Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the RockiesColorado, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 13, 2017 |
Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Turkey Vulture | 0 | 26 | 26 |
Osprey | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Bald Eagle | 0 | 4 | 13 |
Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 16 | 26 |
Cooper's Hawk | 3 | 30 | 35 |
Northern Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 3 | 42 | 222 |
Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 2 | 7 |
Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 3 |
American Kestrel | 0 | 22 | 34 |
Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Accipiter | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Unknown Buteo | 1 | 8 | 23 |
Unknown Falcon | 0 | 4 | 7 |
Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unknown Raptor | 1 | 2 | 9 |
Total: | 9 | 170 | 426 |
Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
Observation end time: | 13:30:00 |
Total observation time: | 5.5 hours |
Official Counter | Joyce Commercon |
Observers: | Bill Wuerthele |
Visitors:Two men out hiking with a young child and a dog stopped by early for the
view and asked about the raptor watch, but most visitors came only for the
view.
Weather:The warm, sunny day started with a clear blue sky that eventually attained
about 20 percent scattered cloud-cover, mostly to the south and west. Winds
were from the east, increasing from bft 2 in the morning to bft 4 in the
afternoon. Temperatures rose from 13 C to 22 C. Visibility was acceptable
but haze in the valleys increased during the day. The Denver basin’s brown
haze appeared to move south along the eastern side of Green Mountain into
the southeastern valley; quarry dust raised by the wind hung noticeably in
the western valley in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations:There was no particular pattern to where the migrants passed along the
ridges or valleys today, although most came along the Ridge or the western
valley. The general height-of-flight did increase throughout day, making it
ever more difficult to spot migrants against the blue. The second hour of
the watch opened nicely with three Cooper's Hawks heading north within
about a half-hour period. The highlight occurred near 10:00am MST when a
Swainson's Hawk, a dark-morph adult with a fully dark chest and belly,
passed fairly close and directly over the HawkWatch platform on its way
north. All the Red-tailed Hawk migrants were juveniles.
A local, adult Red-tailed Hawk was observed to perform several displays of
roller-coaster flight, apparently for its partner; at one point, this pair
swooped past the platform so closely that we could hear the wind against
their wings. A local, juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was seen in Rooney Valley a
few times. A local, male American Kestrel was spotted perched on a
powerline on the east side of the Ridge; it drove off a second local, male
American Kestrel that had dared perch on a nearby line. One of these male
kestrels also attacked and flew circles around a local adult Red-tailed
Hawk as it flew up Rooney Valley.
Non-raptor Observations:A noisy group of Bushtits hung around the platform for a few hours in the
morning. An American White Pelican was spotted west of SubPeak as it flew
south. Also seen or heard were Spotted Towhee, Western Meadowlark,
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Say's Phoebe, Black-billed
Magpie, Northern Flicker, Townsend's Solitaire, Common Raven, Canyon Wren,
White-throated Swift, a gull species, American Crow, and Violet-green
Swallow. Ten Mule deer were seen in Rooney Valley at the base of the Ridge.
Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (
jeff....@birdconservancy.org)
Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies information may be found at:
http://www.birdconservancy.org/Site DescriptionDinosaur 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.