Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (09 Apr 2024) 35 Raptors
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Apr 9, 2024, 10:34:11 PM4/9/24
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Visitors:
A huge thank you to all of the volunteers and visitors that came out to help spot and ID raptors today. As always we wouldn’t be able to do it without you! We saw a total of 29 visitors at the ridge today with many folks inquiring about the migration. We had multiple visitors ask about bird activity during the eclipse today which was fun to chat about.
Weather:
We had another beautiful day on the ridge today with light cloud coverage all day and near perfect (in my opinion) temperatures. Winds were predicted to come from the N and did in the start of the day but quickly varied in direction. Winds varied in direction and speed all day, with some moments of complete stillness.
Raptor Observations:
Migration started off with a bang this morning with a close eye-level OS to the west of the ridge followed by out first BW of the year! This bird comes almost a year to the day of our first of the year last year. After this stellar start birds slowed down considerably. TV have been consistently making up the bulk of our birds recently and today was no different with small kettles of 3-5 seen. Local raptor activity was high today with a number of RT seen hunting, displaying, and escorting migrant RT. Both BE and GE locals were seen today, one GE was mobbed by two RT and two CORA for a good few minutes before heading west.
Non-raptor Observations:
Corvid activity was great today with most birds spotted being CORA. As always it’s nice to see them on the ridge but my oh my do they try and pass as raptors at times. One CORA perched on the ridges telephone pole for a few minutes calling. Passerine species seen today include TOSO, HOFI, ROPI, AMRO, ROWR, WOSJ, and BBMA. The non-raptor highlights of the day were a Turkey (not vulture) seen flying right on the ridge first thing in the morning and 3 American White Pelicans that came right overhead!
Predictions:
Tomorrows prediction looks much like todays with partial cloud cover and winds from the general N direction. I’m hoping we will have a bigger day tomorrow than today as the storms south of us move. There were some nice winds from the S across New Mexico during the afternoon today, hopefully bringing us some nice migrants tomorrow!
Report submitted by Official Counter (j.f.pe...@gmail.com)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.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 a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM from March 1st to May 10th,
weather permitting.
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)
Colorado, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 09, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 11 | 127 | 157 |
| Osprey | 1 | 7 | 13 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 5 | 35 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 13 | 29 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 2 | 34 | 55 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 9 | 62 | 323 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 4 | 15 |
| American Kestrel | 9 | 78 | 100 |
| Merlin | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 35 | 351 | 777 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley |
| Observers: | Ajit Antony, Chip Dawes, Liza Antony, Lynn Bocken, Mike Clark, Rick Nolson, Sammy Korengut |
Visitors:
A huge thank you to all of the volunteers and visitors that came out to help spot and ID raptors today. As always we wouldn’t be able to do it without you! We saw a total of 29 visitors at the ridge today with many folks inquiring about the migration. We had multiple visitors ask about bird activity during the eclipse today which was fun to chat about.
Weather:
We had another beautiful day on the ridge today with light cloud coverage all day and near perfect (in my opinion) temperatures. Winds were predicted to come from the N and did in the start of the day but quickly varied in direction. Winds varied in direction and speed all day, with some moments of complete stillness.
Raptor Observations:
Migration started off with a bang this morning with a close eye-level OS to the west of the ridge followed by out first BW of the year! This bird comes almost a year to the day of our first of the year last year. After this stellar start birds slowed down considerably. TV have been consistently making up the bulk of our birds recently and today was no different with small kettles of 3-5 seen. Local raptor activity was high today with a number of RT seen hunting, displaying, and escorting migrant RT. Both BE and GE locals were seen today, one GE was mobbed by two RT and two CORA for a good few minutes before heading west.
Non-raptor Observations:
Corvid activity was great today with most birds spotted being CORA. As always it’s nice to see them on the ridge but my oh my do they try and pass as raptors at times. One CORA perched on the ridges telephone pole for a few minutes calling. Passerine species seen today include TOSO, HOFI, ROPI, AMRO, ROWR, WOSJ, and BBMA. The non-raptor highlights of the day were a Turkey (not vulture) seen flying right on the ridge first thing in the morning and 3 American White Pelicans that came right overhead!
Predictions:
Tomorrows prediction looks much like todays with partial cloud cover and winds from the general N direction. I’m hoping we will have a bigger day tomorrow than today as the storms south of us move. There were some nice winds from the S across New Mexico during the afternoon today, hopefully bringing us some nice migrants tomorrow!
Report submitted by Official Counter (j.f.pe...@gmail.com)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.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 a
Hawk Counter and volunteers from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM from March 1st to May 10th,
weather permitting.
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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