Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (24 Sep 2025) 19 Raptors
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rep...@hawkcount.org
Sep 24, 2025, 10:29:04 PM (20 hours ago) Sep 24
to cob...@googlegroups.com
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
A woman hiker came up to the watch and asked whether I had seen any hawks, I replied that I had seen a few.
Weather:
After an unusual 36 hours of rain, I thought there may be some migrants today. The winds were light from the south, temperature 18>16 C, humidity 37>52%, cumulus cloud cover 80>20%, clear visibility 24>12 km. Radar showed that the precipitation within clouds was moving from SSW to NNE. Earth.nullschool.net showed winds aloft from the south at 5 km/hr. Soaring Guidance of the National Weather Service was good, with lift at 2.4 m/sec and predicted height of thermals 6902 feet above ground level. This meant I had to scan higher than usual, 1-3 binocular fields above the ridge to the west, from as soon as I got there.
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall count 2025. See: https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first migrant was a CH at 10:15 AM MDT over the ridge to the west. At 10:5 AM, far to the NW I could see 'pepper specks' through binoculars, which turned out to be a kettle of BW rising in a thermal, then streaming out broadly - through my scope - compact, flat winged buteos. Non migrant raptors: GE 6 - 1 at 12:15 PM flying NW, at the same time saw an adult with 2 juveniles with white only at the base of their tails with no white in their wings and no molt, and 2 more adults - 1 before and 1 after. TV3. RT3.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 17, Blue Jay 1, American Robin 4, Northern Flicker 10, Common Raven 7. 2 paragliders with good lift, quite high.
Predictions:
Light winds from the NW aloft according to Earth.nullschool.net. The surface forecast predicts west wind changing to east wind. The Soaring Guidance from the NWS was good with the maximum rate of lift 2.5 m/sec, and maximum height of thermals 6869 feet above ground level.
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 24, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 11 | 15 |
| Osprey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 12 | 17 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 19 | 21 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 15 | 17 | 17 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 13 | 26 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 18 | 68 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 27 | 33 |
| 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 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 19 | 137 | 225 |
| Observation start time: | 08:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 12:15:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
A woman hiker came up to the watch and asked whether I had seen any hawks, I replied that I had seen a few.
Weather:
After an unusual 36 hours of rain, I thought there may be some migrants today. The winds were light from the south, temperature 18>16 C, humidity 37>52%, cumulus cloud cover 80>20%, clear visibility 24>12 km. Radar showed that the precipitation within clouds was moving from SSW to NNE. Earth.nullschool.net showed winds aloft from the south at 5 km/hr. Soaring Guidance of the National Weather Service was good, with lift at 2.4 m/sec and predicted height of thermals 6902 feet above ground level. This meant I had to scan higher than usual, 1-3 binocular fields above the ridge to the west, from as soon as I got there.
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall count 2025. See: https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first migrant was a CH at 10:15 AM MDT over the ridge to the west. At 10:5 AM, far to the NW I could see 'pepper specks' through binoculars, which turned out to be a kettle of BW rising in a thermal, then streaming out broadly - through my scope - compact, flat winged buteos. Non migrant raptors: GE 6 - 1 at 12:15 PM flying NW, at the same time saw an adult with 2 juveniles with white only at the base of their tails with no white in their wings and no molt, and 2 more adults - 1 before and 1 after. TV3. RT3.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 17, Blue Jay 1, American Robin 4, Northern Flicker 10, Common Raven 7. 2 paragliders with good lift, quite high.
Predictions:
Light winds from the NW aloft according to Earth.nullschool.net. The surface forecast predicts west wind changing to east wind. The Soaring Guidance from the NWS was good with the maximum rate of lift 2.5 m/sec, and maximum height of thermals 6869 feet above ground level.
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)
Caoimhín Perkins
Sep 24, 2025, 10:40:13 PM (19 hours ago) Sep 24
to rep...@hawkcount.org, cob...@googlegroups.com
That is an incredible amount of broad winged hawks! Wow. I’ve never even seen one, let alone 15!
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