Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists
Colorado, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 09, 2023
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 0
Bald Eagle 2 5 5
Northern Harrier 0 0 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 1
Cooper's Hawk 1 1 1
Northern Goshawk 0 2 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 1 27 27
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Ferruginous Hawk 4 9 10
Golden Eagle 0 6 6
American Kestrel 0 0 0
Merlin 0 1 1
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0
Prairie Falcon 0 3 3
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: 9 55 56
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Observation start time: 09:30:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Emma Riley
Observers: Dave Erickson, Gary Rossmiller, Janet Peters, Jim Lowe,
Marianne Erickson, Sammy Korengut
Visitors:
We had a great day of both visitors and volunteers! To start, we had a
total of 6 observers today so thank you all for helping spot birds in the
sea of blue. We had a total of 44 visitors today including groups from
Atlanta, the Houston area, and we were also joined by Jim Lowe, founder and
counter of the Herbster Spring Count in Herbster, WI. Jim helped spot and
ID birds for most of the day, it was great to have you Jim!
Weather:
Once again the weather prediction was wrong in Colorado, which worked out
very well for us! We enjoyed sunny conditions with some cloud cover and
light winds from both the west and southeast today, reaching a maximum
speed of 18.2 km/h. Relative humidity was very low today getting down to
below 15%.
Raptor Observations:
We had somewhat of a slow morning with birds coming overhead through bright
blue skies making spotting a bit tricky. We had an incredibly marked young
BE come directly over and catch a thermal right along the ridge, followed
by a beautiful adult FH. The flight picked up in the afternoon bringing us
our first SS and CH of the season, both going low along the west ridge. We
counted a total of 4 FH today which gave every volunteer a chance to get a
good look at these incredible birds our site can be known for. Local birds
were busy today with 4 RT, 2 BE, 1 GE, and 1 PR seen throughout the day. In
the afternoon we observed a GE perched in a Cottonwood right along 93.
Non-raptor Observations:
We had another first of the season passerine today, a WBNU that could be
seen in the snag right in front of the platform. Also seen today were MOBL
(6), TOSO (3), AMRO (2), MOCH (1), HOFI (2), CORA (9), and AMCR (4). The
presumable same group of elk could be seen again today near the Mother
Cabrini shrine.
Predictions:
Temperatures are continuing to increase tomorrow but with heavier cloud
cover, hopefully giving our eyes a break from the blue. Winds are predicted
to be predominantly from the west at mild speeds. It should be a nice day
to hawkwatch.
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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)
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