[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 9/22/26

There were lots of birds around the station to welcome us back after our day off.  You will notice that there are more sparrow species and fewer insectivores among our captures, even though the number of Wilson's Warblers continues to be above normal.  A total of 73 new birds today:

Dusky Flycatcher 1

Northern House Wren 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1

Hermit Thrush 3

Gray Catbird 3

Orange-crowned Warbler 3

Yellow Warbler 1

Wilson's Warbler 31

Green-tailed Towhee 3

Lincoln's Sparrow 8

Song Sparrow 3

White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel's 11

White-crowned Sparrow, Mountain 2

Dark-eyed Junco, Pink-sided 1

American Goldfinch 1 FOS

We are open Tuesday through Sunday, weather permitting, through October 23.  Most weekday mornings there is a visitor session from 7:30 to 8:30, and on the weekends there are sessions at 8, 9 and 10 a.m.  Reservations are needed; here is the link.   Please join us......It is a great year to visit Barr!

Meredith McBurney

Bander, Barr Lake Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (22 Sep 2026) 33 Raptors

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA

To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. 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 if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk

Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 22, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	5	102	207
Osprey	0	20	22
Bald Eagle	0	2	3
Northern Harrier	1	13	14
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	14	17
Cooper's Hawk	3	106	120
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	1	60	60
Red-tailed Hawk	5	237	394
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	7	168	183
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	1
Golden Eagle	0	7	8
American Kestrel	7	90	110
Merlin	2	2	2
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	1	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	3	3
Unknown Buteo	0	0	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	2	9	10
Total:	33	835	1158

Observation start time:	07:45:00
Observation end time:	12:15:00
Total observation time:	4.5 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Visitors:
Ben Fassett from Arvada who read our eBird reports, had never seen a Broad-winged Hawk and came up for an hour with his binoculars and camera. He was able to see the Swainson's Hawk in migration and got good images of an AK in flight. Bob Sargeant a biologist and ornithologist from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources came to the watch for an hour. He had also found the Mount Zion Hawk Watch hotspot on eBird.

Weather:
Severe brown haze over Denver going up 5� above ground level. Minimal cloud cover at the start going up to 30% maximum, light winds from the ESE, visibility 6 km gradually increasing to 20 km with the haze persisting.

Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was at 9:45 a.m. mdte and was an AK in the Kestrel Channel. Between 10: 20 a.m. and 10:28 a.m. we had 7 Swainson's Hawk fly low over the Table Mountains migrating through the gap between Green Mountain and Lookout Mountain. A single adult BW overhead at 12:29 p.m. 2 Merlin flying fairly close to the east.

Non-raptor Observations:
The 2 paragliders at 12:15 p.m. MDT had no lift, but the 2 at 1:00 p.m. had moderate lift.

Predictions:
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Light and variable wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%

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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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[cobirds] Chico Basin Ranch Banding Station Report-Bird Conservancy of the Rockies-September 22, 2026

Southerly winds appeared to push some already banded birds back into the area. Fifteen bird species captured including a nice Canyon Towhee. We caught a representative from all the towhee family: Green-tailed, Canyon and Spotted. 

A Gray Catbird was banded on August 26th and captured 3 times since then. I believe it had moved south and worked its way back today. The last time it was recaptured before today was on September 1st. It had gained almost 2 grams since September 1st.

24 New Banded Birds

Wilson's Warbler- 8

Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 1

Red-breasted Nuthatch- 2

Gray Catbird- 2

Lincoln's Sparrow- 1

Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow- 2

Mountain White-crowned Sparrow- 1

Song Sparrow- 1

Spotted Towhee- 3

Green-tailed towhee- 2

Canyon Towhee- 1

6 Recaptures

Spotted Towhee

Brown Thrasher

Gray Catbird

Orange-crowned Warbler- banded 5 days ago

Swainson's Thrush- 2

The Banding station will be open tomorrow through Saturday from sunrise until @ noon.

If interested in visiting the ranch, please register online at www.aikenaudubon.com

Have a good day,

Julie Shieldcastle, Bander

Chico Basin Ranch

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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[cobirds] The Buena Vista Shuffle

Clark's Nutcracker getting a drink at Buena Vista River Park on the Arkansas River. 

All:

        For the 8th, 9th, and 10th of September.  Late post.   This is for the Buena Vista Colorado area.   

      For those birders familiar with Buena Vista, you know that its "Covid Rich".   And two noteworthy things about it are that hundreds of mule deer pile into town in the winter, as well as pinyon jays that attack bird feeders with vigor.  

Clark's Nutcracker - over 60, most concentrated at the Buena Vista River Park trail(s) - easy to observe and photograph.  This part of the Arkansas River must be like paradise for Nutcrackers, as one side is open pinyon forest sloping down the river, which is thick with narrow-leaf cottonwoods, willow, oak, rabbitbrush, three leaf sumac, and other deciduous shrubs.  Their numbers seem to be increasing along the river each year.  

Pinyon Jay - over 100 seen at the Collegiate Peaks Overlook off of route 285 (state parks pass required).  This is one of best places in Colorado to watch for Pinyon Jays.  

Scrub Jay - about 6 at the River Park Trail and a couple more in town. 

Stellar's Jay - about 30 along the River Park Trail, and more up the Cotton Pass Road.  

Gray Jay - 2 - near Little Ptarmigan Lake \ Ptarmigan Lake Trail.  A grueling hike that I would not recommend unless you are in good shape. 

Black Billed Magpie - scant, only 2 heard in town. 

Common Raven - 2 at Cottonwood Pass (12,126 feet).  

American Crow - about 40 in and around town.  

Other birds and wildlife.  

Cottonwood Pass = CP

Cottonwood Pass Road = CR

Cottonwood Hot Springs = CS

Buena Vista River Trail - BVT

Buena Vista (town proper) - BV

Ptarmigan Lake(s) Trail - PL

Continental Divide Trail - CD

Mountain Chickadee - 100 +   CR, PL

Red Breasted Nuthatch - 15  CR, CS, PL

Pygmy Nuthatch - 12 - BV, BVT

White Breasted Nuthatch - 2  - BV

Black Capped Chickadee - 6 - BVT

Gray Headed Junco - hundreds, even above Cottonwood Pass along the Continental Divide Trail.  CD, CP, CR, BVT, BV, PL

House Wren - only 1 seen at BVT

Chipping Sparrow - about 50 including migratory groups above 12,000 feet foraging in the tundra.  CD, BV, BVT, PL, CP

Ruby Crowned Kinglet - 12 - along PL 

Broad Tailed Hummingbird - 2 at CS and 2 in BV

Wilson's Warbler - only a couple - PL and BVT

Audubon's Warbler - 11 - BV, BVT, CR

MacGillivray's Warbler - 1 at CL

White Crowned Sparrow - 12 - at CD and CP

House Sparrow - few in numbers, only 6 - BVT

Bushtit - 20 - BV, BVT

Belted Kingfisher - 1 - flying along CR

Green Tailed Towhee - 6 - at CL and BVT - foraging

Townsend's Solitaire - 6 - BVT - eating juniper berries

American Robin - 60 + most in higher mixed evergreen forests.  BVT, PL, CP, CR

Mallard - 40 in ponds and lakes, most at CL

Common Grackle - 200 - two large flocks at BV

Eurasian Collared Dove - only 4 in BV

Mountain Bluebird - 2 along CD above 12,000 feet foraging 

Plumbeous Vireo - 1 - at BVT in a ponderosa pine

American Pipit - 20+ foraging groups along CD in the tundra

Red Crossbill - 2 - the only ones seen - at BVT flyover \ calling

Northern Flicker - 6 - BVT, PL, CR

Downy Woodpecker - 2 - CR and BV

Pika - 4 - PL trail

Pine Squirrel - hundreds gathering Doug fir cones and spruce cones in mixed conifer forests up to tree line. 

Mule Deer - 25 - BV, CR - early morning was the worst, as they wandered right out onto roads around corners while driving. 

Chipmunk spp:  100+  -  in mixed conifer habitats and surprisingly lots of them foraging above 12,000 along the CDT. 

Conspicuously absent:  starlings, house finches, and raptors of any kind.  

The two great things near and in Buena Vista are the numerous hot springs, and the cool plunge pools along the Arkansas River Trail - which I took advantage of.  Cottonwood Hot Springs now has a cold plunge right into cold numbing Cottonwood Creek.  Great after a hot day of hiking and birding.  Wim Hof eat your heart out.  

Happy fall, 

John T (Tumasonis)

"I'm not a real birder.  I only pretend to be one on CoBirds."  

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[cobirds] ZONE-TAILED HAWK very close to Baca County

I saw a Zone-tailed Hawk in Oklahoma maybe within a mile of Colorado in Oklahoma this morning.  One was photographed this month at Carrizo Canyon in Baca County, today’s bird wasn’t far away.  Maybe Picture Canyon is also not too far away.

Brandon K. Percival
Currently in Boise City, Oklahoma

Sent from my Phone

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[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (21 Sep 2026) 82 Raptors

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA

To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. 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 if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk

Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 21, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	3	97	202
Osprey	0	20	22
Bald Eagle	0	2	3
Northern Harrier	3	12	13
Sharp-shinned Hawk	4	14	17
Cooper's Hawk	8	103	117
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	3	59	59
Red-tailed Hawk	3	232	389
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	47	161	176
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	1
Golden Eagle	1	7	8
American Kestrel	10	83	103
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	1	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	3	3
Unknown Buteo	0	0	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	7	8
Total:	82	802	1125

Observation start time:	07:45:00
Observation end time:	14:00:00
Total observation time:	6.25 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony

Visitors:
Michael K. of South Platt Park who was a volunteer counter at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch from 2011 to 2013 had seen our reports on COBirds and came up for about an hour. A couple asked whether we were birding, and I explained. She wanted to know how many raptors we had seen, and I said 61, and she said I'm jealous. To console her, I said that they were quite far and she wouldn't have been able to see most of them without binoculars.

Weather:
Denver was completely hazy today due to 10� inversion layer over the horizon. There were cumulus clouds both to the east as well as to the west going from 45% to 25% to 60% and back to 20%. Cool and pleasant all day.

Raptor Observations:
Another great Swainson's Hawk day, which started with Liza finding 3 buteos overhead and a little to the north of us, which she promptly identified as SW - 2 juveniles with light heads and an adult with a dark head. As they streamed toward the SW, remembering what we did with BW in New York, I looked ahead of them and sure enough there were more. In the next 10 minutes we had 47 SW streaming and kettling! As of today we have counted 176 SW for the season which is the highest compared to all the spring season counts since 1990 - 99 more SW than the highest seasonal total of 77 counted in 2023! This may be a fall migration phenomenon. An adult female AK flew straight at us at eye level from the north and veered only 20 ft from us, We had 3 single BW, 2 "local TV" I found over North Table Mountain which when they came closer Liza correctly identified as adult GE, one of which was a non-migrant and dove from a great height into Clear Creek Canyon and then flew NW, the other was a migrant at 2:02 p.m. MDT which had a molting/missing left inner primary. A migrant CH dove onto a migrant AK near it and then both continued migrating South. Non-migrant raptors: GE 2 one of which glided at eye level to the east of us seeming to be a migrant, dropped below the top of Lookout Mountain and then flew back out to the NE, RT 3, TV 5.

Non-raptor Observations:
2 tandem paragliders had no lift at 10:30 a.m. DST, not even reaching our height, while at 12:15 p.m. 3 paragliders had excellent lift going really high, going far to the North where we could just about see them without binoculars. The Soaring Forecast of the NWS had good lift at 11 feet per second, and height of thermals at 8,684 ft AGL.

Predictions:
A slight chance of showers between noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Calm wind becoming east 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. The winds aloft are predicted to be light coming from the SW to the West.

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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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[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Grand Valley Audubon Society Banding Station (9/14 - 9/18)

Hi, all!

We are now onto our second week of banding at Connected Lakes State Park in Grand Junction, and here are the totals from last week! (9/14 - 9/18)

Wilson's Warbler: 27

Bushtit: 21

House Finch: 20

Gambel's White-Crowned Sparrow: 10

Spotted Towhee: 6

MacGillivray's Warbler: 5

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: 4

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher: 4

Brewer's Sparrow: 4

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay: 3

Plumbeous Vireo: 2

Mourning Dove: 2

Black-Capped Chickadee: 2

Townsend's Warbler: 1

Northern House-Wren: 1

Orange-Crowned Warbler: 1

Song Sparrow: 1

Lincoln's Sparrow: 1

Yellow-Breasted Chat: 1

American Robin: 1

Western Warbling-Vireo: 1

Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Audubon's): 1

Juniper Titmouse: 1

Western Tanager: 1

Blue Grosbeak: 1

That brings us to a total of 122 birds and 25 species for the week! Not too shabby for this site :) My personal favorite was our Yellow-Breasted Chat, which we banded at 7:10 am on 9/16. 

Thank you so much to everyone who visited or volunteered at this site this week! Stay tuned for more.

Isabel Hardwig

Bander, Ridgway and GVAS Stations

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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[cobirds] Chico Basin Ranch Banding Station Report-Bird Conservancy of the Rockies-September 21, 2026

Some major storms went through overnight here on the Ranch. Much Needed Rain. A few Wilson's Warblers were around today. I have not seen any flycatchers today so they must be mostly south of here. We banded a Brown Creeper today which is new for me at the Chico banding station. Such camouflaged birds that always impress me with their many brown feathers and that curved bill. Brown Thrashers are still hanging around. Guess they are finding food in the leaf litter. The recaptured Swainson's Thrush lost a couple tenths in weight since Saturday. Not sure why they are not finding enough food to fatten up to migrate?

26 New Banded Birds

Wilson's Warbler- 13

Brown Creeper- 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 1

Oregon Junco- 1

Spotted Towhee- 1

Swainson's Thrush- 2

Hermit Thrush- 3

Red-breasted Nuthatch- 1

Brown Thrasher- 2

American Robin- 1

1 Recapture

Swainson's Thrush

The Banding station is open tomorrow through Saturday from Sunrise until @ noon. If interested in visiting the ranch/banding station, please register online at www.aikenaudubon.com

Stop by the station to share your sightings. We would love to hear about them. 

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Julie Shieldcastle, Bander

Chico Basin Ranch

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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[cobirds] 50th Annual Western Field Ornithologists Conference

Hi All!

I just attended the Sept. 17–20 50th Annual Western Field Ornithologists Conference in Ashland, Oregon. The mix of field trips, skill-building, brand-new info, and camaraderie has me fired up for another year of birding. Much like our own CFO, the proceeds from this conference directly fund student research grants and give scientists a platform to share their knowledge through rapid-fire, 15-minute presentations detailing their hypotheses, methods, and results. I was especially impressed by the high school and undergrad students presenting their work—so poised, and really good educators! The master's students' presentations were a bit harder to follow with much more complicated graphs and analysis, but it was a good challenge for the brain.

Among all the many excellent sessions, a few presentations I especially liked: 

Tracking winter feeding ecology of Colorado’s elusive Brown-capped Rosy-Finches (presented by 16-year-old Grant Brandberg)
Rethinking common names for North American Red Crossbill call types (a really useful review of the history of these birds' nomenclature)
Impact of wildfire smoke on songbird physiology and behavior in dry pine forests of central Oregon (turns out, it's complicated);
Factors influencing body condition and survival of Western Snowy Plover chicks (so many cute photos)

The Bird Sounds Challenge (moderated by Nathan Pieplow and Ben Guo) and the Photo Quiz (moderated by Ed Harper) were interactive masterclasses that left us both wanting more and with overheated brains. Hearing the teams and expert panelists think out loud—breaking down calls, field marks, and process-of-elimination techniques—provided practical tools to improve our own field ID skills. I didn't attend any workshops, which were held during field trip hours, but upon reflection, I think they may have been an even better opportunity for learning.

National Wildlife Forensics Lab Tour: I was gobsmacked by the tour of the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory. This is the world's only federal lab dedicated strictly to solving crimes against wildlife. We saw the pathology lab, the chemistry departments, and the massive repositories from global trafficking busts, most notably the illegal collection seized from Dr. John Waldrop—the largest taxidermy forfeiture in U.S. history. Standing in front of thousands of confiscated specimens, including critically endangered vultures, tiny owls, and so many others, was a heart-rending experience. The lab morphology expert who served as our guide pulled out dozens of specimens from the bird collections, and we got to hold a baby auklet, touch the bill of a hornbill, and examine ornaments made from curassow heads (gross!). You can see some of the lab for yourself in this short video: Solving Crimes Against Animals With Forensic Experts.

Colorado Contingent: The conference was understandably mostly attended by Oregonians and Californians, with a smattering of birders from Nevada, Washington, Mexico, etc. Colorado had a showing, too. Our state was represented by young presenter Grant Brandberg, author Nathan Pieplow, and CFO columnist David Leatherman. In fact, I think my hubby Tom and I were the only Coloradans in attendance who didn't present! (Sorry if I missed anybody—let us hear from you if I did.)

Best, 
Kristi

Durango

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[cobirds] Chatfield Banding Station: Week 4 Report

We had an exciting week of banding at Chatfield with 161 new birds of 23 species, plus 26 same-season recaptures and 5 birds who had returned from previous seasons. 

New Birds

Black-capped Chickadee 3

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1

Brewer's Sparrow 1

Bushtit (FOS) 10 

Cassin's Vireo (FOS) 1

Chipping Sparrow 2

Common Yellowthroat 1

Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed) (FOS) 1

Gray Catbird 1

Green-tailed Towhee 1

White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's) 1

White-crowned Sparrow (Mountain) 4

Hammond's Flycatcher (FOS) 1

Lincoln's Sparrow 2

MacGillivray's Warbler 5

Northern House Wren 1

Orange-crowned Warbler 13

Ovenbird (FOS) 1

Song Sparrow 2

Spotted Towhee 7

Warbling Vireo (FOS) 3 (2 measured as Western, 1 was undetermined)

Western Wood-Pewee (FOS) 1

Wilson's Warbler 97

Yellow Warbler 1

If you'd like to visit the station, you can register through Denver Audubon’s website.

Audrey Hicks

Bander, Denver Audubon + Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (20 Sep 2026) 82 Raptors

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA

To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. 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 if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk

Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 20, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	3	94	199
Osprey	1	20	22
Bald Eagle	1	2	3
Northern Harrier	3	9	10
Sharp-shinned Hawk	8	10	13
Cooper's Hawk	27	95	109
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	2	56	56
Red-tailed Hawk	18	229	386
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	1	114	129
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	1
Golden Eagle	3	6	7
American Kestrel	9	73	93
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	1	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	1	3	3
Unknown Buteo	0	0	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	5	7	8
Total:	82	720	1043

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Liza Antony, Scott Severs

Visitors:
Scott Severs from Longmont, president of Boulder Audubon, joined us for the entire day. He read our reports on COBirds, and is an experienced birder and hawk watcher, having counted hawks 2-3 times a week in the 1990s for 4 years after the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory now the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies stopped funding paid counters, and Jeff Birek organized volunteers to count. Scott was excellent in finding numerous hawks especially distant ones to the NW and west, identifying them rapidly, and photographing them, so helping us ID sexes of kestrels for example. Many hikers asked us many questions about the hawk watch, and one of them stayed over an hour. We were able to show easily visible GE, BE, CH, NH, TV to visitors who were duly impressed, as some of them were initially difficult to see against the blue sky, and they felt elated when they were able to see them.

Weather:
Slight haze around Denver caused by an inversion layer which cleared up, light cloud cover, light winds from the NE while the winds aloft were from the West.

Raptor Observations:
This is the highest single day total this season - 82 migrant raptors. We also passed the 1,000 migrant raptor count for the season. We had an excellent Cooper's Hawk day with 27, and 3 GE - 2 adults and a juvenile. Checking Hawkcount.org for the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch in spring which is what we have to compare with in Colorado, before the last 5 years when there have been paid professional counting 8 hours daily, going back to 11 years before that there have only been 3 years which have had seasonal counts over 1,000, and the counts going back from 2021 for 5 years had 1101, 556, 808, 588, 692 respectively. A subadult GE with no white wing or tail patches but with faint whitish along the greater coverts ventrally gave us a big problem. We initially found soaring to the East at 2:25 p.m. where joined an adult GE and both flew to the South looking like migrants, but they individually went to the NE at 2:25 p.m., the subadult circling around for a long time, then glided strongly to the SW close to the horizon and we counted it, and a few minutes later a visitor named Rob, the one who stayed over an hour, told us that it had perched on a tree next to the westernmost antenna on Lookout Mountain. This was a few minutes after we had counted it, and we thought perhaps he saw a TV land, but looking through a scope we could easily see it was a GE, this being 2:55 p.m. We decided to watch it in case it was a migrant. An RT dove on it 6 times with dropped talons, and the GE finally flew far to the NE at 3:11 p.m., non-migrant. Non-migrant raptors: GE 2, RT 3, TV 3, BE 2.

Non-raptor Observations:
8 paragliders after 11:00 a.m. MDT with excellent lift flying extremely high and going far north and south.

Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 73. Calm wind becoming east 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.

---

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

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[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 9/20/26

For the second day, an early evening thunderstorm last night, very wet nets when we arrived to open this morning, and the same number of new birds banded - 19:

American Kestral 1 (A bird that is seen frequently around the station but rarely caught - only the second in 20 years.  Small for a raptor but fierce!)

Orange-crowned Warbler 3

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon's  2

Wilson's Warbler 5

Spotted Towhee 1

Lincoln's Sparrow 2

Song Sparrow 3

White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel's 1

Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon 1

We are open Tuesday through Sunday, weather permitting, through October 23.  Most weekday mornings there is a visitor session from 7:30 to 8:30, and on the weekends there are sessions at 8, 9 and 10 a.m.  Reservations are needed; here is the link.   Please join us......It is a great year to visit Barr!

Meredith McBurney

Bander, Barr Lake Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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Re: [cobirds] VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake, Yuma County 9/19/26

Derek and all,

This is another good lesson on waiting for better photos...

Thanks,

Josh Bruening

Currently Lewistown, Montana

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 20, 2026, at 7:24 AM, Derek Hill <derek.jackson.hill@gmail.com> wrote:

Josh
Looking in "Rare Birds of North America" by Howell, Lewington, Russell (2014 Princeton University Press), in the account for Piratic Flycatcher they write

"Similar Species: ... Variegated Flycatcher, another austral vagrant, is appreciably larger with longer bill (pinkish below at base), flattish crown slightly peaked at the nape (versus more rounded head of Piratic), slightly flared whitish eyebrow, bolder rufous edgings to uppertail coverts and tail, and paler underparts without bright yellow wash; often perches lower and in less open situations than Piratic."

They do not mention pale edges of any wing feathers as a field mark between these two species. In their illustrations of the two species side by side, Piratic is shown with quite crisp and bold white edges to wing coverts and remiges (as is Variegated).  BTW this book has awesome illustrations by Ian Lewington. A fantastic reference book

Good birding,
Derek Hill
currently OH

On Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 2:57:34 PM UTC-4 Josh Bruening wrote:

Daniel, et al.,

The white edging to the wing coverts and secondary stack eliminates Piratic.  Heckuva find!!!  Wish I could chase...

Josh Bruening

Currently Lewistown, MT

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 19, 2026, at 12:46 PM, Daniel Maynard <dma...@gmail.com> wrote:



Folks,

I found what appears to be a VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake in Yuma County. It's been in the area of (40.0866284, -102.2765109) for a while now, mostly perching high in olive snags. Mediocre iPhone photos below

Daniel Maynard

Ecologist

Grief Ritual Facilitator

971.237.3906
Denver, CO

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<IMG_0070.jpeg>

<IMG_0071.jpeg>

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Re: [cobirds] VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake, Yuma County 9/19/26

Josh
Looking in "Rare Birds of North America" by Howell, Lewington, Russell (2014 Princeton University Press), in the account for Piratic Flycatcher they write

"Similar Species: ... Variegated Flycatcher, another austral vagrant, is appreciably larger with longer bill (pinkish below at base), flattish crown slightly peaked at the nape (versus more rounded head of Piratic), slightly flared whitish eyebrow, bolder rufous edgings to uppertail coverts and tail, and paler underparts without bright yellow wash; often perches lower and in less open situations than Piratic."

They do not mention pale edges of any wing feathers as a field mark between these two species. In their illustrations of the two species side by side, Piratic is shown with quite crisp and bold white edges to wing coverts and remiges (as is Variegated).  BTW this book has awesome illustrations by Ian Lewington. A fantastic reference book

Good birding,
Derek Hill
currently OH

On Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 2:57:34 PM UTC-4 Josh Bruening wrote:

Daniel, et al.,

The white edging to the wing coverts and secondary stack eliminates Piratic.  Heckuva find!!!  Wish I could chase...

Josh Bruening

Currently Lewistown, MT

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 19, 2026, at 12:46 PM, Daniel Maynard <dma...@gmail.com> wrote:



Folks,

I found what appears to be a VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake in Yuma County. It's been in the area of (40.0866284, -102.2765109) for a while now, mostly perching high in olive snags. Mediocre iPhone photos below

Daniel Maynard

Ecologist

Grief Ritual Facilitator

971.237.3906
Denver, CO

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<IMG_0070.jpeg>

<IMG_0071.jpeg>

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[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (19 Sep 2026) 69 Raptors

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA

To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. 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 if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk

Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	3	91	196
Osprey	1	19	21
Bald Eagle	0	1	2
Northern Harrier	2	6	7
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	2	5
Cooper's Hawk	11	68	82
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	26	54	54
Red-tailed Hawk	23	209	366
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	115	130
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	1
Golden Eagle	2	3	4
American Kestrel	1	64	84
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	1	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	2	2
Unknown Buteo	0	0	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	2	3
Total:	69	638	961

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	7.17 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
While I was looking at 2 BW someone asked What were those? I found a woman with binoculars. She was Lily Pad who had never seen a BW and saw our eBird report of 10 BW yesterday and decided to come up. She got her lifer BW and more with the kettle. At 3:20 p.m. an adult GE to the SE was chased all the way to the NE by an RT which flew over it, harassing it. The GE closed his wings and dove, a beautiful sight, then glided all the way toward the South where the RT chased it again into Lookout Mountain. An AK attacked a CH on migration, seen through my scope while watching an RT. Non-migrant raptors: dark morph adult RT without any molt, 3 other RT. TV 7 at 3:25 p.m. flying NE together, probably going to a roost. AK 1. Many hikers listened in on my instructing Lily regarding hawk ID. A woman came up to me and said You were here two weeks ago weren't you, what are you looking at. I explained about hawk migration, hawk counts, HMA. She wanted to know whether I got paid. In pleasure, I replied, and added Most rewarding things you do in life you don't get paid for- the philosopher in me.

Weather:
Slight haze over the bases of the buildings in downtown Denver caused by an inversion layer which could be seen as a 3� whitish cloud over the eastern horizon. Pleasantly cool all day especially after the rain. Light winds from the ESE changing to NE. Cloud cover progressively increasing, clear visibility only 6 km increasing to 20 km, after the rain it increased to 39 km. At 11:25 a.m. MDT there were very dark clouds to the SW of the watch. Lightning strikes had been recorded 13 miles to the SW, and I thought the storms might blow south of us, but then there was a flash of stick lightning to the SW which made me almost run down to the car with my equipment, where I found that lightning had struck one mile NE of the watch in Golden. After half an hour I was ready to leave as the rain and thunder continued, but as I backed my car out I noticed the sky brightening and within a short time the rain had almost stopped and the sun came out. My Lightning app showed the nearest lightning strikes to the West were 100 mi away at Glenwood Springs, and there was blue sky between clouds to the West so I thought I might get a few more hours of observation, and went back up to the watch getting there at 12:30 p.m. Once the rain cleared the air was very clear and everything looked razor sharp. Just before I left at 5:00 p.m. there were dark clouds to the SW and distant thunder rumbles, but the nearest lightning strikes were 35 miles away to the SW.

Raptor Observations:
23 Broadwing hawks including a single kettle of 16 found quite by luck in a blue sky when I was looking at an RT at 10:54 a.m. MDT to the SE. I could see adults tail bands on some of them with my scope. Dark morph BW 1. GE juvenile at 2:33 p.m. flew SE. I stayed till 5:00 p.m. today to see if there are late flights in the afternoon at this site. At most sites thermal production slows down by 3:00 p.m. and the hawks migrate at a lower height, but in Denver because of the elevation a mile high and the thin atmosphere, thermals keep forming until much later. At 4:00 p.m. I could see 2 local RT high over Lookout Mountain. At Dinosaur Ridge in Spring I have seen migrant hawks quite high in the sky (Level 4) even at 5:00 p.m.

Non-raptor Observations:
WTSW 17, VGSW 8, STJA 1, MOCH 1, BBMA 1, AMCR 2, CORA 2.

Predictions:
A cold front went through this evening, so tomorrow could be a good day for migrants. The winds aloft according to earth.nullschool.net are from the north which should be favorable for migrants. A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

---

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

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[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 9/19/26

An isolated thunderstorm passed through the Barr Lake area early evening yesterday; the nets were still quite wet when we opened on this cool Saturday morning for one of our slowest days of the season.  Guessing that any bird that could left after the storm and nothing new came in.

We will see what tomorrow brings......In the meantime, here are today's 19 new:

Red-breasted Nuthatch 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon's 3

Common Yellowthroat 1
Wilson's Warbler 7

Green-tailed Towhee 2

Lincoln's Sparrow 1

White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel's 2

Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon 1

We are open Tuesday through Sunday, weather permitting, through October 23.  Most weekday mornings there is a visitor session from 7:30 to 8:30, and on the weekends there are sessions at 8, 9 and 10 a.m.  Reservations are needed; here is the link.   Please join us......It is a great year to visit Barr!

Meredith McBurney

Bander, Barr Lake Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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[cobirds] Chico Basin Ranch Banding Station Report-Bird Conservancy of the Rockies-September 19, 2026

A great day to be outside! It would be better if the skies would drop some precipitation on the northern half of the ranch. Despite the dryness, there were a few birds around. Twelve bird species were captured including a Sharp-shinned Hawk! An immature Sharpy was a nice finale for the day. This is the first accipiter caught and banded this year at Chico. Unfortunately the kids that were here at the station earlier were not around to see the hawk. They did get to see a wide variety of birds while they were present. Always good to see some up and coming birders.

27 New Banded Birds

Wilson's Warbler- 6

Orange-crowned Warbler- 1

N. House Wren- 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 1

Hammond's Flycatcher- 2

Oregon Junco- 3

Song Sparrow- 1

Lincoln's Sparrow- 2

Spotted Towhee- 2

Hermit Thrush- 5

Swainson's Thrush- 2

Sharp-shinned Hawk- 1

1 Recaptured Swainson's Thrush banded yesterday. Not sure why but it lost weight. Plenty of insects and food resources around. 

The banding station will be closed tomorrow Sunday, but will reopen on Monday. Birding is still open tomorrow, if interested in visiting the Ranch, please register online at www.aikenaudubon.com

Have a good day! Enjoy your Sunday!

Julie Shieldcastle, Bander

Chico Basin Ranch

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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Re: [cobirds] VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake, Yuma County 9/19/26

Daniel, et al.,

The white edging to the wing coverts and secondary stack eliminates Piratic.  Heckuva find!!!  Wish I could chase...

Josh Bruening

Currently Lewistown, MT

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 19, 2026, at 12:46 PM, Daniel Maynard <dmaynar@gmail.com> wrote:



Folks,

I found what appears to be a VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake in Yuma County. It's been in the area of (40.0866284, -102.2765109) for a while now, mostly perching high in olive snags. Mediocre iPhone photos below

Daniel Maynard

Ecologist

Grief Ritual Facilitator

971.237.3906
Denver, CO

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[cobirds] VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake, Yuma County 9/19/26

Folks,

I found what appears to be a VARIEGATED FLYCATCHER at Stalker Lake in Yuma County. It's been in the area of (40.0866284, -102.2765109) for a while now, mostly perching high in olive snags. Mediocre iPhone photos below

Daniel Maynard

Ecologist

Grief Ritual Facilitator

971.237.3906
Denver, CO

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You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
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http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
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[cobirds] Peregrine Falcón at Lagerman Reservoir, Boulder County

Topi Martínez and I went to Lagerman about an hour before sunset today. No peeps, a lot of killdeer and other expected ducks, some in eclipse plumage and others not as much. At one point a peregrine falcon flew in and chased a barn swallow, ignoring all the chubby ducks on the water. A fierce chase with much acrobatics by both birds ensued, and finally the falcon caught the swallow. Shortly after, the falcon flew towards us on the north shore of the reservoir and had what was left of the swallow on the sandy shore, standing and eating a little S/he stayed for awhile and then took off toward the west, just before a couple with two dogs on leashes headed down the trail. It was pretty exciting. The two resident adult bald eagles were there, as well as a few red tailed hawks, but we didn’t see any harriers. Sent from my iPhone Elena Holly Klaver Federally Certified Court Interpreter Conference Interpreter English <> Spanish 303 475 5189 Member: American Translators Association Colorado Translators Association Pronouns: she, her, hers I acknowledge that I live in the territory of Hinóno’éí (Arapaho), Cheyenne and Ute Nations, according to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and that Colorado’s Front Range is home to many Native peoples. Reconozco que vivo en el territorio de las naciones Hinóno’éí (Arapaho), Cheyenne y Ute, según el Tratado de Fort Laramie en 1851, y que el estado de Colorado al esté de las Montañas Rocosas es territorio de muchos pueblos indígenas. -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate. * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/41F8F11C-BF0C-4ADE-9A22-B563927C6B63%40indra.com.