Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (02 Sep 2026) 13 Raptors
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Sep 2, 2026, 10:36:59 PMSep 2
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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:
4 young hikers, 1 asked if I were bird watching, and I explained. His response was Very cool. Justin then an RT came within easy view, kiting, I was able to show them and told them that it was hunting and that it can see a mouse scampering on the ground from 100 feet up, which was surprising to them.
Weather:
Slight initial haziness over downtown Denver caused by wildfire smoke. The air to the South was grainy and hawks would disappear while watching them through my binoculars. Cool breeze starting with level 3 and becoming level 4 from the East. The air was very clear. There was minimum cloud cover 5% increasing to a maximum of only 25%. Visibility was 19 km to begin with because of the haze and went to 39 km by the 10 MST hour.
Raptor Observations:
About 30 ft before I got to the watch I saw an RT overhead. I kept watching it but when I got to the watch I couldn't see it against the perfectly blue sky, so not counted. One juvenile Swainson's Hawk with a light head and spotted lateral breast, which was originally seen over North Table Mountain, flew through the Kestrel Channel dropping into the trees of Lookout Mountain, wending its way gradually to the East and coming over the Eastern slope of the mountain to migrate. Non-migrant raptors: RT 7, TV 5.
Non-raptor Observations:
The first paraglider at 10:30 a.m. DST at no lift at all but the 4 which came after 11:00 a.m. had excellent lift. VGSW 1, MOCH 1, BTHU 1, WOSJ 8, STJA 11, CORA 1.
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 89. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.
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: Sep 02, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 1 | 3 | 108 |
| Osprey | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 10 | 15 | 172 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 3 | 18 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| American Kestrel | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total: | 13 | 27 | 350 |
| Observation start time: | 08:15:00 |
| Observation end time: | 12:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 3.75 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
4 young hikers, 1 asked if I were bird watching, and I explained. His response was Very cool. Justin then an RT came within easy view, kiting, I was able to show them and told them that it was hunting and that it can see a mouse scampering on the ground from 100 feet up, which was surprising to them.
Weather:
Slight initial haziness over downtown Denver caused by wildfire smoke. The air to the South was grainy and hawks would disappear while watching them through my binoculars. Cool breeze starting with level 3 and becoming level 4 from the East. The air was very clear. There was minimum cloud cover 5% increasing to a maximum of only 25%. Visibility was 19 km to begin with because of the haze and went to 39 km by the 10 MST hour.
Raptor Observations:
About 30 ft before I got to the watch I saw an RT overhead. I kept watching it but when I got to the watch I couldn't see it against the perfectly blue sky, so not counted. One juvenile Swainson's Hawk with a light head and spotted lateral breast, which was originally seen over North Table Mountain, flew through the Kestrel Channel dropping into the trees of Lookout Mountain, wending its way gradually to the East and coming over the Eastern slope of the mountain to migrate. Non-migrant raptors: RT 7, TV 5.
Non-raptor Observations:
The first paraglider at 10:30 a.m. DST at no lift at all but the 4 which came after 11:00 a.m. had excellent lift. VGSW 1, MOCH 1, BTHU 1, WOSJ 8, STJA 11, CORA 1.
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 89. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.
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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