Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field OrnithologistsColorado, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 30, 2024 |
Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Turkey Vulture | 19 | 315 | 345 |
Osprey | 0 | 44 | 50 |
Bald Eagle | 1 | 15 | 45 |
Northern Harrier | 2 | 18 | 23 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 83 | 99 |
Cooper's Hawk | 3 | 175 | 196 |
American Goshawk | 0 | 8 | 9 |
Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 11 | 114 | 114 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 4 | 162 | 423 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Swainson's Hawk | 2 | 41 | 41 |
Ferruginous Hawk | 3 | 8 | 20 |
Golden Eagle | 2 | 11 | 22 |
American Kestrel | 5 | 411 | 433 |
Merlin | 0 | 16 | 20 |
Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 10 | 12 |
Prairie Falcon | 0 | 3 | 6 |
Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 12 | 13 |
Unknown Buteo | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Unknown Falcon | 0 | 5 | 6 |
Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Raptor | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Total: | 54 | 1458 | 1884 |
Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
Total observation time: | 8 hours |
Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
Observers: | Chip Dawes, Liza Antony, Rajkumar Manikandan |
Visitors:Mark Kouzmanoff, , Roger Freeman.
Weather:Pleasant, light winds from the East though late morning the clouds
paradoxically were being pushed eastward! In the afternoon there were
strong West winds with the clouds moving East.
Raptor Observations:I filled in as counter today for the official counter who was ill.
Most of the migrant raptors today were seen far to the west and high, with
a small number overhead – either just east or west of the watch.
Interestingly 2 GE flew over Green Mountain to the east.
Highlights today were 3 dark morph Broad-winged Hawk of a total of 11 seen,
3 Ferruginous Hawk, 2 adult Swainson's Hawk – one which was low enough
to identify as a female (dark brown bib cf. rufous bib in a male), and a
group of 10 TVs migrating together in the 1st hour.
Non-migrant raptors: juvenile Golden Eagle, adult GE which landed in a tree
on Greene Mountain; a Sharp-shinned Hawk which flew East; an adult male
Kestrel feeding on the wing in the morning flying from west to east behind
the trees to the south of the watch and could not be found again, as well
as well as in the afternoon perched on a wire west of the watch; Red-tailed
Hawk 6, 18 TV sightings.
Liza and I lead a DFO trip this morning with 5 participants, 1 of whom was
Rajkumar Manikandan with his youthful eagle-eyes was helpful in in finding
us a number of raptors.
Non-raptor Observations:Yellow-rumped Warbler 2, Spotted Towhee, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 2,
White-throated Swift c. 15, Black-capped Chickadee.
Predictions:This reminds me after the 1929 stock market crash called something like
"What I've learned about the stock market" and it was a blank book! So also
my ability to predict at this site.
Report submitted by Official Counter (
j.f.pe...@gmail.com)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at:
http://www.dfobirds.orgMore information at
hawkcount.org: [
Site Profile] [
Day Summary] [
Month Summary]
Site DescriptionDinosaur 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. American 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 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM from March 1st to May 10th,
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 hawk watch signs from the
southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch 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, and walk to
the flat area at the crest of the ridge. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain:
259 feet)