Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (31 Mar 2026) 22 Raptors
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Mar 31, 2026, 10:58:21 PM (2 days ago) Mar 31
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
We had 6 visitors to the ridge today, including Bill Hancock and his wife Lindsay from Maine. We also had a small homeschool group from Denver Audubon come up in the morning to learn about the hawk watch and raptor migration. While we didn’t have too many birds flying, they did get to see a close Red-tailed Hawk a few times, and learned a lot! Thanks to Bill Young and Chip Dawes for volunteering their time today to help spot birds.
Weather:
Temperatures were much lower today than yesterday. Clouds were heavy and covered the sky all day. For a few moments the sun managed to poke out giving us some warmth. Winds switched directions starting from the E, moving NNW, and ending back out of the E at the end of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Raptor activity was minimal in the morning as it has been on some of our slower days recently. A couple of birds moved along the western ridge before the afternoon. In the afternoon birds picked up a bit, with many of them coming low overhead. American Kestrels have had a great presence already this year and made up just about half of our count for the day today. The highlight of the day was in the last hour when an Osprey came overhead no more than 20 m above us. A second Osprey was seen taking a low line over the Morrison ridge not 10 minutes later. Non-raptor activity was also low today with some of our local birds only singing a few times throughout the day. We did have 4 Double-crested Cormorants move N along Green Mountain.
Non-raptor Observations:
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Double-crested Cormorant 4, Northern Flicker 2, American Crow 1, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 1, American Bushtit 3, Townsend's Solitaire 1, American Robin 1, Spotted Towhee 1, Western Meadowlark 2
Predictions:
Thunderstorms (so early!) are predicted for tomorrow afternoon. We are hoping to get some birds counted before that happens!
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]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - [Project Details]
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, and American White Pelican. 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: Mar 31, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 | 27 | 27 |
| Osprey | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 | 21 | 21 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 0 | 52 | 52 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 5 | 248 | 248 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| American Kestrel | 10 | 139 | 139 |
| Merlin | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: | 22 | 553 | 553 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
We had 6 visitors to the ridge today, including Bill Hancock and his wife Lindsay from Maine. We also had a small homeschool group from Denver Audubon come up in the morning to learn about the hawk watch and raptor migration. While we didn’t have too many birds flying, they did get to see a close Red-tailed Hawk a few times, and learned a lot! Thanks to Bill Young and Chip Dawes for volunteering their time today to help spot birds.
Weather:
Temperatures were much lower today than yesterday. Clouds were heavy and covered the sky all day. For a few moments the sun managed to poke out giving us some warmth. Winds switched directions starting from the E, moving NNW, and ending back out of the E at the end of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Raptor activity was minimal in the morning as it has been on some of our slower days recently. A couple of birds moved along the western ridge before the afternoon. In the afternoon birds picked up a bit, with many of them coming low overhead. American Kestrels have had a great presence already this year and made up just about half of our count for the day today. The highlight of the day was in the last hour when an Osprey came overhead no more than 20 m above us. A second Osprey was seen taking a low line over the Morrison ridge not 10 minutes later. Non-raptor activity was also low today with some of our local birds only singing a few times throughout the day. We did have 4 Double-crested Cormorants move N along Green Mountain.
Non-raptor Observations:
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Double-crested Cormorant 4, Northern Flicker 2, American Crow 1, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 1, American Bushtit 3, Townsend's Solitaire 1, American Robin 1, Spotted Towhee 1, Western Meadowlark 2
Predictions:
Thunderstorms (so early!) are predicted for tomorrow afternoon. We are hoping to get some birds counted before that happens!
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]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - [Project Details]
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, and American White Pelican. 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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