Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (31 Aug 2026) 25 Raptors
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Aug 31, 2026, 8:08:34 PM (5 days ago) Aug 31
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Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado. To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Visitors:
2 hikers asked what we were looking for.
Weather:
No smoke today over Denver, but there was a very mild haziness all over, even though the visibility was clear to DIA 39 km/25 miles.Completely overcast for most of the day with low stratus clouds, beautiful ground glass appearance perfect for finding hawks against.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrants were an RT ie diving onto a TV over the second antenna from the left on Lookout Mountain, and both migrated. In the 9:00 MST hour we saw an OS over North Table Mountain and once it went South of South Table Mountain against the trees and houses of Lakewood, we lost sight of it, but knowing that flight path and knowing that it would lose lift, we scanned the area at the base of the north end of Lookout Mountain where we found it, where it used the ridge lift and thermals to soar and fly SSE just west of Green Mountain. In the 11:00 hour we saw 2 juvenile CH over North Table Mountain chasing and diving on each other repeatedly seeming to be non-migrants, they then went north, then west, and finally went South over Lookout Mountain taking more than 5 minutes from the time we first saw them. Non-migrant raptors: CH 1, SS 2, AK 1, TV 8, RT 10.
Non-raptor Observations:
The first paraglider at 10:45 a.m. DST had no lift and could not even rise to our level, 3 at 11:30 caught thermals but got only a little higher than our level. The Soaring Forecast had lift at 14 ft per second with the height of thermals only 10,280 ft AGL which is only half a mile above the watch, good for us as we would be able to find hawks at that height. BGGN 1, WTSW 3, VGSW 2, WEBL 8, TOSO 1, WOSJ 1, WBNU 1, BTHU 2, MOCH 1, NOFL 1, CORA 5, AMCR 1.
Predictions:
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 3pm. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 83. Light and variable wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aian...@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
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Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado. To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
| Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 31, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 8 | 105 | 105 |
| Osprey | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 2 | 14 | 14 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 14 | 157 | 157 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 15 | 15 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 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 |
| Total: | 25 | 323 | 323 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 4.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
2 hikers asked what we were looking for.
Weather:
No smoke today over Denver, but there was a very mild haziness all over, even though the visibility was clear to DIA 39 km/25 miles.Completely overcast for most of the day with low stratus clouds, beautiful ground glass appearance perfect for finding hawks against.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrants were an RT ie diving onto a TV over the second antenna from the left on Lookout Mountain, and both migrated. In the 9:00 MST hour we saw an OS over North Table Mountain and once it went South of South Table Mountain against the trees and houses of Lakewood, we lost sight of it, but knowing that flight path and knowing that it would lose lift, we scanned the area at the base of the north end of Lookout Mountain where we found it, where it used the ridge lift and thermals to soar and fly SSE just west of Green Mountain. In the 11:00 hour we saw 2 juvenile CH over North Table Mountain chasing and diving on each other repeatedly seeming to be non-migrants, they then went north, then west, and finally went South over Lookout Mountain taking more than 5 minutes from the time we first saw them. Non-migrant raptors: CH 1, SS 2, AK 1, TV 8, RT 10.
Non-raptor Observations:
The first paraglider at 10:45 a.m. DST had no lift and could not even rise to our level, 3 at 11:30 caught thermals but got only a little higher than our level. The Soaring Forecast had lift at 14 ft per second with the height of thermals only 10,280 ft AGL which is only half a mile above the watch, good for us as we would be able to find hawks at that height. BGGN 1, WTSW 3, VGSW 2, WEBL 8, TOSO 1, WOSJ 1, WBNU 1, BTHU 2, MOCH 1, NOFL 1, CORA 5, AMCR 1.
Predictions:
A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 3pm. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 83. Light and variable wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aian...@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org.
If you do not wish to receive these reports, please send email to unsub...@hawkcount.org to unsubscribe.
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