[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (27 Aug 2026) 10 Raptors

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
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 second hawk watch in Colorado. 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. We will help you to learn Raptor ID. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk

Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 27, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	1	57	57
Osprey	0	1	1
Bald Eagle	1	1	1
Northern Harrier	0	1	1
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	3	3
Cooper's Hawk	0	7	7
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	8	85	85
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	8	8
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	0	17	17
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	1
Prairie Falcon	0	1	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	0	0
Total:	10	183	183

Observation start time:	08:30:00
Observation end time:	10:30:00
Total observation time:	2 hours
Official Counter	Liza Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
None

Weather:
Smoke from wildfires obscured visibility to the north, west and south, fortunately Lookout mtn. was clear. cloud cover was 20% mainly to the west of the watch at the start of the count and increased to 70% by the end of the watch when it started raining. Winds were from the NE at the start of the count and changed to ENE to East at the end of the watch.

Raptor Observations:
As noted previously by Ajit most of the raptor activity was at the eastern end of lookout mountain or between Lookout Mountain and Green Mountain. The first non-migrant raptors seen at 9 MST were 3 TV's with a migrating adult BE.Other non-migrating raptors included 2 RT and a female AK.

Non-raptor Observations:
No paragliders noted. When I got to the watch a young man with a guitar and some other equipment was sitting on my preferred rock and singing softly. Fortunately for me he finished recording and left after half an hour. Not many visitors and none interested in raptors. Other birds seen included 1 PYNU,2 BTHU, 1 WEBL, 1 BGGN, 1 AMCR 2 STJA, 1 SPTO

Predictions:
A 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny with a high near 93. Wind six to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon.

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Report submitted by Liza Antony (liza.antony15@gmail.com)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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