Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (14 Sep 2025) 23 Raptors
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Sep 14, 2025, 10:30:03 PM (5 days ago) Sep 14
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
When we got to the watch we were surprised to find 2 young men already there, one with binoculars named Caoimhin (pronounced Keevan) Perkins, who wanted to see a Golden Eagle and a Ferruginous Hawk, with his friend Abhi Kumar. CP has been seriously birding since November, and had made a list of 30 birds he wanted to see. He had the Merlin app. I introduced him to the Raptor App, the COBirds listserv, DFO.org and the field trips available, and Hawkcount.org. I was able to show the 2 of them an osprey through my scope, as well as to a young woman passing by.
Weather:
The surface forecast was for winds from the NW>N>NE, cloud cover starting at 81% and dropping to about 40%. earth.nullschool.net had a prediction of winds aloft at 33 km/hr from the NW. The soaring forecast was good, with lift at 3.1 m/sec, and predicted maximum height of thermals 7525 feet above ground level. At the watch the winds were as predicted, temperature 18-29 C, humidity 38>15%, clear visibility 24 km.
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall hawk count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first migrant was an OS at 10:00 AM MDT initially found to the SW, and slowly rose up in thermals progressively going south, took a long time for us to decide it was a migrant. A migrant adult GE at 1:29 PM. We had a good number of hawks today, but all of them were extremely distant and very high, over the western ridge and Mount Morrison. At noon, Liza was pointing out the moon, and when I looked with binoculars, I found a raptor over the western ridge. When we kept looking at the channel it had flown in, which was two binocular fields above Mount Morrison, we found a number of raptors there in this and the next two hours. Many of them were only dots seen with binoculars, and some could be identified further with a scope. Non migrant raptors: adult GE at 1:25 PM, AK male, RT2, TV 9. Since I had Liza to help and who faced west, I sat south of the watch where I could see both east as well as west, and as usual there were no migrants to the east.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift Violet-green Swallow 4, Common Raven 4, Northern Flicker 2.
Predictions:
WSW>SE winds with gusts to 16 mph, very little cloud cover to begin with, increasing to 37% at 3:00 PM MDT. I will probably observe during the morning hours.
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: Sep 14, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Osprey | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 7 | 12 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 | 5 | 18 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 2 | 16 | 66 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| American Kestrel | 4 | 20 | 26 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 23 | 76 | 164 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 15:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
When we got to the watch we were surprised to find 2 young men already there, one with binoculars named Caoimhin (pronounced Keevan) Perkins, who wanted to see a Golden Eagle and a Ferruginous Hawk, with his friend Abhi Kumar. CP has been seriously birding since November, and had made a list of 30 birds he wanted to see. He had the Merlin app. I introduced him to the Raptor App, the COBirds listserv, DFO.org and the field trips available, and Hawkcount.org. I was able to show the 2 of them an osprey through my scope, as well as to a young woman passing by.
Weather:
The surface forecast was for winds from the NW>N>NE, cloud cover starting at 81% and dropping to about 40%. earth.nullschool.net had a prediction of winds aloft at 33 km/hr from the NW. The soaring forecast was good, with lift at 3.1 m/sec, and predicted maximum height of thermals 7525 feet above ground level. At the watch the winds were as predicted, temperature 18-29 C, humidity 38>15%, clear visibility 24 km.
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall hawk count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first migrant was an OS at 10:00 AM MDT initially found to the SW, and slowly rose up in thermals progressively going south, took a long time for us to decide it was a migrant. A migrant adult GE at 1:29 PM. We had a good number of hawks today, but all of them were extremely distant and very high, over the western ridge and Mount Morrison. At noon, Liza was pointing out the moon, and when I looked with binoculars, I found a raptor over the western ridge. When we kept looking at the channel it had flown in, which was two binocular fields above Mount Morrison, we found a number of raptors there in this and the next two hours. Many of them were only dots seen with binoculars, and some could be identified further with a scope. Non migrant raptors: adult GE at 1:25 PM, AK male, RT2, TV 9. Since I had Liza to help and who faced west, I sat south of the watch where I could see both east as well as west, and as usual there were no migrants to the east.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift Violet-green Swallow 4, Common Raven 4, Northern Flicker 2.
Predictions:
WSW>SE winds with gusts to 16 mph, very little cloud cover to begin with, increasing to 37% at 3:00 PM MDT. I will probably observe during the morning hours.
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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