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 25, 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 |
7 |
25 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk |
1 |
26 |
45 |
| Cooper's Hawk |
1 |
94 |
274 |
| American Goshawk |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk |
0 |
7 |
109 |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
1 |
174 |
649 |
| Rough-legged Hawk |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Swainson's Hawk |
0 |
5 |
194 |
| Ferruginous Hawk |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Golden Eagle |
0 |
10 |
24 |
| 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 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
| Unknown Falcon |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Unknown Eagle |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Unknown Raptor |
0 |
9 |
19 |
| Total: |
4 |
380 |
1813 |
| Observation start time: |
08:45:00 |
| Observation end time: |
13:15:00 |
| Total observation time: |
4.5 hours |
| Official Counter |
Zak Hepler |
| Observers: |
|
Visitors:
Surprisingly, quite a few visitors today. Two different couples asked me what I was looking for. I was asked if I worked for "CPW" and I said "no, I am a volunteer and this data goes to Hawk Migration Association of North America". One couple told me about nesting Peregrines that they see every year near their home. They were telling me about how poor of flyers the young falcons are when they see them. The other couple asked about Golden Eagles. A few different groups spent a lot of time talking on their cellphones while on speaker. One guy picked up trash and took it down the mountain with him.
Weather:
Very foggy morning at Mount Zion. Visibility was poor and the Towers on Lookout Mountain only became visible after 1130 AM MDT. The fog was pushed by an Eastern wind that persisted throughout the day. Once the fog lifted, there remained much haze over the larger Denver area. In fact, the southwest area of Kestrel Channel remained in haze for the entirety of my watch. While there was no real wind at the watch, I could see a lot of movement in the clouds above signifying a quick moving air current high overhead. National Weather Service forecasted ZERO thermal lift for today. This, along with hardly any wind, made all raptors visible to the naked, unaided, eye.
Raptor Observations:
Not a lot of raptor activity today. I was hoping the moving cold front would create more activity. The end of the season is in sight. The 6 hawk watches operated by Hawk Watch International end their season Nov. 5th. The season end date for the current Mount Zion Fall 2026 season is still TBD. The first migrant was a CH @ 11:53 AM MDT. The next migrant was a Sharpie @ 12:14 PM MDT and the last was a RT @ 12:58 PM MDT. Non-migrant raptors: 7 RT, 1 GE, 1 AK I had great views of a hunting adult male American Kestrel. The bird was found in the namesake Kestrel Channel.
Non-raptor Observations:
The usual subjects at the watch. The one passerine species that piqued the most interest was the large flock of Bushtits that worked their way around The Watch. I was able to record some audio. For the full list of birds see this eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S405420107
Predictions:
A cold and crisp day can be expected at Mount Zion tomorrow. The fog shouldn't be as bad as it was today and the skies should be clearer. There is expected to be the same Eastern wind tomorrow.
Report submitted by Zak Hepler (
zakhepler@gmail.com)
More information at
hawkcount.org: [
Site Profile] [
Day Summary] [
Month Summary]
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