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: Oct 19, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 21 | 269 |
| Osprey | 0 | 3 | 29 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 7 | 25 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 24 | 43 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 3 | 85 | 265 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 7 | 109 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 148 | 623 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 5 | 194 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 8 | 22 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 14 | 143 |
| Merlin | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 9 | 19 |
| Total: | 10 | 338 | 1771 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
Five hikers asked questions about whether I was bird watching, and I explained what I was doing. A couple asked me what I was looking through my scope and I told them I was looking at 2 distant GE too far to see with the naked eye. They were amazed I could see it and identify it. I was able to show a different couple the GE going down CCC and told them it had a 7 ft wingspan, and they were amazed as it looked so small way below us. I asked them to estimate the distance between the watch and South Table Mountain and they said 1 mile. I told them it was actually 3 miles and they were dumbfounded at their inability to assess the correct distance. Another hiker asked me what I was capturing, presumably looking at my scope. Capturing? I asked, then realized he thought it was a camera, and explained. Another hiker was interested in where we send our data, and I helped her find Hawkcount on her phone, and how could she could see daily counts at different hawk watches.
Weather:
There was a strong subsidence inversion layer over Denver. Initially there was no brown cloud, but as the haze cleared from Denver it spread to the East and North forming a brown cloud by 10:00 a.m. MDT which got wider and lighter with the hours. The inversion creates a cap for thermal height and the haziness lifts over Denver creating a vacuum into which wind from the Eastern plains rushes and continues up Mount Zion as a ridge lift from the ESE, which was only mild today, has the Denver haziness never completely cleared. The Soaring Forecast from the NWS had poor lift at only 5 feet/second and height of thermals by 2:30 p.m. was expected to be only 4,777 ft above ground level and 2000 ft above the watch, so at a lower height before that time. Because of this there was only a small flight today.
Raptor Observations:
The first hawks in flight were 2 local RT low in the Kestrel Channel. The first migrant was only by 10:04 a.m. MDT which was a juvenile RT which was seen over North Table Mountain, progressively rose to about 20� above the ground level and migrated to the SE. A migrant RT flew very close to one of the antenna on Lookout Mountain rousing another RT and a CORA which chased the RT into the trees, a few minutes later I saw it rise and continue on its migration. Non-migrant raptors: GE 2 far to the at 11:34 a.m. and an adult GE at 1:11 a.m. missing a single mid-secondary feather and a left 8th primary due to molt on the left wing, flying down Clear Creek Canyon and I saw it again at 1:33 p.m. to the NE recognizing it because of its molt pattern. RT 4.
Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders 3 at 12:30 p.m. had no lift and by 1:00 p.m. had only moderate lift, consistent with the Soaring Forecast that I've noticed good correlation with. Monarch butterfly 1. https://ebird.org/checklist/S403879924
Predictions:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Light wind from the northeast at 3-6 mph. The winds at the height the hawks would migrate at is expected to be light and mainly from the NE.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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