Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (19 Sep 2026) 69 Raptors
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Sep 19, 2026, 11:23:50 PMSep 19
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Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado. To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Visitors:
While I was looking at 2 BW someone asked What were those? I found a woman with binoculars. She was Lily Pad who had never seen a BW and saw our eBird report of 10 BW yesterday and decided to come up. She got her lifer BW and more with the kettle. At 3:20 p.m. an adult GE to the SE was chased all the way to the NE by an RT which flew over it, harassing it. The GE closed his wings and dove, a beautiful sight, then glided all the way toward the South where the RT chased it again into Lookout Mountain. An AK attacked a CH on migration, seen through my scope while watching an RT. Non-migrant raptors: dark morph adult RT without any molt, 3 other RT. TV 7 at 3:25 p.m. flying NE together, probably going to a roost. AK 1. Many hikers listened in on my instructing Lily regarding hawk ID. A woman came up to me and said You were here two weeks ago weren't you, what are you looking at. I explained about hawk migration, hawk counts, HMA. She wanted to know whether I got paid. In pleasure, I replied, and added Most rewarding things you do in life you don't get paid for- the philosopher in me.
Weather:
Slight haze over the bases of the buildings in downtown Denver caused by an inversion layer which could be seen as a 3� whitish cloud over the eastern horizon. Pleasantly cool all day especially after the rain. Light winds from the ESE changing to NE. Cloud cover progressively increasing, clear visibility only 6 km increasing to 20 km, after the rain it increased to 39 km. At 11:25 a.m. MDT there were very dark clouds to the SW of the watch. Lightning strikes had been recorded 13 miles to the SW, and I thought the storms might blow south of us, but then there was a flash of stick lightning to the SW which made me almost run down to the car with my equipment, where I found that lightning had struck one mile NE of the watch in Golden. After half an hour I was ready to leave as the rain and thunder continued, but as I backed my car out I noticed the sky brightening and within a short time the rain had almost stopped and the sun came out. My Lightning app showed the nearest lightning strikes to the West were 100 mi away at Glenwood Springs, and there was blue sky between clouds to the West so I thought I might get a few more hours of observation, and went back up to the watch getting there at 12:30 p.m. Once the rain cleared the air was very clear and everything looked razor sharp. Just before I left at 5:00 p.m. there were dark clouds to the SW and distant thunder rumbles, but the nearest lightning strikes were 35 miles away to the SW.
Raptor Observations:
23 Broadwing hawks including a single kettle of 16 found quite by luck in a blue sky when I was looking at an RT at 10:54 a.m. MDT to the SE. I could see adults tail bands on some of them with my scope. Dark morph BW 1. GE juvenile at 2:33 p.m. flew SE. I stayed till 5:00 p.m. today to see if there are late flights in the afternoon at this site. At most sites thermal production slows down by 3:00 p.m. and the hawks migrate at a lower height, but in Denver because of the elevation a mile high and the thin atmosphere, thermals keep forming until much later. At 4:00 p.m. I could see 2 local RT high over Lookout Mountain. At Dinosaur Ridge in Spring I have seen migrant hawks quite high in the sky (Level 4) even at 5:00 p.m.
Non-raptor Observations:
WTSW 17, VGSW 8, STJA 1, MOCH 1, BBMA 1, AMCR 2, CORA 2.
Predictions:
A cold front went through this evening, so tomorrow could be a good day for migrants. The winds aloft according to earth.nullschool.net are from the north which should be favorable for migrants. A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aian...@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org.
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Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado. To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
| Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey Vulture | 3 | 91 | 196 |
| Osprey | 1 | 19 | 21 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Northern Harrier | 2 | 6 | 7 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 11 | 68 | 82 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 26 | 54 | 54 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 23 | 209 | 366 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swainson's Hawk | 0 | 115 | 130 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Golden Eagle | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| American Kestrel | 1 | 64 | 84 |
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Prairie Falcon | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mississippi Kite | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Total: | 69 | 638 | 961 |
| Observation start time: | 08:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 7.17 hours |
| Official Counter | Ajit Antony |
| Observers: |
Visitors:
While I was looking at 2 BW someone asked What were those? I found a woman with binoculars. She was Lily Pad who had never seen a BW and saw our eBird report of 10 BW yesterday and decided to come up. She got her lifer BW and more with the kettle. At 3:20 p.m. an adult GE to the SE was chased all the way to the NE by an RT which flew over it, harassing it. The GE closed his wings and dove, a beautiful sight, then glided all the way toward the South where the RT chased it again into Lookout Mountain. An AK attacked a CH on migration, seen through my scope while watching an RT. Non-migrant raptors: dark morph adult RT without any molt, 3 other RT. TV 7 at 3:25 p.m. flying NE together, probably going to a roost. AK 1. Many hikers listened in on my instructing Lily regarding hawk ID. A woman came up to me and said You were here two weeks ago weren't you, what are you looking at. I explained about hawk migration, hawk counts, HMA. She wanted to know whether I got paid. In pleasure, I replied, and added Most rewarding things you do in life you don't get paid for- the philosopher in me.
Weather:
Slight haze over the bases of the buildings in downtown Denver caused by an inversion layer which could be seen as a 3� whitish cloud over the eastern horizon. Pleasantly cool all day especially after the rain. Light winds from the ESE changing to NE. Cloud cover progressively increasing, clear visibility only 6 km increasing to 20 km, after the rain it increased to 39 km. At 11:25 a.m. MDT there were very dark clouds to the SW of the watch. Lightning strikes had been recorded 13 miles to the SW, and I thought the storms might blow south of us, but then there was a flash of stick lightning to the SW which made me almost run down to the car with my equipment, where I found that lightning had struck one mile NE of the watch in Golden. After half an hour I was ready to leave as the rain and thunder continued, but as I backed my car out I noticed the sky brightening and within a short time the rain had almost stopped and the sun came out. My Lightning app showed the nearest lightning strikes to the West were 100 mi away at Glenwood Springs, and there was blue sky between clouds to the West so I thought I might get a few more hours of observation, and went back up to the watch getting there at 12:30 p.m. Once the rain cleared the air was very clear and everything looked razor sharp. Just before I left at 5:00 p.m. there were dark clouds to the SW and distant thunder rumbles, but the nearest lightning strikes were 35 miles away to the SW.
Raptor Observations:
23 Broadwing hawks including a single kettle of 16 found quite by luck in a blue sky when I was looking at an RT at 10:54 a.m. MDT to the SE. I could see adults tail bands on some of them with my scope. Dark morph BW 1. GE juvenile at 2:33 p.m. flew SE. I stayed till 5:00 p.m. today to see if there are late flights in the afternoon at this site. At most sites thermal production slows down by 3:00 p.m. and the hawks migrate at a lower height, but in Denver because of the elevation a mile high and the thin atmosphere, thermals keep forming until much later. At 4:00 p.m. I could see 2 local RT high over Lookout Mountain. At Dinosaur Ridge in Spring I have seen migrant hawks quite high in the sky (Level 4) even at 5:00 p.m.
Non-raptor Observations:
WTSW 17, VGSW 8, STJA 1, MOCH 1, BBMA 1, AMCR 2, CORA 2.
Predictions:
A cold front went through this evening, so tomorrow could be a good day for migrants. The winds aloft according to earth.nullschool.net are from the north which should be favorable for migrants. A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aian...@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org.
If you do not wish to receive these reports, please send email to unsub...@hawkcount.org to unsubscribe.
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