Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (24 Apr 2026) 26 Raptors
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
6 visitors. We had four teams of volunteers from EY visit today! It was great to meet all of them and they helped us spot birds and greet visitors. We enjoyed watching both local and migrant birds and saw lots of territorial disputes. Thank you to Haley from EY for leading the groups, teaching them about our site, and making the hike up four times today. We also want to thank Leslie Dixon, Kathie Moses, and Steve Price for their help and working with our visiting volunteers!
Weather:
It started as a beautiful day with a light SE wind, clear skies, and temperatures in the mid 50s F. This continued until around 13:00 MST when the WNW winds started to pick up. Winds were anywhere from 3-5 bft but would come intermittently with periods of calm. Cloud cover increased gradually throughout the day, with few clouds for most the morning, scattered clouds for most of the afternoon, and a mostly cloudy sky for the final hour.
Raptor Observations:
We had a few more migrants than prior days, with juvenile Red-tailed Hawks, Cooper's Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and American Kestrels making up the majority of migrating birds. We saw a single adult Broad-winged Hawk fly past midday low and distant on the west side, lower than we usually see them. It was a slow and steady pace throughout the day, with birds coming on a variety of paths, including some at or below eye level in the afternoon when winds were highest. Local birds were quite territorial and often chased off migrant birds, especially the migrant juvenile RTs. A local Cooper's Hawk was also seen chasing off migrant accipitrines. Outside of raptors, we saw our first of season Cliff Swallow and two Northern Rough-winged Swallows.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 45, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 2, Mourning Dove 1, Double-crested Cormorant 5, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 2, Black-billed Magpie 1, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Violet-green Swallow 27, Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2, Cliff Swallow 1, Rock Wren 1, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher 1, House Finch 2, Pine Siskin 2, Spotted Towhee 2, Western Meadowlark 1
Predictions:
Tomorrow, temperatures are predicted to be cool in the 40s and 50s F. Sun is predicted for the first hour or two, but overcast skies are predicted for the remainder of the day. We are hopeful to get a break from the west winds that have been here the past few days, with light N and E winds predicted throughout the day.
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 24, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 | 134 | 161 |
| Osprey | 0 | 34 | 40 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 11 | 24 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 21 | 33 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 7 | 109 | 130 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 5 | 160 | 212 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | 32 | 32 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 189 | 437 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| American Kestrel | 5 | 467 | 606 |
| Merlin | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 1 | 11 | 17 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Total: | 26 | 1211 | 1764 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9 hours |
| Official Counter | Soren Zappia |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
6 visitors. We had four teams of volunteers from EY visit today! It was great to meet all of them and they helped us spot birds and greet visitors. We enjoyed watching both local and migrant birds and saw lots of territorial disputes. Thank you to Haley from EY for leading the groups, teaching them about our site, and making the hike up four times today. We also want to thank Leslie Dixon, Kathie Moses, and Steve Price for their help and working with our visiting volunteers!
Weather:
It started as a beautiful day with a light SE wind, clear skies, and temperatures in the mid 50s F. This continued until around 13:00 MST when the WNW winds started to pick up. Winds were anywhere from 3-5 bft but would come intermittently with periods of calm. Cloud cover increased gradually throughout the day, with few clouds for most the morning, scattered clouds for most of the afternoon, and a mostly cloudy sky for the final hour.
Raptor Observations:
We had a few more migrants than prior days, with juvenile Red-tailed Hawks, Cooper's Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and American Kestrels making up the majority of migrating birds. We saw a single adult Broad-winged Hawk fly past midday low and distant on the west side, lower than we usually see them. It was a slow and steady pace throughout the day, with birds coming on a variety of paths, including some at or below eye level in the afternoon when winds were highest. Local birds were quite territorial and often chased off migrant birds, especially the migrant juvenile RTs. A local Cooper's Hawk was also seen chasing off migrant accipitrines. Outside of raptors, we saw our first of season Cliff Swallow and two Northern Rough-winged Swallows.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 45, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 2, Mourning Dove 1, Double-crested Cormorant 5, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 2, Black-billed Magpie 1, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Violet-green Swallow 27, Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2, Cliff Swallow 1, Rock Wren 1, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher 1, House Finch 2, Pine Siskin 2, Spotted Towhee 2, Western Meadowlark 1
Predictions:
Tomorrow, temperatures are predicted to be cool in the 40s and 50s F. Sun is predicted for the first hour or two, but overcast skies are predicted for the remainder of the day. We are hopeful to get a break from the west winds that have been here the past few days, with light N and E winds predicted throughout the day.
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)
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