Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 31, 2020 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 2 2 2 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 1 14 14 Northern Harrier 0 1 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 5 5 Cooper's Hawk 1 6 6 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 13 83 83 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 2 American Kestrel 4 5 5 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 1 2 2 Prairie Falcon 0 2 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2 Unknown Buteo 1 4 4 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 4 4 Total: 26 134 134 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 4.5 hours Official Counter: Carol Cwiklinski Observers: David Gulbenkian Visitors: The trail was relatively quiet today, with fewer people and bicycles than is usual for a nice weather day. I conducted today’s count from the power line just north of observation, to make social distancing easier. Weather: Winds today were variable with speeds from calm to 7-10 mph gusts. Starting S/SW and switching to west with gusts from variable directions west, north, east and south. Luckily some cloud cover persisted through the day, helping me locate birds. Raptor Observations: Raptors were slow to start today but finally in the afternoon a migration flow was evident. The winds created a situation where the birds were scattered across the sky, ranging from the western ridges to green mountain in the east. Mostly they were very high. My afternoon observations were conducted facing mostly north, concentrating on the clouds above and north of the ridge. Non-raptor Observations: Migration of non raptors was not significant. Predictions: I expect numbers of raptors migrating along the ridge to continue to increase in numbers and diversity. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Matthew Smith (matt.sm...@birdconservancy.org) Dinosaur Ridge - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies information may be found at: http://www.birdconservancy.org/ More site information at hawkcount.org: http://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 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. 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/2c557b492ace1dfacc19d085ea2a54b1%40hawkcount.org.
