Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (27 Aug 2025) 10 Raptors
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Aug 27, 2025, 7:48:36 PMAug 27
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
A young man, a hiker wanted to know what we were looking at. I explained that we were counting migrating hawks and eagles, and he was quite surprised that birds migrated! I explained that in spring and fall there are millions of birds which fly at night over his home, and most lay people are totally unaware of this migration.
Weather:
Weather.gov predicted light NE winds with 84% cloud cover dropping by 11:00 AM to 67% and increasing to 77% in the afternoon. The winds aloft the according to earth.nullschool.net were from the NNW At 13 km per hour. At the watch there was 80% cloud cover which dropped to 40%, then 55%, then 60% with plenty of sunshine. Humidity was fairly high at 49, 60, 53, 51%. Visibility was excellent at 24 km. At 1:45 PM MDT there was a persistent drizzle, so I ended the watch.
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first Swainson's Hawk was an adult at 10:28 AM MDT seen over the Western Ridge, but it needed my scope to identify it as to age, as with 4 other SW. While following an SW, it overtook another one which had a molting left outer primary, so I got two for the price of one. While I was looking at a distant raptor to the NW over Lookout Mountain 4 miles away (it was a TV flying North) I saw another raptor in the field of view of my scope which was an SW gliding rapidly South - lucky. We had 4 SW that we could not age, even with a 20-60x scope.
Non-raptor Observations:
I got to the watch late as there was a truck on I-70 just beyond the exit for Rte. 93 which had spilled hazardous material in the westbound lane, so the highway was closed. It took me one hour 15 minutes to travel the 1.3 miles from the entrance to Rte 470 to my exit, it having taken me 1 hour 45 minutes from home where normally takes it between 30 and 45 minutes. We had a great look from the watch, where we saw 6 men with hazardous suits spraying some foamy stuff on the road. It took till 12:30 PM until the eastbound lanes were open, and when I left the westbound lanes were still closed. White-breasted Nuthatch interior subspecies heard, Northern Flicker heard, Violet-green Swallow 8, Common Raven 3.
Predictions:
Light winds starting from the north at 9:00 AM changing to NE, With only 46% cloud cover increasing in the afternoon, with the usual chance of rain and thunderstorms by 11:00 AM, likely risk by 3:00 PM.
Report submitted by Official Counter of the day shown above (dinor...@gmail.com)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: www.dinosaurridgehawkwatch.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. 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
Hawk Counter(s) and volunteers from March through early May.
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)
Golden, Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 27, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 9 | 32 | 33 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 10 | 38 | 43 |
| Observation start time: | 09:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 12:45:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
A young man, a hiker wanted to know what we were looking at. I explained that we were counting migrating hawks and eagles, and he was quite surprised that birds migrated! I explained that in spring and fall there are millions of birds which fly at night over his home, and most lay people are totally unaware of this migration.
Weather:
Weather.gov predicted light NE winds with 84% cloud cover dropping by 11:00 AM to 67% and increasing to 77% in the afternoon. The winds aloft the according to earth.nullschool.net were from the NNW At 13 km per hour. At the watch there was 80% cloud cover which dropped to 40%, then 55%, then 60% with plenty of sunshine. Humidity was fairly high at 49, 60, 53, 51%. Visibility was excellent at 24 km. At 1:45 PM MDT there was a persistent drizzle, so I ended the watch.
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first Swainson's Hawk was an adult at 10:28 AM MDT seen over the Western Ridge, but it needed my scope to identify it as to age, as with 4 other SW. While following an SW, it overtook another one which had a molting left outer primary, so I got two for the price of one. While I was looking at a distant raptor to the NW over Lookout Mountain 4 miles away (it was a TV flying North) I saw another raptor in the field of view of my scope which was an SW gliding rapidly South - lucky. We had 4 SW that we could not age, even with a 20-60x scope.
Non-raptor Observations:
I got to the watch late as there was a truck on I-70 just beyond the exit for Rte. 93 which had spilled hazardous material in the westbound lane, so the highway was closed. It took me one hour 15 minutes to travel the 1.3 miles from the entrance to Rte 470 to my exit, it having taken me 1 hour 45 minutes from home where normally takes it between 30 and 45 minutes. We had a great look from the watch, where we saw 6 men with hazardous suits spraying some foamy stuff on the road. It took till 12:30 PM until the eastbound lanes were open, and when I left the westbound lanes were still closed. White-breasted Nuthatch interior subspecies heard, Northern Flicker heard, Violet-green Swallow 8, Common Raven 3.
Predictions:
Light winds starting from the north at 9:00 AM changing to NE, With only 46% cloud cover increasing in the afternoon, with the usual chance of rain and thunderstorms by 11:00 AM, likely risk by 3:00 PM.
Report submitted by Official Counter of the day shown above (dinor...@gmail.com)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: www.dinosaurridgehawkwatch.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. 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
Hawk Counter(s) and volunteers from March through early May.
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)
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