Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (09 Sep 2022) 1 Raptors
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Sep 9, 2022, 7:43:34 PM9/9/22
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Visitors:
A few to take in the view, while others had missed the turn downhill. Some asked whether we had seen any hawks.
Weather:
Very different weather after the past few weeks. Chilly temperature 16-20°C, humidity around 50% light winds from the North changing to NE, clear visibility only to 2.5 km (to Mount Morrison) beyond which it was quite hazy, and a completely overcast sky. I mentioned to Carol Cwiklinski that in New York with 100% solid fairly low cloud cover there would not be any thermal formation and a poor migration, but she assured me that she has seen high migrants on days like this indicating good thermal formation – presumably because of the “hotter sun†in Denver heating the ground even through the clouds. Carol had introduced me to earth.nullschool.net which had shown for today a wide band of wind sweeping down from Western Canada, making a bowed curve to the East and coming back to Colorado pushing south somewhere to the east of Dinosaur Ridge. https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-109.99,40.37,1584/loc=-105.913,39.465 with the green circle roughly at Dinosaur Ridge. We are going to assess whether these winds have any predictive applicability to the hawk watch numbers. For those interested there are good tutorials on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/resultssearch_query=earth.nullschool.net I was reassured having Carol there today, as on my previous counting days when I had few hawks I wondered whether I had been missing any – with her experience and the two of us not finding too many migrants… On a slow day like today I thought “To be a hawk watcher one must enjoy one’s own company.â€
Raptor Observations:
At my previous watch Hook Mountain NY we would often see migrants behind the watch for the first time, so binocular scanning at 9:32 AM EST we found far to the SE a CH chasing an RT for a few minutes, rising up with the RT and attacking it, then flying southward – so counted as a migrant – while the RT flew North. TV 2, RT 2, CH 1 found far to the SE – a different one from the migrant – this one flying north.
Non-raptor Observations:
Canada Goose 27, Western Scrub-Jay 2, Common Raven 1.
Report submitted by DAVID HILL ()
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may
see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare
dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson’s hawk, Ferruginous
hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden
and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons,
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey
Vultures. Northern Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor
species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane,
White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any
skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th,
weather permitting.
Directions to site:
From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take left
into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow small signs from the
southwest end of lot to the hawkwatch site. The hike starts heading east on an
old two-track and quickly turns south onto a trail on the west side of the
ridge. When the trail nears the top of the ridge, turn left, head through the
gate, and walk to the clearly-visible, flat area at the crest of the ridge.
(Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)
Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 09, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 12:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Carol Cwiklinski |
Visitors:
A few to take in the view, while others had missed the turn downhill. Some asked whether we had seen any hawks.
Weather:
Very different weather after the past few weeks. Chilly temperature 16-20°C, humidity around 50% light winds from the North changing to NE, clear visibility only to 2.5 km (to Mount Morrison) beyond which it was quite hazy, and a completely overcast sky. I mentioned to Carol Cwiklinski that in New York with 100% solid fairly low cloud cover there would not be any thermal formation and a poor migration, but she assured me that she has seen high migrants on days like this indicating good thermal formation – presumably because of the “hotter sun†in Denver heating the ground even through the clouds. Carol had introduced me to earth.nullschool.net which had shown for today a wide band of wind sweeping down from Western Canada, making a bowed curve to the East and coming back to Colorado pushing south somewhere to the east of Dinosaur Ridge. https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-109.99,40.37,1584/loc=-105.913,39.465 with the green circle roughly at Dinosaur Ridge. We are going to assess whether these winds have any predictive applicability to the hawk watch numbers. For those interested there are good tutorials on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/resultssearch_query=earth.nullschool.net I was reassured having Carol there today, as on my previous counting days when I had few hawks I wondered whether I had been missing any – with her experience and the two of us not finding too many migrants… On a slow day like today I thought “To be a hawk watcher one must enjoy one’s own company.â€
Raptor Observations:
At my previous watch Hook Mountain NY we would often see migrants behind the watch for the first time, so binocular scanning at 9:32 AM EST we found far to the SE a CH chasing an RT for a few minutes, rising up with the RT and attacking it, then flying southward – so counted as a migrant – while the RT flew North. TV 2, RT 2, CH 1 found far to the SE – a different one from the migrant – this one flying north.
Non-raptor Observations:
Canada Goose 27, Western Scrub-Jay 2, Common Raven 1.
Report submitted by DAVID HILL ()
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may
see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare
dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson’s hawk, Ferruginous
hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden
and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons,
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey
Vultures. Northern Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor
species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane,
White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any
skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th,
weather permitting.
Directions to site:
From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take left
into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow small signs from the
southwest end of lot to the hawkwatch site. The hike starts heading east on an
old two-track and quickly turns south onto a trail on the west side of the
ridge. When the trail nears the top of the ridge, turn left, head through the
gate, and walk to the clearly-visible, flat area at the crest of the ridge.
(Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)
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