Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (12 Apr 2024) 84 Raptors
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Apr 13, 2024, 12:43:27 AM4/13/24
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Visitors:
We had 31 visitors to the ridge today. We also had a Dave Hill lead Denver Field Ornithologists field trip to the ridge today. Thank you Dave Hill, Lorissa AvgoRay, John Whitiker, Kent Bagley, Roger Spoulding, and Janice Arey for coming out today, and I am sorry if I spelled any of your names wrong.
Weather:
Today was a bright sunshiney day with barely any clouds until about 1500 MST. Then it shifted to a partly cloudy sky about 1530 MST. Today was a scorcher, especially on the western side of the ridge because that side was hidden from the Southeastern wind.
Raptor Observations:
As soon as I got to the top of the ridge this morning a sharp-shinned hawk flew by, so I started the count early. Our migrants in the morning were everywhere, but in the afternoon most of our birds were high until the sky became more overcast lowering the migrants for us. In the last 2 hours, we had some falcon time with, 27 falcons with all 4 of our target falcon species. In a crazy 20-30 minute period we had a Merlin, 7 kestrels, a prairie falcon, 2 peregrine falcons, a red-tailed hawk, and an immature goshawk all migrating. The three large falcons were roughly 2 miles away and all in the air at the same time. The two peregrines were flying together and seemed to be a uniform dark color. The prairie falcon appeared to have white on its wings and a darker core because of the darker armpits I assume. Three Merlin were far away constantly flapping with their longer and more pointed wing compared to an American Kestrel. The others were right over our heads. The American Goshawk was a Juvenile that was close enough to see the wavy tail stripes! Very thick tail base (where it meets the body) and a heavily/ messy streaked chest. Heavy flapping in the lack of wind at the time. Our unknown accipiters were right next to each other. One was much bigger, a Goshawk or Cooper's, and was lost under the horizon heading North. The other accipiter was smaller in comparison to the other, a male Cooper's or Sharp-shin. These birds weren't fighting, but they would pass close to each other on occasion. This was probably a pair of Cooper's hawks, but the bigger one seemed to have a very large tail almost too long for a Cooper's. In local news, we had a lot of turkey vultures scouring the valleys for food, but they would turn around once they get even with us. We also had a lot of acrobatically flying red-tailed hawks flying all around us. We also had a local coopers hawk hunting to the west/southwest and two local Golden Eagles during the chaotic 20 minutes.
Non-raptor Observations:
We had a distant American White Pelican going North alone over Green Mountain. There were a few swallows, probably tree swallows. There were a lot of bugs, mostly beetles and butterflies, flying by around us.
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks to be partly cloudy most of the day. It should reach the 70s with a Northwestern wind. I can't wait to see you up there.
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 12, 2024 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 15 | 160 | 190 |
| Osprey | 1 | 12 | 18 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 6 | 36 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 3 | 18 | 34 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 9 | 59 | 80 |
| American Goshawk | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 6 | 88 | 349 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 4 | 15 |
| American Kestrel | 38 | 150 | 172 |
| Merlin | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Prairie Falcon | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total: | 84 | 535 | 961 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 9 hours |
| Official Counter | Dustin Kohler |
| Observers: | Amy Walsh, DFO Field trip, Eric Edgar, Kyle Carlsen, Shannon Campbell, Steve Ryder |
Visitors:
We had 31 visitors to the ridge today. We also had a Dave Hill lead Denver Field Ornithologists field trip to the ridge today. Thank you Dave Hill, Lorissa AvgoRay, John Whitiker, Kent Bagley, Roger Spoulding, and Janice Arey for coming out today, and I am sorry if I spelled any of your names wrong.
Weather:
Today was a bright sunshiney day with barely any clouds until about 1500 MST. Then it shifted to a partly cloudy sky about 1530 MST. Today was a scorcher, especially on the western side of the ridge because that side was hidden from the Southeastern wind.
Raptor Observations:
As soon as I got to the top of the ridge this morning a sharp-shinned hawk flew by, so I started the count early. Our migrants in the morning were everywhere, but in the afternoon most of our birds were high until the sky became more overcast lowering the migrants for us. In the last 2 hours, we had some falcon time with, 27 falcons with all 4 of our target falcon species. In a crazy 20-30 minute period we had a Merlin, 7 kestrels, a prairie falcon, 2 peregrine falcons, a red-tailed hawk, and an immature goshawk all migrating. The three large falcons were roughly 2 miles away and all in the air at the same time. The two peregrines were flying together and seemed to be a uniform dark color. The prairie falcon appeared to have white on its wings and a darker core because of the darker armpits I assume. Three Merlin were far away constantly flapping with their longer and more pointed wing compared to an American Kestrel. The others were right over our heads. The American Goshawk was a Juvenile that was close enough to see the wavy tail stripes! Very thick tail base (where it meets the body) and a heavily/ messy streaked chest. Heavy flapping in the lack of wind at the time. Our unknown accipiters were right next to each other. One was much bigger, a Goshawk or Cooper's, and was lost under the horizon heading North. The other accipiter was smaller in comparison to the other, a male Cooper's or Sharp-shin. These birds weren't fighting, but they would pass close to each other on occasion. This was probably a pair of Cooper's hawks, but the bigger one seemed to have a very large tail almost too long for a Cooper's. In local news, we had a lot of turkey vultures scouring the valleys for food, but they would turn around once they get even with us. We also had a lot of acrobatically flying red-tailed hawks flying all around us. We also had a local coopers hawk hunting to the west/southwest and two local Golden Eagles during the chaotic 20 minutes.
Non-raptor Observations:
We had a distant American White Pelican going North alone over Green Mountain. There were a few swallows, probably tree swallows. There were a lot of bugs, mostly beetles and butterflies, flying by around us.
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks to be partly cloudy most of the day. It should reach the 70s with a Northwestern wind. I can't wait to see you up there.
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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