Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 16, 2013 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 9 99 108 Osprey 4 12 13 Bald Eagle 0 2 29 Northern Harrier 2 3 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 24 37 45 Cooper's Hawk 4 45 56 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 53 187 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 6 Swainson's Hawk 2 2 2 Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 9 Golden Eagle 0 3 6 American Kestrel 3 53 75 Merlin 0 2 2 Peregrine Falcon 0 6 7 Prairie Falcon 0 1 15 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 6 10 Unknown Buteo 0 19 28 Unknown Falcon 0 3 3 Unknown Eagle 0 1 1 Unknown Raptor 0 5 8 Total: 48 353 614 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:30:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 5.5 hours Official Counter: Paul Slingsby Observers: Julia Auckland Visitors: A single hiker visited for a few minutes. Weather: Approximately 8 inches of wet snow covered the ground. Temperature in the morning was 5.5 deg. C, the high for the day. The low, at 15:00 was -1.0 deg. C. Wind was calm early but was 10 to 15 mph most of the period. Clouds obscured power line gap, giving a ceiling of only about 300 ft. Visibility was less than 1 km due to fog. The viewing platform has been shoveled. Raptor Observations: A great day for raptors, with 48 migrants and few local birds. Nearly all raptors were seen looking east close to the ridge and at eye level or lower. Accipiters, 4 Cooper's Hawks and 24 Sharp-shinned Hawks were the most numerous. Two Swainson's Hawks and 2 Northern Harriers passed. There were no Red-tailed migrants. A surprising 5 Ospreys passed going north. One of the 5 Ospreys was reclassified as local when an Osprey passed going south. I'm sure a few accipiters snuck by us. A local Golden Eagle hunted east of Dinosaur Ridge, low. Non-raptor Observations: 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 8 Bushtits (seen most days), 4 Townsend's Solitaires, only 2 Black-billed Magpies, 1 American Crow, 1 White-throated Swift, 1 Scrub Jay, 3 Northern Flickers, 3 American Robins and 3 Common ravens. Predictions: As the day goes: ice, slush, then mud. But maybe lots of migrating raptors! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory ([email protected]) Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.rmbo.org/ Site Description: Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawkwatch in Colorado and is the best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Dinosaur Ridge may be the best place in the country to see the rare dark morph of the Broad-winged Hawk (a few are seen each spring). Hawkwatchers who linger long enough may see resident Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks and Prairie Falcons, in addition to migrating Swainson's, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels and Turkey Vultures. Peregrine Falcons and Ferruginous Hawks are uncommon; Northern Goshawk is rare but regular. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, and sometimes Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, American White Pelican or Dusky Grouse. Birders are always welcome. The hawkwatch is generally staffed by volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory from about 9 AM to around 4 PM from the first week of March to the first week of 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 small signs from the south side of lot to hawkwatch 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, head through the gate, and walk to the clearly-visible, flat area at the crest of the ridge. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
