[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (26 Aug 2026) 36 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 26, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	18	56	56
Osprey	1	1	1
Bald Eagle	0	0	0
Northern Harrier	1	1	1
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	3	3
Cooper's Hawk	2	7	7
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	11	77	77
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	1	8	8
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	1	17	17
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	1	1
Prairie Falcon	1	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:	36	173	173

Observation start time:	07:45:00
Observation end time:	13:00:00
Total observation time:	5.25 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
An older hiker talked with me about what I was doing. He saw a bird on a juniper and asked whether it was a cowbird. It was a Western Bluebird. He said he had the Merlin app when I told him about it, but he was never able to take any pictures to send for ID. I told him about the sound ID feature of the app and told him how to access it. He asked about DFO, though he mangled the letters. I told him that DFO has 3-5 bird trips a week, and beginners were welcome. A couple Jen and Craig came by and talked raptor migration with me for a long time who had " chanced on" the Pack Monadnock Hawk Watch in NH, and it also been to Cape May in fall. I told them about Hawkcount where they can see for example the huge numbers of Mississippi Kite going past Veracruz. I was able to show them a easily visible close CH.

Weather:
Much more smoke from wildfires over Denver compared to the last few days. Light winds from the NNW>NE, no cloud cover initially but gradually increasing, and by 10:00 a.m. DST they were many small puffy clouds topping thermals between SW and S which became larger and came eastward. At 1:45 p.m. DST there was a light drizzle, the rain and thunderstorms which were expected at 3:00 p.m. so I left.

Raptor Observations:
The best day this season. I wonder whether it was because of the north-based winds aloft. As soon as I got to the watch and before I even unpacked, I could see a bird against the conifers of the North face of Lookout Mountain which turned out to be an adult male NH in some molt. The single Swainson's Hawk had a faint pinkish hue to its tail backlit when seen from below, and I initially thought FH, but it had no flashes on its wings, nor did it have any white scapulars, but it had dark flight feathers dorsally compared to the coverts. I also saw an Osprey which came up out of Clear Creek Canyon to just to the north, flew a little higher than eye level, made its way to the SE where it was attacked by an RT eventually turning SSE over Green Mountain to migrate. Since Denver produces a lot of heat which rises, I wonder whether this could give a boost to raptors which fly over Denver, since there are trees both to the north as well as the South where there isn't much lift. I was reminded of Hook Mountain in New York where there was a stone quarry 10 mi to the north which provided good lift. I found an RT over Denver flying SSE but it was lost in the smoke and not counted. Then there were two TVs to the SE of Denver at the horizon which migrated toward the SW. In the 11:00 MST hour a TV was seen just south of Denver which lost lift, I was able to follow it with my scope until it went past Green Mountain.

Non-raptor Observations:
2 paragliders at 10:30 a.m. had no lift at all, and 4 paragliders and 1 hang glider at 11:45 a.m. had excellent lift. Interestingly the Soaring Forecast of the NWS showed a lift of 13 ft per second with maximum height of thermals being 8,040 ft above ground level, which is 2000 ft lower than yesterday when the sky was full of clouds. It is probably a combination of smoke and fine cirrus clouds dissipating the sun's heat today.

Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Calm wind becoming east northeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.

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Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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