Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (14 Apr 2025) 70 Raptors
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Apr 14, 2025, 11:18:25 PM4/14/25
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
Thank you to Clay Gibson, Mike Serruto, and Marirosa Donisi for your help spotting migrants today! We had 4 visitors on the ridge today. The trail was muddy but still being used by trail runners, hikers, and a few bikers. Can't make it out to the ridge and still want to follow along? Check out our Trektellen page and follow along with live updates at https://www.trektellen.org/count/view/4515/20250301 .
Weather:
Incredibly heavy fog was present at the ridge this morning upon arrival, causing us to push our start time back to 1040 MST. Fog was present for most of the morning, but by the end of the day we barely had any clouds in the sky at all. Temperatures were low in the morning but increased when the fog lifted. Winds were variable today but from the E for a lot of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Right when we got to the ridge this morning migration kicked off. Birds flew incredibly low near us as well as over Green Mountain for a few hours, eventually shifting to a flight line over the W ridge. We had a stellar Northern Harrier flight with birds coming one after the over overhead and over Green Mtn. At one point we had two NH move together overhead. Today's NH flights puts as at the highest season count for them in three years! American Kestrels continue to come en masse, surpassing our RT count for the season so far. We also had two BW move today, which was a little surprising with the lack of thermals. Local RT, TV, and a non-migratory SW were seen today.
Non-raptor Observations:
Passerine activity was low today in terms of migrants, but SPTO and WEME were heard singing almost non-stop all day today. Our Rock Wren was also singing for most of the afternoon, perching very nicely for us to get many good looks. A group of 16 BBMA were seen moving N across Mt. Morrison, and our first BTHU was heard today! White-throated Swift 6, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Double-crested Cormorant 1, Northern Flicker 1, Black-billed Magpie 16, Common Raven 2, Rock Wren 1, American Robin 2, Spotted Towhee 4, Western Meadowlark 3, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Dark-eyed Junco 4
Predictions:
Temperatures will be warmer tomorrow with partial cloud cover for most of the day. Winds are predicted to come from the E/SE, hopefully bringing us another nice day of migration!
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: Apr 14, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 9 | 204 | 245 |
| Osprey | 2 | 30 | 34 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 12 | 39 |
| Northern Harrier | 9 | 27 | 35 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 9 | 81 | 109 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 7 | 120 | 169 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 6 | 108 | 373 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 12 | 27 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 3 | 22 |
| American Kestrel | 22 | 327 | 429 |
| Merlin | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Total: | 70 | 949 | 1522 |
| Observation start time: | 10:45:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 6.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley |
| Observers: | Clay Gibson, Marirosa Donisi, Mike Serruto |
Visitors:
Thank you to Clay Gibson, Mike Serruto, and Marirosa Donisi for your help spotting migrants today! We had 4 visitors on the ridge today. The trail was muddy but still being used by trail runners, hikers, and a few bikers. Can't make it out to the ridge and still want to follow along? Check out our Trektellen page and follow along with live updates at https://www.trektellen.org/count/view/4515/20250301 .
Weather:
Incredibly heavy fog was present at the ridge this morning upon arrival, causing us to push our start time back to 1040 MST. Fog was present for most of the morning, but by the end of the day we barely had any clouds in the sky at all. Temperatures were low in the morning but increased when the fog lifted. Winds were variable today but from the E for a lot of the day.
Raptor Observations:
Right when we got to the ridge this morning migration kicked off. Birds flew incredibly low near us as well as over Green Mountain for a few hours, eventually shifting to a flight line over the W ridge. We had a stellar Northern Harrier flight with birds coming one after the over overhead and over Green Mtn. At one point we had two NH move together overhead. Today's NH flights puts as at the highest season count for them in three years! American Kestrels continue to come en masse, surpassing our RT count for the season so far. We also had two BW move today, which was a little surprising with the lack of thermals. Local RT, TV, and a non-migratory SW were seen today.
Non-raptor Observations:
Passerine activity was low today in terms of migrants, but SPTO and WEME were heard singing almost non-stop all day today. Our Rock Wren was also singing for most of the afternoon, perching very nicely for us to get many good looks. A group of 16 BBMA were seen moving N across Mt. Morrison, and our first BTHU was heard today! White-throated Swift 6, Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1, Double-crested Cormorant 1, Northern Flicker 1, Black-billed Magpie 16, Common Raven 2, Rock Wren 1, American Robin 2, Spotted Towhee 4, Western Meadowlark 3, Black-capped Chickadee 2, Dark-eyed Junco 4
Predictions:
Temperatures will be warmer tomorrow with partial cloud cover for most of the day. Winds are predicted to come from the E/SE, hopefully bringing us another nice day of migration!
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)
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