Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 01, 2023 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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 0 0 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 5 5 5 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 1 1 2 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 0 0 0 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 0 0 0 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 6 6 7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:30:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 4.5 hours Official Counter: Emma Riley Observers: Carol Cwiklinski, Janet Peters, Mike Fernandez Visitors: Janet Peters, Mike Fernandez, and Carol Cwiklinski observed and helped count today. We had five brave visitors in todays weather. Weather: It was a chilly first day of our 2023 Spring Migration season, with temperatures ranging between -2 and 2 degrees celsius. The wind ebbed and flowed today with a max of 17.6 km/h in the afternoon. We had some flurries in the 1300 hour, which limited visibility. The snow lifted and we were able to continue out our day. Raptor Observations: Might I say we had a great first day! Our total count for the day was 6 raptors, with 5 RTHA and 1 FEHA. We also counted a dark-morph FEHA on our orientation day, 2/25, bringing our season FEHA count up to 2. Last season we counted our first FEHA on 3/13, so this is quite the treat for us. We also had 2 local RTHA and a local BAEA visit throughout the day. Non-raptor Observations: Non-raptor species included TOSO (8), CORA (7), AMCR (7), BBMA (2), WOSJ (2), and potentially a first for the site, a lone Red-winged Blackbird. Predictions: A little warmer tomorrow with sunny conditions and variable but predominantly Eastern winds. Hopefully these conditions bring another good early season day! ======================================================================== 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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/denver-field-ornithologists/dinosaur-ridge-spring-2023 Site Description: Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson’s hawk, Ferruginous hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey Vultures. Northern Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a Hawk Counter and volunteers from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM from March 1st to May 14th, weather permitting. 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 hawk watch signs from the southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch 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, and walk to the 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. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/01010186a07116ee-9a1b2856-67af-4cf6-8ed8-4bdcb8cc0078-000000%40us-west-2.amazonses.com.
