Dinosaur Ridge Colorado, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 29, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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 1 1 Northern Harrier 0 1 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 2 2 Cooper's Hawk 0 2 2 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 2 70 70 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Ferruginous Hawk 0 2 2 Golden Eagle 0 3 3 American Kestrel 3 14 14 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 3 Prairie Falcon 1 2 2 Mississippi Kite 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 1 3 3 Unknown Buteo 0 1 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 7 105 105 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Lee Farrell Observers: Mitchell Blystone Visitors: A few visitors inquired as to what we were doing, with the cool breeze blowing, they did not stay long at the station. Weather: A beautiful cloudless day. Winds were steady out of the southeast all day at 2-3 BFT. Temperatures ranged from 9C to 15C. Raptor Observations: A fairly slow day for raptors, three local Red-tailed Hawks appeared on several occasions. One local Cooper's Hawk moved south along the ridge before soaring up and gliding away to the southwest. A Harlan's Hawk spent a good deal of time hunting on the ridge below Cabrini. As a non-summer resident species, it was counted as migrating. Non-raptor Observations: The brisk wind blowing on a Raven perched on the power poles revealed the base of its neck feathers to be very white, indicative of a Chihuahuan Raven. Other birds observed included, Black-billed Magpie, American Robin, Killdeer, Western Meadowlark, Common Raven and Spotted Towhee Predictions: A nice day is predicted. Winds are expected move around and be out of the north by early afternoon, conditions similar to last Friday which could be favorable to migration. ======================================================================== 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 unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/20150330005254.29281.qmail%40taiga.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.