Golden, Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 24, 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 | 1 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 4 | 22 | 23 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 4 | 27 | 32 |
| Observation start time: | 07:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 11:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Weather:
The forecast was for 50% cloud cover predicted to rise to 85% in the afternoon, with rain likely by noon with lightning, with light winds from the NE, but at the watch there was 70% cloud cover. When faced with this we looked up the Soaring Forecast of the National Weather Service and it was poor with lift at only 0.2 meters per second, and the height of the thermals was predicted to be only 3265 feet above ground level, which boded poorly for a good migration of buteos. There was watery sunlight which perhaps would not create good thermals, I felt. The sun came out from behind the clouds in the 9-10 hour MDT for a longish time. In the last hour we had low dark clouds coming in rapidly from the north. I kept my eye on My Lightning app, and there were none until to the West of Rifle 142 miles away. When Genesee Mountain was extremely hazy and all the mountains north of Lookout Mountain were the same, we decided to stop. 10 minutes of driving on the way home there was some rain, and 1.5 hours later there was lightning strikes SW of the watch site near Evergreen.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a CH which was lost in front of Mount Morrison, not counted as a migrant because we could not see it further to the South. The first migrant was an adult SW at 8 9:49 AM over the Western Ridge which needed a scope to identify it as an adult with its two-toned underwing. At 11:09 AM a small kettle of 3 SW were seen circling then streaming fast, just south of Mount Morrison, through the scope I could see their pointed wingtips and dihedral. Non-migrant Raptors: Osprey 2, TV 3, RT 4.
Non-raptor Observations:
Violet-green Swallow 2, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 6 American Robin 1, Black-capped Chickadee 1, House Finch 2, Northern Flicker heard, Common Raven 2, American Crow 1. A paraglider at 9:21 who could not get much lift, in fact he was below the height he took off from. At 10:30 AM we could see 5 paragliders with moderate lift.
Predictions:
Is 62% risk of rain in the morning, with a chance of lightning by 11:00 AM, and likely by 3:00 PM, so I will skip counting tomorrow. On Wednesday there may be a small window before thunderstorms are predicted to start by noon.
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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