Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (01 Sep 2025) 4 Raptors
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Sep 1, 2025, 11:19:45 PM (5 days ago) Sep 1
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
An older man asked me if he could fly his drone, and I said No, there are hawks and eagles flying here, so he said he would go further down the ridge - fortunately I could neither hear nor see his drone all day. A young man hiking with a huge pack said he just bought a Kowa scope and asked me if I wanted to compare it with my Swarovski. I replied that Swarovskis are among the best scopes available, so I declined. He seemed quite disappointed, so I said I would look through his scope, mentioning that to properly compare scopes one ought to look during low light conditions, not in bright sunshine. The scope was very good. He showed me his 12x Swarovski binoculars which was lightweight, ergonomic, and excellent. He said he enjoyed talking to someone who knew optics. He was training for hunting, and was on his way back from the top of Green Mountain on his way back to the Stegosaurus parking lot - in just over two hours.
Weather:
The forecast was for light winds from the NE with gusts to 15 mph by 1:00 PM, but the wind was 3 hours late in making its appearance. A completely cloudless sky, but by 10:15 AM MDT small puffy clouds, the type usually capping thermals were noted to the West, where good thermals usually develop because of the hot Denver sun secondary to its mile high elevation, and the rocks of the Rocky Mountain foothills viz. the Front Range. Winds from the E>ENE>NE. Temperature 19>31>23 degrees Celsius, humidity 32% dropping to 17% steady barometer, minimal cloud cover, good visibility at 24 km. By noon there was a broken line of cumulus clouds of varying sizes between NNW and SW. By 2:00 PM many of these cumulogenic (my neologism!) thermals were dissipating because of the low humidity. Earth.nullschool.net had winds aloft for up to a mile above ground level streaming down from Canada - SKA, AB and MB through Montana and Wyoming, to the East of a high pressure zone over Colorado. The soaring forecast was excellent with lift at 5 m/sec and predicted thermals up to 11,237 feet above ground level!
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall hawk count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first raptors at 9:56 AM were 2 nonmigratory TV. The first migrant was only by 12:07 PM MDT, found purely serendipitously while I was looking through my scope at an RT (local), an SS was seen in the background, which I could follow South. I assumed because of the excellent soaring forecast that most of the raptors were flying 1-2 miles high. I could not find any of them even systematically scanning really high. Since this is an exploratory count, I thought I would wait till 3:00 PM when temperatures dropped, thermals lowered, and perhaps I could find a few raptors. An SW came through at 1:32 PM, a male and female AK respectively at 2:57 PM and 3:39 PM. Non migrant Raptors: TV 13, RT 4 including two flying together dangling their legs, reinforcing pair bonding.
Non-raptor Observations:
Townsend's Solitaire 1, Violet-green Swallow 3, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1, Common Raven 4. 2 paragliders aloft in the morning, 3 after noon, and 5 at 5:00 PM when I left. I remembered Last fall when we counted from Mount Zion, a paraglider told us that in the evening the wind blows from West to East down Clear Creek Canyon resulting in excellent lift at its mouth, and they called it The Magic Hour.
Predictions:
Similar conditions to today except with slightly higher cloud cover 20% after noon.
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 01, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 1 | 51 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 4 | 4 | 92 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
An older man asked me if he could fly his drone, and I said No, there are hawks and eagles flying here, so he said he would go further down the ridge - fortunately I could neither hear nor see his drone all day. A young man hiking with a huge pack said he just bought a Kowa scope and asked me if I wanted to compare it with my Swarovski. I replied that Swarovskis are among the best scopes available, so I declined. He seemed quite disappointed, so I said I would look through his scope, mentioning that to properly compare scopes one ought to look during low light conditions, not in bright sunshine. The scope was very good. He showed me his 12x Swarovski binoculars which was lightweight, ergonomic, and excellent. He said he enjoyed talking to someone who knew optics. He was training for hunting, and was on his way back from the top of Green Mountain on his way back to the Stegosaurus parking lot - in just over two hours.
Weather:
The forecast was for light winds from the NE with gusts to 15 mph by 1:00 PM, but the wind was 3 hours late in making its appearance. A completely cloudless sky, but by 10:15 AM MDT small puffy clouds, the type usually capping thermals were noted to the West, where good thermals usually develop because of the hot Denver sun secondary to its mile high elevation, and the rocks of the Rocky Mountain foothills viz. the Front Range. Winds from the E>ENE>NE. Temperature 19>31>23 degrees Celsius, humidity 32% dropping to 17% steady barometer, minimal cloud cover, good visibility at 24 km. By noon there was a broken line of cumulus clouds of varying sizes between NNW and SW. By 2:00 PM many of these cumulogenic (my neologism!) thermals were dissipating because of the low humidity. Earth.nullschool.net had winds aloft for up to a mile above ground level streaming down from Canada - SKA, AB and MB through Montana and Wyoming, to the East of a high pressure zone over Colorado. The soaring forecast was excellent with lift at 5 m/sec and predicted thermals up to 11,237 feet above ground level!
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall hawk count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first raptors at 9:56 AM were 2 nonmigratory TV. The first migrant was only by 12:07 PM MDT, found purely serendipitously while I was looking through my scope at an RT (local), an SS was seen in the background, which I could follow South. I assumed because of the excellent soaring forecast that most of the raptors were flying 1-2 miles high. I could not find any of them even systematically scanning really high. Since this is an exploratory count, I thought I would wait till 3:00 PM when temperatures dropped, thermals lowered, and perhaps I could find a few raptors. An SW came through at 1:32 PM, a male and female AK respectively at 2:57 PM and 3:39 PM. Non migrant Raptors: TV 13, RT 4 including two flying together dangling their legs, reinforcing pair bonding.
Non-raptor Observations:
Townsend's Solitaire 1, Violet-green Swallow 3, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1, Common Raven 4. 2 paragliders aloft in the morning, 3 after noon, and 5 at 5:00 PM when I left. I remembered Last fall when we counted from Mount Zion, a paraglider told us that in the evening the wind blows from West to East down Clear Creek Canyon resulting in excellent lift at its mouth, and they called it The Magic Hour.
Predictions:
Similar conditions to today except with slightly higher cloud cover 20% after noon.
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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