[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (29 Oct 2026) 11 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: Oct 29, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	22	270
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	8	26
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	32	51
Cooper's Hawk	2	102	282
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	6	189	664
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	2
Golden Eagle	1	15	29
American Kestrel	0	15	144
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	2	9
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	9	19
Total:	11	415	1848

Observation start time:	09:15:00
Observation end time:	13:00:00
Total observation time:	3.75 hours
Official Counter	Liza Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
One man wanted to know the ID of a close raptor he had seen which was the NH. A woman wanted to know if "my friend" was OK as he wasn't there today. I reassured her that Ajit was fine!

Weather:
A light haze noted over Denver throughout the watch with few cumulous clouds southeast of Denver at the start of the watch. The clouds gradually increased, mostly cirrus clouds and covered 80% of the sky at the end of the watch.

Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a CH noted at 10:15 MDT as I was ascending the steps to the watch. I noticed an immature NH while driving along Lookout mtn. rd. to the parking area around 9:45 AM MDT. It was hunting and did not go south to Lookout mtn. I saw it again just east of the watch almost at eye level. It was still hunting along the southeast and east face of Mount Zion and did not migrate.

Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders started at 1:08 MDT and only moderate lift. Maximum height of thermals was 3430 ft AGL Non migrant raptors: RT 2, NH 1 Other birds included CORA, AMCR, TOSO, RBGU, BBMA and 12 distant Sandhill Cranes noted far south of Denver

Predictions:
Partly sunny with a high near 64 F. Calm winds becoming northeast around 6 MPH 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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