the most species in one day in the Colorado county of their choice. Each county has its own par value to make it an even playing field, and we hope you will take part in this year's COBC!

It is also a fundraiser supporting CFO and our conservation mission. This year we are using the PledgeIt platform to make registration simpler while providing each team with a unique webpage you can share with friends and family who may want to support you. For more information about the COBC and how to participate, visit cobirds.org/cobc.

There are three competitive categories or, if you prefer, there is the Bird Your Own Way option, which, like it sounds, is up to you to choose how you want to take part.

The winning team from each of the competitive categories will receive prizes from our sponsor, Front Range Birding and Optics.

For teams that have participated in the past, we hope to see you again! For anyone who hasn't yet participated in the COBC, we hope you will give it a try this year. With your help, we can make this year's COBC the best yet!

Good birding,

Peter Burke

CFO Board of Directors

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[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (28 Jul 2025) 1 Raptors

Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Jul 28, 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	1	1	1
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	0	1	1
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	1	1
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	1	1
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Prairie Falcon	0	1	1
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	0	0
Short-eared Owl	0	0	0
Total:	1	5	5

Observation start time:	07:30:00
Observation end time:	10:30:00
Total observation time:	3 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Weather:
Light winds from the West changing to ENE, temperature 27-34 degrees Celsius, cloud cover 85-90%, which meant that had there been any migrants we would have had an easier time finding them.

Raptor Observations:
Only one migrant, an adult CH at 8:35 AM MST which came directly from the North. Non migrant raptors: RT 2 adult, 3 immature over the watch, and distant RT over the Western Ridge and Lookout Mountain; TV 6. If any of you are wondering why we are counting so early by the end of July when most hawk watches begin only by September 1, it is because Carol had generously shared their observations from 2018-2020, and in 2018 as early as August 5th they had had 4 Swainson's Hawk, 3 Ferruginous hawk and 2 AK, and I was wondering when the migration actually began here, hence our presence.

Non-raptor Observations:
Rock Wren 3, Western Kingbird 2, Violet-green Swallow 2, Spotted Towhee 1, Black-capped Chickadee 2. Paragliders 4 to the NNW, starting at 11:00 AM MDT, and they soared quite high indicating good lift.

Predictions:
The wind forecast on nullschool.net is from the NE which should give any migrants a tailwind, so we will be at the watch for a few hours, at least, starting with around 8:00 AM.

---

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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Re: [cobirds] Jaeger Trends

On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 1:47 PM John Rawinski <johnrawinski0@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all: I am wondering when the jaegers have their peak arrival along the front range. With only two records for the San Luis Valley, I always watch for them and would like to know their pattern for occurrence along the front range. Thanks.

Good question, John!

The short answer is: Long-tailed first, then Parasitic, then Pomarine. The following is oversimplified, but:

* Aug.—probably Long-tailed.

* Sept.—any of the three, with Parasitic most likely.

* Oct.—mostly Pomarine from mid-month onward (and well into Nov., even Dec.); Parasitic possible, esp. early in the month; Long-tailed unlikely.

Here is eBird output for nine (n=9) Front Range counties:



(Midsummer jaegers, very rare in Colo. and elsewhere in the Lower 48 Interior, tend to be Poms, a pattern borne out both in the Front Range counties and statewide. Spring jaegers—we have a handful of well-attested Colo. detections!—defy reason.)

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder Co.

Blanca Wetlands had 12 species of shorebirds today. North Mallard was a hotspot and is easily accessed. 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO 

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[cobirds] Jaeger Trends

Hi all: I am wondering when the jaegers have their peak arrival along the front range. With only two records for the San Luis Valley, I always watch for them and would like to know their pattern for occurrence along the front range. Thanks.

Blanca Wetlands had 12 species of shorebirds today. North Mallard was a hotspot and is easily accessed. 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO 

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[cobirds] Hummingbirds - Jeffco - Golden

Birders,

We have had some hummers here so far, mostly Rufous and still some Broad-tailed. Yesterday we had our 1st Calliope, a female.

The last couple of days it's been quiet during the day but now thru next week should be the best time here. At least that's how it's been historically.

Everyone is welcome.

--

Ira Sanders

314 Defrance Ct, Golden, CO 80401

"My mind is a raging torrent flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."

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[cobirds] Foothills hummers

Here at the very south end of Larimer County, 4 miles NE of Lyons, I'm getting all four species of hummingbirds regularly.  Nina heard pinyon jays yesterday morning, but they have been scarce lately.  Plenty of other birds around usually.

We had a bear take down some feeders (got lucky and unhooked a cable), so I'm bringing the feeders in every night at 9 PM and putting them back out at 5 AM, so I don't lose any migrants first thing in the morning.

Boulder Bird Club trip up here on July 30

DFO trips on Aug 2 and Aug 8.

Call me if you want to come by some other time.

WIldlife cam on the water feature by the deck picked up puma on June 16, and bobcat last week.  (and that pesky bear two weeks ago).   Exciting!

Raymond Davis   303-823-5332

938 Colard Lane, Lyons

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[cobirds] Re: Why we are counting at Dinosaur Ridge, and not at Mount Zion this fall?

Curious: Do these raptors migrate in summer? 

mike fernandez, denver

On Friday, July 25, 2025 at 5:08:39 PM UTC-6 aiantony wrote:

When I helped the spring raptor count at Dinosaur Ridge over the past few years, many of the raptors flew far to the West of the hawk watch site, going over Mount Morrison, going north over what we call the 'Western Ridge,' over the Mother Cabrini shrine, and past Lookout Mountain. 

I wondered whether raptors were flying even west of the ridge beyond where we could see from Dinosaur Ridge.

Liza and I did an exploratory count in fall 2024 at a newly discovered and designated by us hawkwatch site Mount Zion, which is immediately north of Lookout Mountain and 4 miles Northwest of the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch. We had a reasonable count with a total of 576 migrating raptors which averages is 9.1 raptors per hour.

We had a good count there compared to what we had in fall in 2022 at Dinosaur Ridge, and a number of the raptors seen from Mount Zion were seen around the easternmost of the 3 antenna on Lookout Mountain, and further east of North and South Table Mountains. A number of kestrels came immediately East of the watch, flying in the valley between the watch and Lookout Mountain, eventually flying over the middle of Lookout Mountain. We called it the Kestrel Channel. Lookout Mountain is about 1.6 miles long measured from east to west. Only a few raptors flew directly over us, and extremely rare raptors flew to the west of Mount Zion, so it did not look as if raptors were flying to the West of the Western Ridge which would correspond to the West end of Lookout Mountain.

We continued our observations during a partial exploratory spring watch at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch and found again that the flyway was mainly to the east of the watch. We aborted the spring watch at Mount Zion 2025 when we found that we had small numbers compared to Dinosaur Ridge Hawk.

You can see the numbers at Hawkcount.org

This suggested to us that the main flyway for this area in fall is East of Lookout Mountain i.e. visible from Dinosaur Ridge, except perhaps for the kestrels which would be difficult to see along the distant Kestrel Channel.

When we conducted a fall exploratory count at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch  in 2022, we had just moved here from New York, where the best winds for big flights were the day after a cold front going through with NW winds, and we assumed that the same would pertain here not knowing any better, and looking at our data in Hawkcount, there was a definite emphasis on NW/W, which would explain why we had such a paltry count of 78 raptors for the fall season 2022.

Over the past 3 years we've learned that NW and West winds in spring are the worst winds for Dinosaur Ridge, and also in fall based on our sightings at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch.

Carol Cwiklinski, who counted at Dinosaur with Steve Small, had given us some observations she and Steve had had, both from Dinosaur Ridge as well as from Mount Vernon, across the valley to the west from Dinosaur Ridge, and they had good numbers in fall in 2018 - 2020.

We decided we would sacrifice the count at Mount Zion and do another exploratory count at Dinosaur Ridge instead this fall, going on days with better winds, i.e. NE  and East. This would give us a much better idea of the potential of Dinosaur Ridge in fall.

I ran the idea past Emma Riley, the Project Lead at Dinosaur Ridge, and she thought it was a good idea, so also Natalie Uschner-Arroyo, the present Hawk Watch Chair and Program Manager of the watch, as well as Janet Peters who held that post before Natalie.

Anyone interested in raptors is welcome to join us on the ridge, even if you know very little of raptor ID in flight, we need spotters who can find raptors for us. In turn, we will help you learn raptor ID.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me privately.

Directions to site:

From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison - Rte 93, drive south under the freeway and make a left turn into the Stegosaurus Parking Lot. Take the trail from the south end of the parking lot to the hawk watch site. The trail goes south for 20 ft, then NE on an old two-track which acutely turns south. When the trail goes under the high tension wires, and soon reaches the top of the ridge, turn sharply left, and you will see us there. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)

Ajit Antony

Liza Antony

Central Park, Denver

Sent from my Galaxy

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[cobirds] Re: Why we are counting at Dinosaur Ridge, and not at Mount Zion this fall?

Curious: Do these raptors migrate in summer? 

On Friday, July 25, 2025 at 5:08:39 PM UTC-6 aiantony wrote:

When I helped the spring raptor count at Dinosaur Ridge over the past few years, many of the raptors flew far to the West of the hawk watch site, going over Mount Morrison, going north over what we call the 'Western Ridge,' over the Mother Cabrini shrine, and past Lookout Mountain. 

I wondered whether raptors were flying even west of the ridge beyond where we could see from Dinosaur Ridge.

Liza and I did an exploratory count in fall 2024 at a newly discovered and designated by us hawkwatch site Mount Zion, which is immediately north of Lookout Mountain and 4 miles Northwest of the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch. We had a reasonable count with a total of 576 migrating raptors which averages is 9.1 raptors per hour.

We had a good count there compared to what we had in fall in 2022 at Dinosaur Ridge, and a number of the raptors seen from Mount Zion were seen around the easternmost of the 3 antenna on Lookout Mountain, and further east of North and South Table Mountains. A number of kestrels came immediately East of the watch, flying in the valley between the watch and Lookout Mountain, eventually flying over the middle of Lookout Mountain. We called it the Kestrel Channel. Lookout Mountain is about 1.6 miles long measured from east to west. Only a few raptors flew directly over us, and extremely rare raptors flew to the west of Mount Zion, so it did not look as if raptors were flying to the West of the Western Ridge which would correspond to the West end of Lookout Mountain.

We continued our observations during a partial exploratory spring watch at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch and found again that the flyway was mainly to the east of the watch. We aborted the spring watch at Mount Zion 2025 when we found that we had small numbers compared to Dinosaur Ridge Hawk.

You can see the numbers at Hawkcount.org

This suggested to us that the main flyway for this area in fall is East of Lookout Mountain i.e. visible from Dinosaur Ridge, except perhaps for the kestrels which would be difficult to see along the distant Kestrel Channel.

When we conducted a fall exploratory count at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch  in 2022, we had just moved here from New York, where the best winds for big flights were the day after a cold front going through with NW winds, and we assumed that the same would pertain here not knowing any better, and looking at our data in Hawkcount, there was a definite emphasis on NW/W, which would explain why we had such a paltry count of 78 raptors for the fall season 2022.

Over the past 3 years we've learned that NW and West winds in spring are the worst winds for Dinosaur Ridge, and also in fall based on our sightings at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch.

Carol Cwiklinski, who counted at Dinosaur with Steve Small, had given us some observations she and Steve had had, both from Dinosaur Ridge as well as from Mount Vernon, across the valley to the west from Dinosaur Ridge, and they had good numbers in fall in 2018 - 2020.

We decided we would sacrifice the count at Mount Zion and do another exploratory count at Dinosaur Ridge instead this fall, going on days with better winds, i.e. NE  and East. This would give us a much better idea of the potential of Dinosaur Ridge in fall.

I ran the idea past Emma Riley, the Project Lead at Dinosaur Ridge, and she thought it was a good idea, so also Natalie Uschner-Arroyo, the present Hawk Watch Chair and Program Manager of the watch, as well as Janet Peters who held that post before Natalie.

Anyone interested in raptors is welcome to join us on the ridge, even if you know very little of raptor ID in flight, we need spotters who can find raptors for us. In turn, we will help you learn raptor ID.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me privately.

Directions to site:

From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison - Rte 93, drive south under the freeway and make a left turn into the Stegosaurus Parking Lot. Take the trail from the south end of the parking lot to the hawk watch site. The trail goes south for 20 ft, then NE on an old two-track which acutely turns south. When the trail goes under the high tension wires, and soon reaches the top of the ridge, turn sharply left, and you will see us there. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)

Ajit Antony

Liza Antony

Central Park, Denver

Sent from my Galaxy

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[cobirds] Where the hummingbirds are, Pitkin Co.

Oh you precious Front Rangers with your reports of a Black-chin here, a Calliope there... ;-)

Now check THIS out:

macaulaylibrary.org/asset/639366153

Yesterday morning, Thurs., July 24; Pitkin Co.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder Co.

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[cobirds] Summer Hummers with DFO

Hi CoBirders,

This is the time to enjoy our peak hummingbird numbers and maybe see all four of our regular species. Want to boost your Summer Hummer experiences?  The Denver Field Ornithologists are ready to help with ID video resources and a series of Summer Hummer field trips.

Check out DFO's BIRD BOMBS for helpful bursts of Summer Hummer ID info: View two videos at these links:

BIRD BOMBS: Summer ID Challenges  (the first half is about humminbird ID)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ5AoLcsTyw

BIRD BOMBS: Summer Hummers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8hlEYdZaIA

Summer Hummer field trips:

July 27 at Bow Mar in Littleton

July 30 near Bailey

Aug 2 near Lyons

Aug 3 at Ken Caryl in Littleton

Aug 8 near Lyons

Aug 12 at Boulder 

More trips might be added, too. 

Details and registration can be found on our field trip calendar page: https://dfobirds.org/FieldTrips/UpcomingTrips.aspx

Some trips are full, and some have openings. Registration is free and DFO field trips are open to all. 

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

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[cobirds] Why we are counting at Dinosaur Ridge, and not at Mount Zion this fall?

When I helped the spring raptor count at Dinosaur Ridge over the past few years, many of the raptors flew far to the West of the hawk watch site, going over Mount Morrison, going north over what we call the 'Western Ridge,' over the Mother Cabrini shrine, and past Lookout Mountain. 

I wondered whether raptors were flying even west of the ridge beyond where we could see from Dinosaur Ridge.

Liza and I did an exploratory count in fall 2024 at a newly discovered and designated by us hawkwatch site Mount Zion, which is immediately north of Lookout Mountain and 4 miles Northwest of the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch. We had a reasonable count with a total of 576 migrating raptors which averages is 9.1 raptors per hour.

We had a good count there compared to what we had in fall in 2022 at Dinosaur Ridge, and a number of the raptors seen from Mount Zion were seen around the easternmost of the 3 antenna on Lookout Mountain, and further east of North and South Table Mountains. A number of kestrels came immediately East of the watch, flying in the valley between the watch and Lookout Mountain, eventually flying over the middle of Lookout Mountain. We called it the Kestrel Channel. Lookout Mountain is about 1.6 miles long measured from east to west. Only a few raptors flew directly over us, and extremely rare raptors flew to the west of Mount Zion, so it did not look as if raptors were flying to the West of the Western Ridge which would correspond to the West end of Lookout Mountain.

We continued our observations during a partial exploratory spring watch at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch and found again that the flyway was mainly to the east of the watch. We aborted the spring watch at Mount Zion 2025 when we found that we had small numbers compared to Dinosaur Ridge Hawk.

You can see the numbers at Hawkcount.org

This suggested to us that the main flyway for this area in fall is East of Lookout Mountain i.e. visible from Dinosaur Ridge, except perhaps for the kestrels which would be difficult to see along the distant Kestrel Channel.

When we conducted a fall exploratory count at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch  in 2022, we had just moved here from New York, where the best winds for big flights were the day after a cold front going through with NW winds, and we assumed that the same would pertain here not knowing any better, and looking at our data in Hawkcount, there was a definite emphasis on NW/W, which would explain why we had such a paltry count of 78 raptors for the fall season 2022.

Over the past 3 years we've learned that NW and West winds in spring are the worst winds for Dinosaur Ridge, and also in fall based on our sightings at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch.

Carol Cwiklinski, who counted at Dinosaur with Steve Small, had given us some observations she and Steve had had, both from Dinosaur Ridge as well as from Mount Vernon, across the valley to the west from Dinosaur Ridge, and they had good numbers in fall in 2018 - 2020.

We decided we would sacrifice the count at Mount Zion and do another exploratory count at Dinosaur Ridge instead this fall, going on days with better winds, i.e. NE  and East. This would give us a much better idea of the potential of Dinosaur Ridge in fall.

I ran the idea past Emma Riley, the Project Lead at Dinosaur Ridge, and she thought it was a good idea, so also Natalie Uschner-Arroyo, the present Hawk Watch Chair and Program Manager of the watch, as well as Janet Peters who held that post before Natalie.

Anyone interested in raptors is welcome to join us on the ridge, even if you know very little of raptor ID in flight, we need spotters who can find raptors for us. In turn, we will help you learn raptor ID.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me privately.

Directions to site:

From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison - Rte 93, drive south under the freeway and make a left turn into the Stegosaurus Parking Lot. Take the trail from the south end of the parking lot to the hawk watch site. The trail goes south for 20 ft, then NE on an old two-track which acutely turns south. When the trail goes under the high tension wires, and soon reaches the top of the ridge, turn sharply left, and you will see us there. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)

Ajit Antony

Liza Antony

Central Park, Denver

Sent from my Galaxy

[cobirds] Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (25 Jul 2025) 4 Raptors

Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Jul 25, 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
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	1	1	1
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	1	1	1
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	1	1
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	0
Prairie Falcon	1	1	1
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	0	0
Short-eared Owl	0	0	0
Total:	4	4	4

Observation start time:	07:15:00
Observation end time:	10:30:00
Total observation time:	2.75 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Visitors:
A hiker who couldn't find the trail down to the Stegosaurus parking lot, having started from the south end of the Dakota Ridge Trail.

Weather:
Light winds at Level 2 from the West changing to East though the wind prediction by nullschool.net at the level the raptors would fly at was light from the West, temperatures 21-26°C, 5-20% cloud cover, visibility down to 4 km secondary to smoke from wildfires in western Colorado.

Raptor Observations:
All migrating raptors were seen over the Western Ridge. The first migrating raptor was an AK at 7:20 a.m. MST just before I got to the ridge. The bird of the day was a Prairie Falcon at 7:32 a.m. found by Liza by its dark axillars. At 9:21 a.m. an adult Swainson's Hawk was seen over the Cabrini Shrine 1.9 miles to the NW, which needed my scope to ID and age it. The other migrant at 10:10 a.m. was an immature RT. Non-migrant Raptors: FH seen just west of the Apex homes when it dove into the trees on Lookout Mountain and I could see its white tail; RT 3, one diving on a TV; TV 6, including 2 perched on the the 3 utility poles just north of the watch; a presumed AK (by its size and white flash of its underwings) dove twice on an adult RT just below the Western Ridge 1.25 mi away. This is an exploratory fall count approved by the Project Lead - Emma Riley after we had a reasonable fall migration, counting 576 migrant raptors in 2024 (averaging 9.1 raptors per hour) at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch in Golden, 4 miles to the Northwest from Dinosaur Ridge.

Non-raptor Observations:
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2, Rock Wren 2, Lazuli Bunting 1, Green-tailed Towhee 1, Double-crested Cormorant 1, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Violet-green Swallow 15, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Black-billed Magpie 1, Spotted Towhee 1, House Finch 2.

---

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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