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: Nov 07, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 270 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 2 | 31 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 52 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 8 | 296 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 109 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 17 | 86 | 774 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 194 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 8 | 40 |
| American Kestrel | 4 | 11 | 156 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Total: | 21 | 118 | 2005 |
| Observation start time: | 10:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 15:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 5.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
A woman hiker who's chatted with me a few times asked whether the the hawks were still flying, and how many GE I had seen yesterday. When I said 8, with 5 migrants, she wanted to know how we tell which ones are migrants, I explained. She said "It's always enjoyable talking to you. I always learn something new." A young woman asked "Seen anything cool?" and I explained what I was looking for. She asked "Which species? Up to 17 different ones. She said she had a bird fly past her window which she thought was an eagle, and showed me a video which indeed showed an immature BE flying over water. I told her about the Merlin app and that she could take a screenshot from the video and send it to Merlin for ID. A photographer with a long lens visited the site because of Liza's eBird observation of a Northern Pygmy-Owl 2 days ago! I am reminded of my friend Ken McDermott from our bird club in NY who would say on such occasions "Birds have wings and have been known to use them."
Weather:
There was no haze over Denver today. By 11:00 a.m. the brown cloud was visible, most intense to the NE but extending from North to ENE. Mostly blue sky with a few streaky narrow cirrus clouds. This is the second day after a weak cold front had gone through.
Raptor Observations:
Today we went past a total of 2000 migrant raptors during the fall 2026 season! The 2000th was a male AK in the Kestrel Channel going SW. The first migrant of the day was an a female AK in the Kestrel Channel at 10:07 a.m. The Soaring forecast of the NWS had a 'Good' Thermal Soaring Index with lift at 12 ft/sec and height of thermals 7240 ft AGL by 10:45 a.m. which would be almost 5,500 ft above the watch - a mile up, consequently I scanned much higher than when thermals are lower or nonexistent and I found a few highish hawks in the blue sky. Most of the migratory action was close to the easternmost end of Lookout Mountain. A migrant RT at 11:04 a.m. was flapping it's wings continuously. I stayed a little later today and in the last 45 minutes there were no migrants. Except for 4 AK, the rest were RT. Non-migrant raptors: GE 1 adult far to the West, BE 1 adult came from the SE and went NW, RT 3.
Non-raptor Observations:
I saw something new today. A helicopter ferrying a lineman to work in an aerial line cart hanging from a high tension wire, with a large drone which has LIDAR used to monitor vegetation close to the lines, and with infrared thermal sensors to detect hot spots to pinpoint failing hardware. I could see the wire bowing slightly with the weight of the 4 hanging carts, and prominently so with the additional weight of the lineman. Three paragliders at 11:00 a.m. at surprisingly no lift when considered the Soaring Forecast. Of 8 others after 12:30 p.m. 2 had excellent lift spiraling upward in a thermal while the others only had moderate lift. https://ebird.org/checklist/S408830405
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 67. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the morning. Zak Hepler will be counting tomorrow.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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