Dinosaur Ridge (04 Apr 2016) 13 Raptors

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Dinosaur Ridge
Colorado, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 04, 2016
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	1	11	26
Osprey	0	0	1
Bald Eagle	1	2	11
Northern Harrier	0	0	3
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	2	11
Cooper's Hawk	0	3	10
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	6	23	205
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	0	0
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	2
Golden Eagle	1	1	2
American Kestrel	1	6	19
Merlin	0	0	0
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	3
Prairie Falcon	0	0	5
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipiter	0	1	11
Unknown Buteo	1	2	15
Unknown Falcon	0	0	5
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	2	4
Total:	13	53	333

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	14:00:00
Total observation time:	6 hours
Official Counter	Joyce Commercon
Observers:	Matt Smith, Richard Cuellar

Visitors:
We were joined for a few hours in the morning by about 10 bird enthusiasts from the Boulder County Nature Association, led by Mary Stuber. This inquisitive group was a great help in spotting birds in the early-morning, dead-blue sky. In the last hour of the watch, as the trail began to teem with hikers and bikers, a few people stopped by for the view. Only one young man was interested enough to inquire about the purpose of the watch; he was excited to hear about the migrant eagles and hoped in the future to learn more about raptors in general.

Weather:
It was a mostly sunny day with scattered clouds, which increased from 5 to 60% cloud-cover and moved in from the west as the day progressed. Winds were initially from the west, but shifted early to come from the east, generally at bft 2 speeds. Temperatures ranged from 13 to 19 C (55 to 66 F). Isolated and patchy areas of snow were still visible in places on the ridges.

Raptor Observations:
More than half of the migrants passed within an hour and a half period in the morning; the rest of the day was rather slow. Some Red-tailed Hawk migrants, as well as the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the American Kestrel and the Turkey Vulture migrants, passed over or very near the Ridge—giving good views. A pair of local Red-tailed Hawks were observed harassing an immature Golden Eagle, near Cabrini, to the point where it was forced to land on the ground; it was soon observed to head north. A local male American Kestrel gave the show of the day over Rooney Valley to the east when it performed some incredibly acrobatic, deep and tight, rollercoaster moves. Apparently it was giving chase to a small prey item (invisible to us), eventually chasing it down to the valley floor, even diving into a bush after it. A pair of local adult Red-tailed Hawks copulated on a phone pole in Rooney Valley in the afternoon. One of this pair earlier had been seen carrying nesting material to an area not too far southeast of the HawkWatch platform; one also performed a rollercoaster display flight. A second local pair of juvenile Red-tailed Hawks, which seem to keep more to the west side of the Ridge, were seen circling with legs dropped near Two Trees. The migrant height-of-flight (on average) increased steadily during the day.

Non-raptor Observations:
About 20 elk were spotted near Cabrini, and 8 elk were seen on the east flank of Dinosaur Ridge. Also seen or heard were Northern Flicker, Western Scrub-Jay, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bushtit, Western Meadowlark, American Crow, Common Raven, Black-billed Magpie, American Robin, Townsend’s Solitaire, and Mountain Chickadee.

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Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (jeff....@birdconservancy.org)
Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.org/

Site Description
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawkwatch in Colorado and is the
best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Dinosaur Ridge may
be the best place in the country to see the rare dark morph of the Broad-winged
Hawk (a few are seen each spring). Hawkwatchers who linger long enough may see
resident Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks and Prairie Falcons, in addition to
migrating Swainson's, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels and
Turkey Vultures. Peregrine Falcons and Ferruginous Hawks are uncommon; Northern
Goshawk is rare but regular. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, and sometimes
Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, American White
Pelican or Dusky Grouse. Birders are always welcome.
The hawkwatch is generally staffed by volunteers from Bird Conservancy of the
Rockies from about 9 AM to around 3 PM from March 1st to May 7th.

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 south
side of lot to 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.