Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists (07 Sep 2025) 9 Raptors
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Sep 7, 2025, 9:33:03 PMSep 7
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Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Golden, Colorado, USA
Weather:
The forecast was for light winds from the N>NE>WNW>NW with 56% cloud cover, and a chance of thunderstorms after noon. At the watch there was 80% cloud cover decreasing to 40%, winds from the WSW>E>ENE, temperature 23-34 degrees Celsius, humidity 38>13%, steady barometer, a little hazy probably from leftover smoke with the initial visibility only 12 km increasing to 24 km. The prediction by earth.nullschool.net aloft was for NW winds at 4 km/hr. The soaring forecast was excellent with a lift of 5.5 m/sec and thermal height of 11,760 feet above ground level. https://tinyurl.com/4j9eafa6
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall hawk count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first raptor was a ch at 10:39 AM MDT over the western ridge. With 80% cloud cover I felt it would take a long time for the sun to create thermals, so that the first bird would be later. The bird of the day was an adult male NH at 12:40 PM, Which we saw from a great distance to the NNW - I tried to imagine it was a Mississippi Kite. Because of the great height of thermals predicted we were looking 3 and 4 binocular fields above the ridge, with good cloud background to look against, but we did not find any raptors there, not even later on. Non migrant raptors: adult GE at 10:49 AM which came from far to the north, but it dropped below the top of Loookout Mountain and not seen further south. TV 4. RT 1.
Non-raptor Observations:
A hummingbird hovered 1 foot in front of my face, perhaps because of bright blue canopy behind me. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1, Northern Flicker heard 1, Rock Wren 1, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 1, Downy Woodpecker 1, Barn Swallow 1, Violet-green swallow 2, Common Raven 2.
Predictions:
Light WNW>N>NNE winds with 17% cloud cover increasing. Earth.nullschool.net predicts NW winds aloft at 30 km/hour. https://tinyurl.com/2s3v326y
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: Sep 07, 2025 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Osprey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 2 | 11 | 61 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 4 | 12 | 18 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total: | 9 | 39 | 127 |
| Observation start time: | 08:30:00 |
| Observation end time: | 13:30:00 |
| Total observation time: | 5 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: | Liza Antony |
Weather:
The forecast was for light winds from the N>NE>WNW>NW with 56% cloud cover, and a chance of thunderstorms after noon. At the watch there was 80% cloud cover decreasing to 40%, winds from the WSW>E>ENE, temperature 23-34 degrees Celsius, humidity 38>13%, steady barometer, a little hazy probably from leftover smoke with the initial visibility only 12 km increasing to 24 km. The prediction by earth.nullschool.net aloft was for NW winds at 4 km/hr. The soaring forecast was excellent with a lift of 5.5 m/sec and thermal height of 11,760 feet above ground level. https://tinyurl.com/4j9eafa6
Raptor Observations:
Exploratory fall hawk count 2025. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk The first raptor was a ch at 10:39 AM MDT over the western ridge. With 80% cloud cover I felt it would take a long time for the sun to create thermals, so that the first bird would be later. The bird of the day was an adult male NH at 12:40 PM, Which we saw from a great distance to the NNW - I tried to imagine it was a Mississippi Kite. Because of the great height of thermals predicted we were looking 3 and 4 binocular fields above the ridge, with good cloud background to look against, but we did not find any raptors there, not even later on. Non migrant raptors: adult GE at 10:49 AM which came from far to the north, but it dropped below the top of Loookout Mountain and not seen further south. TV 4. RT 1.
Non-raptor Observations:
A hummingbird hovered 1 foot in front of my face, perhaps because of bright blue canopy behind me. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1, Northern Flicker heard 1, Rock Wren 1, Black-capped Chickadee 1, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay 1, Downy Woodpecker 1, Barn Swallow 1, Violet-green swallow 2, Common Raven 2.
Predictions:
Light WNW>N>NNE winds with 17% cloud cover increasing. Earth.nullschool.net predicts NW winds aloft at 30 km/hour. https://tinyurl.com/2s3v326y
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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