Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (30 Sep 2022) Raptors
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Sep 30, 2022, 5:33:42 PM9/30/22
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Visitors:
A couple walking up the trail remarked about the "heavy camera" equipment I was carrying. I explained that it was a 'scope and told them of and showed them the hawk watch location. A mountain biker (presumably riding north on the Hogback Trail) confused as to where the trail had "disappeared" – I showed him where it had turned off downhill.
Weather:
The predicted forecast today on weather.gov was for light winds from the W>SW>SE with strong NW winds after 3 PM, while earth.nullschool.net expected light winds from the West. At the watch there were Level 3 winds from the WSW which dropped to Level 2 in the next hour followed by East winds at the same (lack of) intensity. There was excellent cloud cover 60-70% with reasonably good clear visibility to 16 km.
Raptor Observations:
We ended the month (paraphrasing and with apologies to T.S. Eliot https://tinyurl.com/mt7zj8r7) not with a bang, and not even a whimper. When we got to the watch there was an adult Eastern RT perched on 1 of the 3 poles north of the watch. Another non-migrant RT as well as a Western adult RT (with darker underwings and a dark throat) were the only raptors of any kind seen today. No migrants at all. Kerrie Lagon a hawk enthusiast had emailed me yesterday morning at 10:24 AM MDT "I just want to let you know that I’m driving down University at the corner of University and Orchard there was a kettle of turkey vultures 60 circling in the thermals along with one Swainson's and one hawk that was dark morph with white on the tip of his wings and they were circling and circling and then they took the thermals and headed southeast towards the corner of Holly and Arapaho Open space which is where they usually kettle up. I wanted to let you know and that this is a phenomenal I see every year around my house." I scanned with binoculars and my scope in that direction and did not see any hawks there, though it's difficult finding any hawks against the background of trees and houses, none were seen just above the horizon either in the direction (which would be just north of Marston Reservoir). This together with the COBirds post by Doug Ward 2 days ago https://tinyurl.com/4k7bn36p suggests that there is a migratory raptor movement but away from Dinosaur Ridge. On a recent bird walk with Joey Kellner and discussing the dearth of SH at the watch (compared to Manzano Mountains HawkWatch NM where they've had 1644 SH this month including a day with 497, and the Commissary Ridge HawkWatch WY which has had 393 SH including a day with 166; and these hawk watches are South and North respectively, and quite a ways west of Dinosaur Ridge) he told me that SH form staging groups of 75-100 on the eastern plains of Colorado c. 90 miles east of Denver.
Non-raptor Observations:
Mountain Chickadee 1, Townsend Solitaire 3, Blue Jay 2, Barn Swallow 1, House Finch 6, Black-billed Magpie 1, American Robin 38 flying south, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 6....These were some consolation to the lack of migrant hawks for us who have recently moved here from New York State. 2 hot air balloons to the NE, where there was some smog visible along the horizon.
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 30, 2022 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 6 | 14 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 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: | 0 | 32 | 49 |
| Observation start time: | 07:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 10:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 2.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
A couple walking up the trail remarked about the "heavy camera" equipment I was carrying. I explained that it was a 'scope and told them of and showed them the hawk watch location. A mountain biker (presumably riding north on the Hogback Trail) confused as to where the trail had "disappeared" – I showed him where it had turned off downhill.
Weather:
The predicted forecast today on weather.gov was for light winds from the W>SW>SE with strong NW winds after 3 PM, while earth.nullschool.net expected light winds from the West. At the watch there were Level 3 winds from the WSW which dropped to Level 2 in the next hour followed by East winds at the same (lack of) intensity. There was excellent cloud cover 60-70% with reasonably good clear visibility to 16 km.
Raptor Observations:
We ended the month (paraphrasing and with apologies to T.S. Eliot https://tinyurl.com/mt7zj8r7) not with a bang, and not even a whimper. When we got to the watch there was an adult Eastern RT perched on 1 of the 3 poles north of the watch. Another non-migrant RT as well as a Western adult RT (with darker underwings and a dark throat) were the only raptors of any kind seen today. No migrants at all. Kerrie Lagon a hawk enthusiast had emailed me yesterday morning at 10:24 AM MDT "I just want to let you know that I’m driving down University at the corner of University and Orchard there was a kettle of turkey vultures 60 circling in the thermals along with one Swainson's and one hawk that was dark morph with white on the tip of his wings and they were circling and circling and then they took the thermals and headed southeast towards the corner of Holly and Arapaho Open space which is where they usually kettle up. I wanted to let you know and that this is a phenomenal I see every year around my house." I scanned with binoculars and my scope in that direction and did not see any hawks there, though it's difficult finding any hawks against the background of trees and houses, none were seen just above the horizon either in the direction (which would be just north of Marston Reservoir). This together with the COBirds post by Doug Ward 2 days ago https://tinyurl.com/4k7bn36p suggests that there is a migratory raptor movement but away from Dinosaur Ridge. On a recent bird walk with Joey Kellner and discussing the dearth of SH at the watch (compared to Manzano Mountains HawkWatch NM where they've had 1644 SH this month including a day with 497, and the Commissary Ridge HawkWatch WY which has had 393 SH including a day with 166; and these hawk watches are South and North respectively, and quite a ways west of Dinosaur Ridge) he told me that SH form staging groups of 75-100 on the eastern plains of Colorado c. 90 miles east of Denver.
Non-raptor Observations:
Mountain Chickadee 1, Townsend Solitaire 3, Blue Jay 2, Barn Swallow 1, House Finch 6, Black-billed Magpie 1, American Robin 38 flying south, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 6....These were some consolation to the lack of migrant hawks for us who have recently moved here from New York State. 2 hot air balloons to the NE, where there was some smog visible along the horizon.
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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