Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (31 Aug 2025) 25 Raptors
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Aug 31, 2025, 10:44:40 PM (6 days ago) Aug 31
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
Two little girls 6 and 7 year old came to the watch. The older one said to me "Thats cool" pointing at my scope. I offered them my binoculars and they looked at the tall antenna on Green Mountain and were thrilled with the view, stretching their hand out as if to touch it. 2 bicyclists stopped at the watch and asked Liza about migration, she explained about raptors migrating during the day and songbirds migrating at night. A hiker walked toward me flapping his hands widely, I nodded, he said Aha. A trail runner stopped at the watch, and offered that he was from New York. He turned out to live in Nyack which is the town just below the Hook Mountain Hawk Watch where we used to count as volunteers between 2019 and 2022 in fall, as well as starting a regular spring watch there which continues. He wanted to know the range of RT, and I showed him on the Merlin app. He wanted to know whether they were migrating north or south in fall, and asked him what he thought, and he guessed correctly. I told him to think about what happens when there's heavy snow up North, where would raptors feed if they didn't migrate?
Weather:
Perfectly blue sky with a few puffy thermal-topping clouds to the West, which gradually increased by the second hour to a broken line of clouds from north to SW, where we find most of our migrants. There were light winds from the East, with 16 mph winds predicted after noon which did not alas materialize as the temperatures between 21 and 31 degrees Celsius (92+ degrees Fahrenheit), humidity 37-41 and decreasing, steady barometric pressure, cloud cover 0% initially ending at 25%, excellent visibility to 24 kilometers. Earth.nullschool.net showed winds aloft at 700 hPa, i.e. up to 1 mile above ground level at 18 kilometers per hour streaming from the NNW. The soaring forecast was excellent at 4.9 meters per second, think of that, that is 16 feet rise every second within thermals, and thermals rising to 11,037 feet above ground level, i.e. upto two miles high!
Raptor Observations:
Today was a red-letter day for this exploratory fall count 2025 in that we have counted 50 migrating Swainson's Hawk, which is 4 more than seen during the entire spring hawk watch 2025 here at the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch! See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first Raptor aloft was a TV at 9:08 AM MDT, followed by the first migrant raptor an SS at 9:19 AM. Adult GE migrated at 12:47 PM. All migrants flew far to the NW and high over the western ridge. In the last hour we saw two male AK tangling to the SW, following which one flew back and down to the NW of the watch, while the other migrated and was joined by another male AK which tangled with it briefly, and both flew South. 1 SW was molting its innermost right secondary feather. Non migrant raptors: GE 4 - at 1:19 PM, 2 at 2:39 PM and 1 at 4:21 PM which was missing a left innermost secondary and 2 others, all of them circled high and eventually flew north. SW 1 flew south, then NW In the last hour. Osprey 1. RT 3, one of which was attacked by a small unidentified raptor. AK 2 - male and female in the last hour, the former sitting on one of the wires to the North.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 2, Violet-green Swallow 6, Common Raven 7, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 2, Broad-tailed Hummingbird female which hovered 3 feet in front of Liza. 3 paragliders took off around 10:15 AM And soared very high consonant with the excellent soaring forecast, they went far South and returned at 3:15 PM.
Predictions:
Very similar to today but a few degrees hotter.
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: Aug 31, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 4 | 12 | 13 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 8 | 49 | 50 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 25 | 83 | 88 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 8 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Visitors:
Two little girls 6 and 7 year old came to the watch. The older one said to me "Thats cool" pointing at my scope. I offered them my binoculars and they looked at the tall antenna on Green Mountain and were thrilled with the view, stretching their hand out as if to touch it. 2 bicyclists stopped at the watch and asked Liza about migration, she explained about raptors migrating during the day and songbirds migrating at night. A hiker walked toward me flapping his hands widely, I nodded, he said Aha. A trail runner stopped at the watch, and offered that he was from New York. He turned out to live in Nyack which is the town just below the Hook Mountain Hawk Watch where we used to count as volunteers between 2019 and 2022 in fall, as well as starting a regular spring watch there which continues. He wanted to know the range of RT, and I showed him on the Merlin app. He wanted to know whether they were migrating north or south in fall, and asked him what he thought, and he guessed correctly. I told him to think about what happens when there's heavy snow up North, where would raptors feed if they didn't migrate?
Weather:
Perfectly blue sky with a few puffy thermal-topping clouds to the West, which gradually increased by the second hour to a broken line of clouds from north to SW, where we find most of our migrants. There were light winds from the East, with 16 mph winds predicted after noon which did not alas materialize as the temperatures between 21 and 31 degrees Celsius (92+ degrees Fahrenheit), humidity 37-41 and decreasing, steady barometric pressure, cloud cover 0% initially ending at 25%, excellent visibility to 24 kilometers. Earth.nullschool.net showed winds aloft at 700 hPa, i.e. up to 1 mile above ground level at 18 kilometers per hour streaming from the NNW. The soaring forecast was excellent at 4.9 meters per second, think of that, that is 16 feet rise every second within thermals, and thermals rising to 11,037 feet above ground level, i.e. upto two miles high!
Raptor Observations:
Today was a red-letter day for this exploratory fall count 2025 in that we have counted 50 migrating Swainson's Hawk, which is 4 more than seen during the entire spring hawk watch 2025 here at the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch! See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first Raptor aloft was a TV at 9:08 AM MDT, followed by the first migrant raptor an SS at 9:19 AM. Adult GE migrated at 12:47 PM. All migrants flew far to the NW and high over the western ridge. In the last hour we saw two male AK tangling to the SW, following which one flew back and down to the NW of the watch, while the other migrated and was joined by another male AK which tangled with it briefly, and both flew South. 1 SW was molting its innermost right secondary feather. Non migrant raptors: GE 4 - at 1:19 PM, 2 at 2:39 PM and 1 at 4:21 PM which was missing a left innermost secondary and 2 others, all of them circled high and eventually flew north. SW 1 flew south, then NW In the last hour. Osprey 1. RT 3, one of which was attacked by a small unidentified raptor. AK 2 - male and female in the last hour, the former sitting on one of the wires to the North.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 2, Violet-green Swallow 6, Common Raven 7, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 2, Broad-tailed Hummingbird female which hovered 3 feet in front of Liza. 3 paragliders took off around 10:15 AM And soared very high consonant with the excellent soaring forecast, they went far South and returned at 3:15 PM.
Predictions:
Very similar to today but a few degrees hotter.
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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