Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 14, 2022 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 1 8 8 Northern Harrier 0 3 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 6 43 43 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 0 15 15 American Kestrel 0 3 3 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 0 2 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 3 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 1 1 1 Total: 8 84 84 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:30:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Ben Jacques, Mike Fernandez Observers: Ben Jacques, Janet Peters, Karen Fernandez, Mike Fernandez Visitors: UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 A pre-arranged (thank you Janet Peters) group of 18 students (5-6th grade) and three teachers from The Logan School for Creative Learning arrived at 09:30 MST and stayed ~3 hours with their 3 teachers. Karen F. (NPS educator) led interactive lessons and games on Raptor migration adaption. Ben J. (environmental educator) had a robust conversation with the students about what makes a Raptor a Raptor and citizen science. A beautiful event. 14 of 21 other visitors to the platform engaged with HW Observers to learn about our work. I am convinced that the sandwich boards are prompting greater visitor engagement. A birder from south Florida stopped by the platform with a couple of local buddies to find out about what we’re up to. Last, but not least, Stephen Hadley, who attended the HW introductory zoom meeting, stopped by at about 13:00 MST to help out… and stayed 3-1/2 hrs, the rest of the watch! He’s committed to spending a day a week on the hill. Thank you Stephen. Weather: UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 Clear skies and breezy all watch. winds out of the NE, shifting E later in the day. Weather source: Dark Skies app and local observations. Raptor Observations: UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 One local Red-tailed couple kept us guessing all day. The day was busy with local Raptor activity: Golden Eagles, Red-tailed, Falcon. Golden Eagle, 7. Details: Six adults one juvenile, all local. An unusually high number of locals for here. At 11 AM MDT, a group of 3 (2 adults and 1 juvenile) flew directly overhead at ~20m, but flew west and did not migrate north. Mid afternoon a group of 3 adults flew north to south out west and with a scope trained on them we estimated that these were 3 new adult individuals. One had a missing primary feather, which we did not see in the first group. And no juvenile. So the three of us made the call for 6 Goldens. A seventh flew directly south alone after the latter Bald Eagle: 1 Migratory adult. Red-tailed Hawk: Local 5 , migratory 6. Prairie Falcon: 1 Local. diurnal raptor sp.: 1 Migratory too remote to ID. Non-raptor Observations: UPDATED REPORT FOR MARCH 14, 2022 Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, 4; Common Raven, 30; Bushtit, 16; Mountain Bluebird, 5 (Seen nearly every day from the HawkWatch hill this season); Townsend's Solitaire, 3; American Robin, 4; House Finch, 1. Predictions: Tuesday looks good for wind direction, with some cloud cover. Trail is mostly dry. ======================================================================== Report submitted by DAVID HILL () Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: http://www.dfobirds.org More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=123 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 of any skill level are always welcome. HawkWatch at Dinosaur Ridge is generally staffed by volunteers 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 southwest end of lot to the 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. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet) -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- 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. 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