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 31, 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 | 1 | 10 | 28 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 32 | 51 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 109 | 289 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 7 | 109 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 216 | 691 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 5 | 194 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 18 | 32 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 16 | 145 |
| Merlin | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 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: | 5 | 457 | 1890 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 14:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
We had four hikers who had seen us here before and consequently asked appropriate questions like How many have you seen today? Are hawks still migrating ? How long are you going to continue counting for? How many Golden Eagles have you seen today, from the man I showed a GE through my scope a few days ago. Many others asked what I could see with my optical equipment. A couple who recently moved to Denver with a 3-month old baby chatted with me for a while about the watch and whether I was given the equipment to use. I explained that was a volunteer, so it's all my own equipment. A mother and young teenage son asked about the count and I said it was low today because of the subsidence inversion layer, and explained how it develops and how it affects migration by creating a cap above which thermals cannot rise. The boy thanked me for explaining.
Weather:
Similar to yesterday there was a thick dense layer of haze up to 5� above the horizon blotting out Denver completely for the entire day. Green Mountain was mostly hidden by the thick stratus cloud/fog (which is really cloud which reaches ground). Lookout Mountain was hazy. However it was much less overcast with 40% cloud cover, all to the east. The NWS predicted severe fog, but the cloud base was 8957 ft so it would be 1786 ft above the watch. The winds aloft were mainly from the north. There was a very strong inversion layer today which did not clear all day, else we might have had some migration. By 11:00 a.m. the fog started lifting and blowing away from Denver so that at times the antennae of Lookout Mountain were completely blotted out and are visibility markedly decreased. By 1:00 p.m. we could see Lookout Mountain fairly well through haze.
Raptor Observations:
Very poor conditions for migration today so we were lucky we had 5 raptors. The first was an NH adult male at 11:00 a.m., the next raptor was only 2.5 hours later! I stayed until 4:00 p.m. as I kept hoping that the inversion layer would disperse and some sort of migration would begin but it did not. Non-migrant raptors: GE adult 1, SS 1, RT 3.
Non-raptor Observations:
One paraglider at 11:00 a.m. MDT had no lift at all and mostly descended, fitting with the soaring forecast which predicted zero lift.
Predictions:
It could be as bad today for migration since the Soaring Forecast predicts a lift of zero feet per second and the trigger temperature of 18.5�C is not predicted to be reached, so thermals should be very low. A 20 percent chance of rain after 3pm. Patchy fog before noon. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon. The winds aloft are expected to be from the south.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
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