Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 09, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 5 34 41 Osprey 0 3 4 Bald Eagle 0 2 35 Northern Harrier 0 1 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 7 19 Cooper's Hawk 2 26 39 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 86 246 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 0 10 Golden Eagle 0 1 13 American Kestrel 5 40 72 Merlin 0 0 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Prairie Falcon 0 3 12 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 2 9 9 Unknown Buteo 0 9 23 Unknown Falcon 1 11 13 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 3 Total: 18 232 547 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 07:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7.75 hours Official Counter: Lee Farrell, Roger Rouch Observers: Lee Farrell, Linda Farrell, Tom Ryon Visitors: Many visitors equipped with binoculars or scopes stopped by and stayed for short periods but were not included as qualified observers. They were Kayleen Nichols, Chris Teremelling, Dave Prentice, Nevin Corl, Bill Bryant, Kathy Davis, and three Jeffco Open Space employees, Peg Alig, Ashley Mott, and Greg Kats. Weather: Moderate haze in the morning which lightened during the day. Light wind all day and none of the stronger afternoon winds that seem to have become the recent norm. Wind from the northeast shifting from the southwest late. Warm and partly cloudy. Raptor Observations: Non-migrating raptors included about 8 local Redtail possibly resighted during the day. 5 local Turkey Vultures. A Sharpshin and a Cooper's were sited below the ridge and disappeared before a solid flight direction could be determined. We had a mystery bird that left us scratching our heads and Lee's good photo work later showed it was Goshawk (local). Migrating Cooper's and Kestral were mostly close and along the ridge. Other raptors were mostly far and to the west. Non-raptor Observations: Small flights of White Throated Swifts flew the ridge all day totalling around 50 or more birds. 9 Scrub Jay, 3 Northern Flicker, 1 Spotted Towhee, 4 Black-billed Magpie, 2 Western Meadowlark, 3 Mountain Chickadee, 7 Western Bluebird, 1 Townsend's Solitare, and about 10 Common Raven, possibly resighted during the day. Also, a hummingbird buzzed the ridge. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (jeff.bi...@rmbo.org) Dinosaur Ridge information may be found at: http://www.rmbo.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 the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory from about 9 AM to around 4 PM from the first week of March to the first week of May. 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 post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
