Golden, Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 09, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 65 | 92 |
| Osprey | 4 | 12 | 18 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 5 | 18 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 9 | 21 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 7 | 42 | 63 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 7 | 68 | 120 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 9 | 93 | 341 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| American Kestrel | 15 | 146 | 285 |
| Merlin | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Total: | 43 | 451 | 1004 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.53 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley, Soren Zappia |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
5 visitors. We had a few visitors in the morning to see the birds, and all enjoyed all the kestrels zooming right past our heads! Thank you to Helen Berkman, Ric Olson, Ryan Gannon, and Chris and Cayce Gulbransen for volunteering! We especially appreciated your flexibility with weather today.
Weather:
It started as a cloudy and cool day in the morning with light SE winds and temps in the mid 60s F. Cloud cover started mostly cloudy but increased to overcast as the morning progressed. Around 11:45 MST, lightning was detected in the area, and the count was paused for safety per our protocols. At 1:00 MST the count resumed, and we had about 40 minutes before multiple lightning strikes were detected only a few miles away and it started to rain. As radar indicated storms would continue, the count was ended at 13:39 MST.
Raptor Observations:
Despite the shortened count day, we had a good flight in the morning, including accipitrines, Red-tailed Hawks, and American Kestrels. While most migrants were to the west, many of the AKs were low past the ridge. A highlight of the day was seeing four migrating Osprey in the morning, with two in the first hour. We also had our first migrant Swainson's Hawk, a light morph adult. After yesterday's local bird, we were excited to count one! The only migrant after the count resumed was a distant Cooper's Hawk to the west, speeding past just as the storms closed in. Today we counted our 1000th migrant of the season, a Sharp-shinned Hawk!
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 25, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Hairy Woodpecker 1, American Crow 1, Common Raven 3, Black-capped Chickadee 1, swalow sp. 3, American Bushtit 2, White-breasted Nuthatch 1, House Finch 2, Pine Siskin 1, Spotted Towhee 1, Western Meadowlark 1
Predictions:
Tomorrow, expect clouds and cooler temperatures in the low 50s to low 60s F. Light NE winds are predicted. There is a chance we have more storms in the late afternoon. Keep an eye on the radar and stay off the ridge if there is lightning nearby.
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]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - [Project Details]
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, and American White Pelican. 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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