Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 19, 2014 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 79 82 Osprey 0 2 2 Bald Eagle 0 2 27 Northern Harrier 0 3 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 25 30 Cooper's Hawk 1 37 52 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 81 211 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 9 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 1 9 Golden Eagle 0 3 10 American Kestrel 1 57 71 Merlin 0 4 4 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 3 Prairie Falcon 0 1 6 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 15 17 Unknown Buteo 0 10 15 Unknown Falcon 0 2 2 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 3 7 Total: 6 330 562 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Lee Farrell Observers: Mitchell Blystone Visitors: Collin Paul who visited the station briefly last Saturday was back again this week and made some good spots of birds. Justin Dee, a hawkwatcher at the ridge years ago, stopped by and helped spot for a couple of hours. Chip Clouse led a group known as the "Kids of Old Town Arvada" on a birding excursion today that ended with a visit to the station. We spoke with them for quite a while, the Red-tailed Hawk attacks on the Golden Eagle provided the highlight of their visit. Weather: Skies were overcast throughout most of the morning. Light winds varying from 1 to 3 bft out of the east and moderately warm temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s provided for a comparatively nice day weather wise on the ridge. Around noontime the skies parted enough to produce some welcome sunshine. Raptor Observations: Another strange day on the ridge, good weather conducive to migration produced only 6 migrating raptors. Typically at the height of migration season, April 19th has produced counts of 18, 38 and 22 birds in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. Local raptors had no problem gaining significant altitudes and moving rapidly around and through the area. A group of 6 Turkey Vultures circled up far south of the ridge, promptly moving west only to disappear in the area of Mt. Falcon Open Space. Six or more Red-tailed Hawks appeared from time to time throughout the day. Two of them relentlessly harassed a local sub-adult Golden Eagle driving it back to west ridge where they engaged it further. A local Cooper's Hawk and American Kestrel were also observed. Non-raptor Observations: A slow day for non-raptors, surprisingly not a single raven or crow was sighted. Two Rock Wrens provided the highlight of the day. Other birds seen or heard included: Black-billed Magpie, Western Meadowlark, Western Scrub-Jay, White-throated Swift, Northern Flicker, Spotted Towhee and House Finch. Predictions: Hopefully the daily numbers will improve, only the birds know for sure. The count thus far in 2014 is currently on par with 2012 when a total of only 777 birds was counted, 2011 and 2012 had 1171 and 1100 total birds. As of April 19th in 2011, 2012 and 2013 we had counted a total of 15, 11 and 14 Ospreys respectively. Thus far in 2014 we have only counted 2. We should have begun to see Broad-winged and Swainson's Hawks by now, their counts remain at 0 for the year. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (jeff.bi...@rmbo.org) 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 cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/20140420025842.14794.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
