Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (13 Apr 2025) 125 Raptors
33 views
Skip to first unread message
rep...@hawkcount.org
Apr 13, 2025, 10:26:43 PM4/13/25
to cob...@googlegroups.com
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Visitors:
We had a great amount of support today in spotting birds, from volunteers to hawk counters from the Goshutes site in Nevada. Our weekend observer Laura Farnsworth, and intern Haley Caron, were also present today. A total of 50 people visited the ridge today, many of them spending at least 10 minutes with us looking for migrants. The trails surrounding us seemed quieter than expected, especially with the mass amount of people out recreating yesterday. We still managed to have a busy day at the hawk watch. 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:
We had another warm day on the ridge today with temperatures thankfully not as high as yesterday. Winds were constantly from the SE/E all day at light speeds, until they picking up around 1630 MST. Rain clouds were seen moving in over the last hour, and resulted in us ending our count early.
Raptor Observations:
We had another fantastic day of migration today with a total of 125 raptors migrating today. The day started off with our FOY Broad-winged Hawks (!) moving far over the west ridge. Our final BW of the day came much closer giving us some great looks at the adult tail band. These birds are a real treat for us, as they are the only raptor seen at this site that can only be found in the state during migration! Other highlights today include a very low overhead Merlin, a few kettles of Turkey Vultures, and great American Kestrel flights for a chunk of the day. One Swainson's Hawk was counted today as well, distant over the W ridge. Local raptor activity was high again today with up to 4 RT seen displaying at once. We also saw a PG, GE, BE, a handful of TV, a CH, and both the male and female AK in the area.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 2, Mourning Dove 2, American White Pelican 75, Northern Flicker 1, Say's Phoebe 1, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 3, Black-billed Magpie 6, Common Raven 5, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Mountain Chickadee 1, Tree Swallow 3, swalow sp. 45, Rock Wren 1, Dark-eyed Junco 1, Spotted Towhee 2, Western Meadowlark 2, Common Grackle 1
Predictions:
Precipitation is moving through the area overnight, cooling the site off tomorrow. Winds are predicted to be light from the NE. The trail will likely be muddy in the morning! Migration may slow down a bit tomorrow with a cooler ground.
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 13, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 30 | 195 | 236 |
| Osprey | 3 | 28 | 32 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 11 | 38 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 18 | 26 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 12 | 72 | 100 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 10 | 113 | 162 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 7 | 102 | 367 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 12 | 27 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 3 | 22 |
| American Kestrel | 52 | 305 | 407 |
| Merlin | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Unknown Buteo | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Total: | 125 | 879 | 1452 |
| Observation start time: | 09:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.5 hours |
| Official Counter | Emma Riley |
| Observers: | Ryan Speights, Ashley Speights, Diana Hornick, Ginni Dickinson, Haley Caron, Laura Farnsworth, Ric Olson |
Visitors:
We had a great amount of support today in spotting birds, from volunteers to hawk counters from the Goshutes site in Nevada. Our weekend observer Laura Farnsworth, and intern Haley Caron, were also present today. A total of 50 people visited the ridge today, many of them spending at least 10 minutes with us looking for migrants. The trails surrounding us seemed quieter than expected, especially with the mass amount of people out recreating yesterday. We still managed to have a busy day at the hawk watch. 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:
We had another warm day on the ridge today with temperatures thankfully not as high as yesterday. Winds were constantly from the SE/E all day at light speeds, until they picking up around 1630 MST. Rain clouds were seen moving in over the last hour, and resulted in us ending our count early.
Raptor Observations:
We had another fantastic day of migration today with a total of 125 raptors migrating today. The day started off with our FOY Broad-winged Hawks (!) moving far over the west ridge. Our final BW of the day came much closer giving us some great looks at the adult tail band. These birds are a real treat for us, as they are the only raptor seen at this site that can only be found in the state during migration! Other highlights today include a very low overhead Merlin, a few kettles of Turkey Vultures, and great American Kestrel flights for a chunk of the day. One Swainson's Hawk was counted today as well, distant over the W ridge. Local raptor activity was high again today with up to 4 RT seen displaying at once. We also saw a PG, GE, BE, a handful of TV, a CH, and both the male and female AK in the area.
Non-raptor Observations:
White-throated Swift 2, Mourning Dove 2, American White Pelican 75, Northern Flicker 1, Say's Phoebe 1, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 3, Black-billed Magpie 6, Common Raven 5, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Mountain Chickadee 1, Tree Swallow 3, swalow sp. 45, Rock Wren 1, Dark-eyed Junco 1, Spotted Towhee 2, Western Meadowlark 2, Common Grackle 1
Predictions:
Precipitation is moving through the area overnight, cooling the site off tomorrow. Winds are predicted to be light from the NE. The trail will likely be muddy in the morning! Migration may slow down a bit tomorrow with a cooler ground.
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)
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages