Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 12, 2017 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 6 6 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 23 61 61 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 0 0 0 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Prairie Falcon 0 0 0 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 3 3 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 23 75 75 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Mike Fernandez Observers: Julia Auckland, Karen Fernandez Visitors: Occassional Hawkwatcher Julia Auckland stopped by with a friend to help out for an hour. It was perfect timing as this was during our peak RTHA activity and the four of us could barely keep up with monitoring the traffic on the RT highway at the time. Weather: Gusty winds all day up to bft 6 (49 km, 30 mi/h), mostly from the west, at times strong enough to make it difficult to hold the binoculars steady and keep birds in view. Red-taileds seemed to handle it well, flying NW into the wind to gain elevation and then dropping east and north to gain distance. From 12-1 winds shifted east and sky cleared briefly, then returned to west wind with high and low cloud cover. Late afternoon winds blew in sparse droplets of rain. Raptor Observations: We tried hard to ID raptors as something other than red-taileds, but there was none of that today. Highlight was six RTHA directly above to the east and west of ridge varying from two to four in a group at once, plus one brave local escort. Two RTHA appeared to be migrating but disappeared south of I-70 at about the saddle; we did not count these two as migrators. The local Rooney Valley couple (we've named them both Ghandi–for their ability to peacefully hold still in mid-air) were a spectacle. We observed a total of 29 Red-tailed Hawks today, including migrators, locals and two with unconfirmed flight plans. Also saw a local American Kestrel. Non-raptor Observations: A herd of eight elk kept an eye on us all day from near the bottom of the east side of the ridge. Two Mountain Chicadees joined us back and forth between the platform junipers. List of non-raptor sitings: 2 Woodhouse (Western) Scrub-Jays, 3 Black-billed Magpies, 1 American Crow, 7 Common Ravens, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 5 Bushtits, 2 Townsend's Solitaires, 5 American Robins, and 1 Dark-eyed Junco. Reported on eBird. Predictions: More wind late Monday, but we're counting on Joyce to stamp passports for other species. Have all the red-taileds left town? Not likely with ~250 counted in 2016. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (jeff.bi...@birdconservancy.org) Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.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 Bird Conservancy of the Rockies from about 9 AM to around 3 PM from March 1st to May 7th. 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. 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