Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (02 Apr 2026) 38 Raptors
14 views
Skip to first unread message
rep...@hawkcount.org
Apr 2, 2026, 11:34:34 PM (17 hours ago) Apr 2
to cob...@googlegroups.com
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
We had a great group from Denver Audubon up this morning for a few hours and they got to experience a great taste of migration. We had a total of 13 other visitors today. Thank you to Charlene Warneke for bringing the counters lunch today… you’re the best. Thank you to Dale Campau and Ryan Gannon for volunteering their time to help us spot birds today!
Weather:
The sun was out all day today with minimal cloud cover present. Some scattered clouds helped us spot birds but didn’t provide much relief from that strong Colorado sun. Winds were light from the E for most of the day before switching NW and picking up to about 30 km/h in the last hour.
Raptor Observations:
Migration was off with a bang this morning, putting on a show for the field trip! We had overhead accipitrines, Red-tailed Hawks, and Turkey Vultures for everyone to enjoy. After the first two hours of the day birds slowed down a bit and got higher in their flight lines. Most birds came overhead or west of us today. We had a nice presence of accipitrines all day. American Kestrels were missed today. Local Red-tailed Hawks were especially aggressive today hounding any migrants that came through. Turkey Vultures continue to move N and S and N and S all day!
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 3, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Ring-billed Gull 1, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 1, Black-billed Magpie 2, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 2, American Bushtit 3, House Finch 3, Eurasian Siskin 1, Spotted Towhee 1
Predictions:
Winds are predicted to be strong tomorrow but hopefully we still have birds moving. If you are planning on coming up, bring an extra layer!
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]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - [Project Details]
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, and American White Pelican. 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: Apr 02, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 5 | 13 | 40 |
| Osprey | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 6 | 27 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 12 | 15 | 67 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 16 | 32 | 280 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| American Kestrel | 2 | 10 | 149 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 38 | 82 | 635 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley, Soren Zappia |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
We had a great group from Denver Audubon up this morning for a few hours and they got to experience a great taste of migration. We had a total of 13 other visitors today. Thank you to Charlene Warneke for bringing the counters lunch today… you’re the best. Thank you to Dale Campau and Ryan Gannon for volunteering their time to help us spot birds today!
Weather:
The sun was out all day today with minimal cloud cover present. Some scattered clouds helped us spot birds but didn’t provide much relief from that strong Colorado sun. Winds were light from the E for most of the day before switching NW and picking up to about 30 km/h in the last hour.
Raptor Observations:
Migration was off with a bang this morning, putting on a show for the field trip! We had overhead accipitrines, Red-tailed Hawks, and Turkey Vultures for everyone to enjoy. After the first two hours of the day birds slowed down a bit and got higher in their flight lines. Most birds came overhead or west of us today. We had a nice presence of accipitrines all day. American Kestrels were missed today. Local Red-tailed Hawks were especially aggressive today hounding any migrants that came through. Turkey Vultures continue to move N and S and N and S all day!
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 3, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Ring-billed Gull 1, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 1, Black-billed Magpie 2, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 2, American Bushtit 3, House Finch 3, Eurasian Siskin 1, Spotted Towhee 1
Predictions:
Winds are predicted to be strong tomorrow but hopefully we still have birds moving. If you are planning on coming up, bring an extra layer!
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]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - [Project Details]
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, and American White Pelican. 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)
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages