Date: 11/4/26 1:12 pm From: Robert Righter <rorighter...> Subject: [cobirds] Cherry Creek Res
In the northern part of the south western section of the Res there were 3 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls Bob Righter Denver , CO Sent from my iPhone
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Date: 11/4/26 4:52 am From: Kristen Davis <daviscrowd...> Subject: [cobirds] Crested Mallard?
> > Hello! >
I spotted these two ducks about three weeks apart at Lake Milavec in Frederick. I read they could be a domestic-wild hybrid. Any ideas?
> The pictures are from my phone so not the best quality.
> > Thanks! > > Kristen Davis >
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Date: 11/3/26 7:17 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (03 Nov 2026) 21 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 03, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:15:00
Observation end time: 15:15:00
Total observation time: 5.75 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
A repeat visitor/ hiker to the hawk watch wanted to know how many migrants
we had seen. Six. Golden Eagles? he asked for he was the one last week I
had shown a GE in my scope to. No, others, below us in the Kestrel Channel.
How do you see them against the trees? Their wings shine with the sunlight
making them easy to see. I looked it up later and it's oil from the preen
glands on their wings which act has microscopic mirrors, and called
'speculum reflection.' Two others us asked whether we were bird watching,
and we explained.
Weather:
After the strong cold front had gone through yesterday afternoon, Denver
was actually clear and we could see the airport 25 miles away without
optical aid. There was lots of new snow on the 14ers. There were excellent
cirrus clouds all the way from North to East to South, and since the
Thermal Soaring Index was fair with lift at 6 ft/sec, and height of
thermals predicted by 11:30 a.m. to be 6583 ft AGL which would take
potentially migrating hawks up to 1 mile above the watch, we used the
clouds to scan higher especially in the 11:00 are onward when there were
fewer migrants seen without avail, scanning up to 4 binocular Fields above
Lookout Mountain to the South where hawks would necessarily have to fly,
but the few migrants were low over Lookout Mountain as usual.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was an SS at 9:37 a.m. MST.
At 9:49 a.m. a juvenile calurus/ Western RT flew from over South Table
Mountain along the Kestrel Channel, rising to the top of Lookout Mountain
and flying west to east along the treetops and it disappeared behind them
when we wrote it off as a non-migrant, we then saw it a little higher
migrating.
At 10:50 a.m. we saw a CORA chase an Osprey (which we heard calling before
we even saw it, and after, when we could not see it any more) to the North
along the Kestrel Channel. A migrating GE adult at 11:37 a.m. over
Lookout Mountain, both it and a local GE were rocking exactly like TVs
presumably because of strong winds!
We saw an adult male AK at 10:04 a.m., 11:31 a.m., 11:43 a.m. hover hunting
in the Kestrel Channel, then thrice dive bombed a perched RT on a low tree.
An adult female AK at 12:51 p.m. was chased by a BBMA in the wrong
direction along the Kestrel Channel.
After the 10:00 hour we had very few hawks and I wondered whether they were
already flying too high to see with binoculars, consistent with the Soaring
Forecast. We scanned higher against the good cloud cover and could not see
a single hawk which made us think - Are they flying too high to be seen
even with binoculars? I then thought - If thermals were 5,000 ft above the
watch, a mile high, we should be able to see them either with the naked eye
or with binoculars against the good cloud cover, since we routinely see and
identify hawks as far as over Green Mountain 4 miles away, and routinely
over the Table Mountains which are 3 mi away! The other possibility was
that they were not flying but this was inexplicable to me with good weather
conditions. Liza had the brilliant thought that perhaps the 10 hawks we saw
in the first 2 hours were grounded locally by the rain yesterday, and
others that were grounded in Northern Colorado and Wyoming 80-100 mi away
had not yet reached us. I checked online and that indeed seemed to be the
issue - they would fly past us later today or tomorrow, a "migration gap."
In fact there were very strong NW winds at Cheyenne WY which would push
migrants South to us.
Late afternoon we did not see any low migrants, and we haven't any on days
we've stayed later.
Non-migrant raptors: GE adult 1, RT 2.
Non-raptor Observations:
One paraglider at 10:31 had no lift, as did another one at 12:14 p.m. and
surprisingly by 2:15 2 more had no lift and could not even reach them level
they took off from.
Predictions:
Could be another good migration day like today. Mostly sunny, with a high
near 55. Calm wind becoming east northeast around 6 mph in the morning. The
strong NW winds from Wyoming continued aloft all today so any raptors would
be pushed South, but East of us, while the NE winds all day tomorrow should
push them back toward the watch.
========================================================================
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Date: 11/3/26 11:23 am From: Pauli Driver-Smith <hollyhockfarms...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Very late migrating Osprey at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch
There has been a young Osprey (not the pair that is nesting on my property) spotted in the Mead/Longmont area as recent as 5 days ago. Last sighting was at the St. Vrain State Park.
Pauli Smith, Weld County, CO
________________________________
From: <cobirds...> <cobirds...> on behalf of <aiantony...> <aiantony...>
Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2026 11:05 AM
To: <cobirds...> <cobirds...>
Subject: [cobirds] Very late migrating Osprey at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch
Liza and I just saw a Common Raven chase an Osprey well below the Mount Zion Hawk Watch going north along the Kestrel Channel a.k.a. Windy Saddle. The Osprey called before I even saw it, and a few minutes after we had lost sight of it we could hear it again.
Most Osprey. have migrated South a long time ago, though the Merlin bar graph for Golden, Colorado shows it is possible until the third week in November, with the peak numbers in fall being the second week in September and thereafter decreasing with very few after the second week in October.
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Date: 11/3/26 10:05 am From: <aiantony...> Subject: [cobirds] Very late migrating Osprey at the Mount Zion Hawk Watch
Liza and I just saw a Common Raven chase an Osprey well below the Mount Zion Hawk Watch going north along the Kestrel Channel a.k.a. Windy Saddle. The Osprey called before I even saw it, and a few minutes after we had lost sight of it we could hear it again. Most Osprey. have migrated South a long time ago, though the Merlin bar graph for Golden, Colorado shows it is possible until the third week in November, with the peak numbers in fall being the second week in September and thereafter decreasing with very few after the second week in October.
Ajit Antony
Sent using myEarthLink
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Date: 11/1/26 7:06 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (01 Nov 2026) 21 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 01, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 10:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
A Chinese family on top of Mount Zion not speaking English, and a man
started looking through my scope. His son speaking perfect American English
apologized for him, then asked what I was looking at. I explained. He
explained to the family in a Chinese language. I found a distant
binocular-only RT between the two Table Mountains and I mentioned it to
them that they probably couldn't see it as it was probably 4 miles away but
his younger brother a young teen could see it. I explained that children
have better eyesight than adults. I found it in my scope and was able to
show it to the father and son, the former was so pleased he wanted a
picture taken with me!
Another man I tried to show a different RT through my scope and he couldn't
see it president probably gone out of the field, and I said Move away, so I
can find it again, but he wouldn't instead trying to move the scope around
trying to find it himself, by which time the RT could not be found again.
Weather:
Last night the Soaring Forecast of the NWS for today had predicted zero
lift, so I thought the heavy cloud and fog as the day would persist until
the cold front came through with very few migrants, so I was reluctant to
do a count today but my dutiful nature took over especially when I looked
out of the window and saw that there was no fog in Denver. The NWS
predicted fog until after 10:00 a.m. but holfuy.com showed that the base
cloud level was 9961 ft which would be 1200 ft above the watch. At the
watch there was just the usual haziness over Denver, but by 11:15 a.m.
Denver was slightly clearer and the brown cloud developed between North and
NE, by 1:00 p.m. MST Denver could not be seen at all. The winds aloft were
expected from the south. This is the third day in a row with zero left and
low thermals for which there was no trigger temperature time given.
Raptor Observations:
Today we passed 1900 migrant raptors for the fall season! The only
comparison I have is with the spring season at Dinosaur Ridge when
volunteers like me were counting between 2017 and 2021 when their total
numbers for the entire seasons were 692, 588, 828, 556, and 1101
respectively with excellent hawk watchers counting like Carol Cwiklinski
and Steve Small. Even comparing with the last 5 years Dinosaur Ridge in
Spring had paid professional counters which is not a valid comparison as
they were at least four decades younger with far better eyesight and
counted 8 hours every day, their numbers between 2022 and 2026 were not too
much higher at 2406, 2321, 2150, 3144, and 2263 respectively. In fact we
realized that in August we were very conservative deeming hawks as migrants
until Lookout Mountain Road was closed in both directions one dat and we
were forced to count from the Buffalo Bill Museum atop Lookout Mountain
when we realized that most of the hawks we counted as non-migrants from
Mount Zion were actually migrants past Lookout Mountain! Looking at my
reports from then we have 10-17 non-migrant TVs and RTs which is certainly
much too many, and by the end of the season I will have calculated how many
of those 'non-migrants' were likely to have been migrants by subtracting
the average number of RT and TV we see. The 1900th Hawk was a CH found High
over North Table Mountain, it then glided strongly with only a few
occasional flaps, went over antenna #1 (the easternmost antenna on Lookout
Mountain), went SW circling and rising in height eventually going SSW.
Even though the lift was expected to be poor, I scanned high to the East
and was able to find a few hawks migrating. 2/3 of the hawks were first
seen over Lookout Mountain and a 1/3 found over one of the Table Mountains,
Green Mountain, or the Kestrel Channel as did the first hawk which was an
AK flew through at 10:07 a.m. MST.
In the last hour the pollutants causing the haze blew past the watch which
could explain why the hawks stopped flying, as it irritates their lungs so
they wait it out, fly around or above, it also reduces the height of any
thermals by dissipating sunlight, together with the increasing overcast sky
also reducing the height of thermals.
Non-raptor Observations:
Of 3 paragliders taking off at 11:25 a.m. only 1 reached a little higher
than the level of the watch, consistent with the poor Soaring Forecast.
STJA 2, TOSO 2, BBMA 2, RBNU 1, RBGU very high 16, CORA 4, AMCR 1.
Predictions:
The rain has already begun in advance of the powerful core front coming
through tomorrow afternoon with a chance of rain at the watch of 57% from
8:00 a.m., so I will have a well-deserved day of rest.
Tuesday and/or Wednesday should be very good after the front goes through
for migrants.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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Date: 10/31/26 6:58 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (31 Oct 2026) 5 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 14:30:00
Total observation time: 6.25 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
We had four hikers who had seen us here before and consequently asked
appropriate questions like How many have you seen today? Are hawks still
migrating ? How long are you going to continue counting for? How many
Golden Eagles have you seen today, from the man I showed a GE through my
scope a few days ago. Many others asked what I could see with my optical
equipment. A couple who recently moved to Denver with a 3-month old baby
chatted with me for a while about the watch and whether I was given the
equipment to use. I explained that was a volunteer, so it's all my own
equipment. A mother and young teenage son asked about the count and I said
it was low today because of the subsidence inversion layer, and explained
how it develops and how it affects migration by creating a cap above which
thermals cannot rise. The boy thanked me for explaining.
Weather:
Similar to yesterday there was a thick dense layer of haze up to 5� above
the horizon blotting out Denver completely for the entire day. Green
Mountain was mostly hidden by the thick stratus cloud/fog (which is really
cloud which reaches ground). Lookout Mountain was hazy. However it was much
less overcast with 40% cloud cover, all to the east. The NWS predicted
severe fog, but the cloud base was 8957 ft so it would be 1786 ft above the
watch. The winds aloft were mainly from the north. There was a very strong
inversion layer today which did not clear all day, else we might have had
some migration. By 11:00 a.m. the fog started lifting and blowing away from
Denver so that at times the antennae of Lookout Mountain were completely
blotted out and are visibility markedly decreased. By 1:00 p.m. we could
see Lookout Mountain fairly well through haze.
Raptor Observations:
Very poor conditions for migration today so we were lucky we had 5 raptors.
The first was an NH adult male at 11:00 a.m., the next raptor was only 2.5
hours later! I stayed until 4:00 p.m. as I kept hoping that the inversion
layer would disperse and some sort of migration would begin but it did
not.
Non-migrant raptors: GE adult 1, SS 1, RT 3.
Non-raptor Observations:
One paraglider at 11:00 a.m. MDT had no lift at all and mostly descended,
fitting with the soaring forecast which predicted zero lift.
Predictions:
It could be as bad today for migration since the Soaring Forecast predicts
a lift of zero feet per second and the trigger temperature of 18.5�C is not
predicted to be reached, so thermals should be very low.
A 20 percent chance of rain after 3pm. Patchy fog before noon. Otherwise,
mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in
the afternoon.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the south.
========================================================================
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Date: 10/30/26 6:46 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (30 Oct 2026) 36 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 30, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
As soon as we got to the watch a trail runner asked us whether we were
looking at the sunrise. I explained about this hawk watch, and she offered
that she loves RTs. While I was looking at a non-migrant GE with my scope
and Liza with her binoculars we heard a voice asking what we were looking
at and I said A Golden Eagle, try and see where we are looking you should
be able to see it (as most hikers have never seen a GE and are thrilled to
be able to see one) and she couldn't she said, so I suggested she stand
behind me and look where I was looking with my scope and she was able to
see it. I told her it had a 7 ft wingspan and she was truly amazed.
Weather:
Weather.gov predicted dense fog over Golden, but I looked up
https://holfuy.com/en/weather/1295 which told me that the cloud base was
13,000 ft so I knew that Mount Zion would not be affected by the fog. When
we got to the watch it appeared that the fog, similar to a few days ago,
was actually low stratus clouds covering Denver. There was an overcast sky
mainly cirrus, so I knew the thermals would not be strong. In fact the
Thermal Soaring Index was poor with lift 0 ft per second, maximum height of
thermals would have been 2320 ft AGL except that there was no time given of
the time of trigger of 21.4� C indicating that the thermals would be low,
and that the haze would remain all day which it did.
Very dense fog covering Denver so that only the tops of 2 of the tallest
buildings was visible. By 11:30 a.m. MDT there was a very solid brown cloud
above the horizon between north and east and Denver was completely covered
by haze and could not be seen at all! The ESE winds blew the haze/pollution
toward the watch where it gradually accumulated at the SW end of the
Kestrel Channel/ Windy Saddle. By the 1:00 p.m. Denver could be faintly
seen and it stayed so for as long as we stayed at the watch.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a juvenile NH which was hunting low in the Kestrel
Channel and could not be seen after it went behind a small ridge. We
counted it because there are no NH locally, then was vindicated when we saw
an NH flying 10 minutes later over Lookout Mountain migrating SSE. Because
of the low height of thermals most of the raptors used the ridge lift at
the Eastern end of Lookout Mountain or went through the gap between it and
Green Mountain.
Another good day for GE - 3 migrants and 2 local, one of which had white at
the base of its tail and minimal white in its wings without any obvious
molt, a 1st year GE.
An RT was doing its territorial roller coaster flight so I told Liza look
for another hawk it was displaying for. It was an adult GE flying below and
North of the ridge top of Lookout Mountain. The RT dove onto it 3 times and
each time the GE turned and presented its talons to the RT, eventually the
GE migrated after going over the Eastern rim of Lookout Mountain more than
5 minutes after we had seen it.
We stayed later this afternoon as they were migrants every hour, but there
were no low migrants over the 2 Table Mountains or anywhere else low in the
late afternoon.
Non-migrant raptors: AK 1, BE 1 adult initially over Green Mountain so it
looked like a migrant but it flew NE, RT
Non-raptor Observations:
2 paragliders at 11:00 a.m. at no lift at all and could not even rise up to
the level that they took off from, consistent with the Soaring Forecast! At
2:41 p.m. at moderate lift reaching a little higher than Lookout Mountain
which is 200 ft above Mount Zion.
A helicopter we have seen twice before with a long cable hanging below it
carrying 2 maintenance workers of high tension wires could be seen dropping
them off at various spots and picking them up, and in between hovering far
to the West, fortunately not directly over, noisily, as happened yesterday
Liza told me.
Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near
62. Calm wind becoming north northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon.
The winds alofft are predicted to be light from the West, become North
which is an unusual wind for this watch without rain or snow, so it will be
interesting to see what this wind will bring us in the way of migrants from
Wyoming.
========================================================================
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Date: 10/29/26 7:04 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (29 Oct 2026) 11 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:15:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 3.75 hours
Official Counter: Liza Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
One man wanted to know the ID of a close raptor he had seen which was the
NH.
A woman wanted to know if "my friend" was OK as he wasn't there today. I
reassured her that Ajit was fine!
Weather:
A light haze noted over Denver throughout the watch with few cumulous
clouds southeast of Denver at the start of the watch. The clouds gradually
increased, mostly cirrus clouds and covered 80% of the sky at the end of
the watch.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a CH noted at 10:15 MDT as I was ascending the steps
to the watch. I noticed an immature NH while driving along Lookout mtn. rd.
to the parking area around 9:45 AM MDT. It was hunting and did not go south
to Lookout mtn. I saw it again just east of the watch almost at eye level.
It was still hunting along the southeast and east face of Mount Zion and
did not migrate.
Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders started at 1:08 MDT and only moderate lift.
Maximum height of thermals was 3430 ft AGL
Non migrant raptors: RT 2, NH 1
Other birds included CORA, AMCR, TOSO, RBGU, BBMA and 12 distant Sandhill
Cranes noted far south of Denver
Predictions:
Partly sunny with a high near 64 F. Calm winds becoming northeast around 6
MPH in the afternoon.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Liza Antony (<liza.antony15...>)
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Date: 10/29/26 3:52 pm From: meredith <meredithmcburney...> Subject: [cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Station; some quick post season thoughts
Hi All,
What would have been the final day of banding (Oct 23) was cancelled due to serious winds. This is a bit of an early summary on this very busy season. (More info will be available after data has been entered and we've had a chance to really dig into the numbers.)
We ended the season with a total capture of 2,189 individual birds (2,175 banded this season and 14 returns from prior years). That is a 12% increase over 2020, our highest previous year.
There is one factor that needs to be taken into consideration - in 2021 we increased the banding season by about 10 days, moving to 9 weeks instead of 7; a better measure of the increase will come when we can compare birds per net hour (a number we don't have yet). However, since the increase in days was at the end of the season when the number of birds caught is at its lowest, it will still be a very good season. (Using an estimate of the net hours this year based on the 2021-2025 seasons, this season may drop below 2020, 2018 and 2012, but we'll see.)
We've been focused on the increase in Wilson's Warblers, both because it was huge (976, compared with the now 2nd highest in 2020 when we caught 654) and because it was the most of any species ever caught in one season. But a quick look at other species that have a real impact our total number (17 species where we normally catch 20+) shows that all but 2 were equal to or above the average number caught in previous seasons. Species caught at a rate well above the 20 year average included:
Red-breasted Nuthatch 34, average 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 52, average 32 Hermit Thrush 50, average 30 Gray Catbird 24, average 10 Townsend's Warbler 44, average 14 Common Yellowthroat 34, average 23 Green-tailed Towhee 22, average 11 Song Sparrow 75, average 30 Lincoln's Sparrow 57, average 28
Thanks to the amazing crew of volunteers, some of whom worked extra days as it became clear that we were going to be really busy! And thanks to all who visited; we love discussing bird conservation and just enjoying these lovely birds with you!
Meredith
Meredith McBurney Bander, Barr Lake Station Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/28/26 7:05 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (28 Oct 2026) 18 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
A hiker expressed surprise that we were still counting, as he had been here
before. He asked about thermals and I explained ridge lift that the hawks
were using today. I showed him a GE flying next to one of the antenna on
Lookout Mountain and he could see it without binoculars. I pointed my scope
at the GE and an RT close by and he said that was the most thrilling part
of his hike!
I was able to show 2 other hikers a perched RT on a tree in the Kestrel
Channel, then 2 RT which circled and rose very close to the watch, and
showed them how to tell adult versus juvenile using the tail color.
Weather:
A slight haze at the bases of the buildings of downtown Denver, excellent
cirrus clouds to the east to 40� above the horizon and altostratus over
Lookout Mountain to the South.
By 10:43 a.m. an SS which rose out of the Kestrel Channel we could see
using a moderately strong thermal to rise quite high before moving south.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a CH at 10:22 a.m. MDT.
At 10:35 a.m. Liza said that there were 2 Ravens over Green Mountain and
when I looked one of them looked like a buteo, and at the same time she
said no they're buteos. Through my scope they were Golden Eagles, one
having escorted the migrant, turned back North.
Today was the day for Golden Eagles - 4 migrants at 10:35 a.m., 10:40 a.m.,
10:44 a.m., and 10:53 a.m. and 3 locals, 6 adult, one too far to tell. More
migrants used Lookout Mountain than over the Table Mountains and to the
east.
The 1st hour we had 7 migrants, 1 in the next hour so we scanned with
binoculars much higher using the good cloud cover but could not find any
high migrants, 7 more in the next hour and 3 in the last hour.
Non-migrant hawks: RT 5 sightings.
Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders started at 1:18 p.m. and consistent with the Soaring Forecast
of the NWS of lift at 6 ft/sec and height of thermals of 5257 ft AGL by
12:45 p.m. - 3,500 ft above the watch- 10 flew very high until they were
not visible with the naked eye.
Monarch butterfly 1.
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 62. Good cloud cover. Calm wind becoming east
around 6 mph in the afternoon.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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Date: 10/27/26 2:55 pm From: Tom Behnfield <behnfield...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Marsh Wren vs Western Marsh Wren
Thanks all!
For the record, I was not aware of the split and was just curious about how
it would be resolved in eBird. I'm happy that my ABA list is one higher!
Best regards,
Tom Behnfield
303-910-6858
<behnfield...>
On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 3:10 PM Nathan D Pieplow <
<Nathan.Pieplow...> wrote:
> I can second what Andrew said. I've never recorded an Eastern Marsh Wren
> in Colorado. Marsh Wrens can sing a lot on migration, but unfortunately
> they're usually singing run-on plastic songs that are harder to ID. We'll
> need good recordings (probably long ones) to confirm an Eastern Marsh Wren
> in the state.
>
> Nathan
>
> *Nathan Pieplow *
> Teaching Professor & Student Affairs Coordinator
> Program for Writing and Rhetoric
> University of Colorado, Boulder
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Tom Behnfield <behnfield...>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 27, 2026 12:36 PM
> *To:* Josh Bruening <87211jjb...>
> *Cc:* Peter Gent <gent...>; Nathan D Pieplow <
> <Nathan.Pieplow...>; Colorado Birds <cobirds...>
> *Subject:* Re: [cobirds] Marsh Wren vs Western Marsh Wren
>
> [External email - use caution]
>
> Thanks Josh
>
> Tom Behnfield
> 303-9106858 <(303)%20910-6858>
> <behnfield...>
>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 12:35 PM Josh Bruening <87211jjb...> wrote:
>
> Tom,
>
> This should resolve itself unless during certain times of year Marsh Wren
> has traditionally been flagged as rare anyways. The default wren in this
> new split for Colorado will be Western Marsh Wren. The new Western Marsh
> Wren will assume the existing filter limits for each filter region. There
> are no confirmed records of Eastern Marsh Wren in Colorado on eBird and if
> memory serves me correctly, there are no CBRC records either. Maybe @Peter
> Gent <gent...> can confirm this. In some recent communications
> with Andrew Spencer on our Colorado eBird review Slack channel he said:
>
> "Back when I was living in Colorado, I did spend a significant amount of
> effort trying to find an EMWR in the state, inlucing recording birds in the
> eastern tier of counties, especially during migration. While I found a
> couple of birds that visually looked intriguing, every single one I
> recorded proved to be a WMWR. It does seem quite likely that EMWR is a very
> rare migrant on the eastern plains, identifying silent birds is
> complicated. So getting recordings (if possible) of any potential EMWR
> would be vital!" (posting this with Andrew's permission).
>
> Reviewers will be essentially requesting the same level of
> media/recordings for confirmation on eBird that we were looking for with
> the recent Warbling Vireo split. @Nathan Pieplow
> <nathan.pieplow...> -perhaps you could weigh in on your
> experience with these now two separate species? Feel free to keep the
> questions coming!
>
> Bird is the word!
>
> Josh Bruening
> Fort Collins
>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 11:09 AM <behn......> <behnfield...>
> wrote:
>
> Greetings all!
>
> This morning I began getting Colorado Needs Alerts for Western Marsh Wren.
> Will this resolve itself or is there some action I need to take?
>
> Good birding!
>
> Tom Behnfield
> Lakewood/Jefferson County
> <behnfield...>
>
> --
> --
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>
>
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"Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once
in a while, or the light won't come in.
-- Isaac Asimov
On Tue, Oct 27, 2026, 11:38 AM Tom Behnfield <behnfield...> wrote:
> Thanks Todd!
>
> Tom Behnfield
> 303-9106858
> <behnfield...>
>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 11:23 AM Todd Deininger <goldeneagle90a...>
> wrote:
>
>> Ebird asked to wait until they are finished updating before you make
>> changes. They will post on the website when the are done
>>
>>
>> Todd Deininger
>> Longmont, CO
>>
>> Latest on Flickr <https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAd1LF> >> Follow me on inaturalist <https://www.inaturalist.org>at toddwd1
>> youtube.com/@DeiningerProductions
>>
>> "Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every
>> once in a while, or the light won't come in.
>> -- Isaac Asimov
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 27, 2026, 11:09 AM <behn......> <behnfield...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Greetings all!
>>>
>>> This morning I began getting Colorado Needs Alerts for Western Marsh
>>> Wren. Will this resolve itself or is there some action I need to take?
>>>
>>> Good birding!
>>>
>>> Tom Behnfield
>>> Lakewood/Jefferson County
>>> <behnfield...>
>>>
>>> --
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
>>> To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
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>>> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds >>> * 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/membership/ >>> ---
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
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>>> an email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
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>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<027b2947-3191-4a41-b462-43bad6bb3ca6n...> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<027b2947-3191-4a41-b462-43bad6bb3ca6n...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> .
>>>
>>
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Date: 10/27/26 11:37 am From: Tom Behnfield <behnfield...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Marsh Wren vs Western Marsh Wren
Thanks Josh
Tom Behnfield
303-9106858
<behnfield...>
On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 12:35 PM Josh Bruening <87211jjb...> wrote:
> Tom,
>
> This should resolve itself unless during certain times of year Marsh Wren
> has traditionally been flagged as rare anyways. The default wren in this
> new split for Colorado will be Western Marsh Wren. The new Western Marsh
> Wren will assume the existing filter limits for each filter region. There
> are no confirmed records of Eastern Marsh Wren in Colorado on eBird and if
> memory serves me correctly, there are no CBRC records either. Maybe @Peter
> Gent <gent...> can confirm this. In some recent communications
> with Andrew Spencer on our Colorado eBird review Slack channel he said:
>
> "Back when I was living in Colorado, I did spend a significant amount of
> effort trying to find an EMWR in the state, inlucing recording birds in the
> eastern tier of counties, especially during migration. While I found a
> couple of birds that visually looked intriguing, every single one I
> recorded proved to be a WMWR. It does seem quite likely that EMWR is a very
> rare migrant on the eastern plains, identifying silent birds is
> complicated. So getting recordings (if possible) of any potential EMWR
> would be vital!" (posting this with Andrew's permission).
>
> Reviewers will be essentially requesting the same level of
> media/recordings for confirmation on eBird that we were looking for with
> the recent Warbling Vireo split. @Nathan Pieplow
> <nathan.pieplow...> -perhaps you could weigh in on your
> experience with these now two separate species? Feel free to keep the
> questions coming!
>
> Bird is the word!
>
> Josh Bruening
> Fort Collins
>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 11:09 AM <behn......> <behnfield...>
> wrote:
>
>> Greetings all!
>>
>> This morning I began getting Colorado Needs Alerts for Western Marsh
>> Wren. Will this resolve itself or is there some action I need to take?
>>
>> Good birding!
>>
>> Tom Behnfield
>> Lakewood/Jefferson County
>> <behnfield...>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Colorado Birds" group.
>> To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
>> For more options, visit this group at
>> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds >> * 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/membership/ >> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Colorado Birds" group.
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>> email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
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>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<027b2947-3191-4a41-b462-43bad6bb3ca6n...> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<027b2947-3191-4a41-b462-43bad6bb3ca6n...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> .
>>
>
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Date: 10/27/26 11:35 am From: Josh Bruening <87211jjb...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Marsh Wren vs Western Marsh Wren
Tom,
This should resolve itself unless during certain times of year Marsh Wren
has traditionally been flagged as rare anyways. The default wren in this
new split for Colorado will be Western Marsh Wren. The new Western Marsh
Wren will assume the existing filter limits for each filter region. There
are no confirmed records of Eastern Marsh Wren in Colorado on eBird and if
memory serves me correctly, there are no CBRC records either. Maybe @Peter
Gent <gent...> can confirm this. In some recent communications with
Andrew Spencer on our Colorado eBird review Slack channel he said:
"Back when I was living in Colorado, I did spend a significant amount of
effort trying to find an EMWR in the state, inlucing recording birds in the
eastern tier of counties, especially during migration. While I found a
couple of birds that visually looked intriguing, every single one I
recorded proved to be a WMWR. It does seem quite likely that EMWR is a very
rare migrant on the eastern plains, identifying silent birds is
complicated. So getting recordings (if possible) of any potential EMWR
would be vital!" (posting this with Andrew's permission).
Reviewers will be essentially requesting the same level of media/recordings
for confirmation on eBird that we were looking for with the recent Warbling
Vireo split. @Nathan Pieplow <nathan.pieplow...> -perhaps you
could weigh in on your experience with these now two separate species?
Feel free to keep the questions coming!
Bird is the word!
Josh Bruening
Fort Collins
On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 11:09 AM <behn......> <behnfield...>
wrote:
> Greetings all!
>
> This morning I began getting Colorado Needs Alerts for Western Marsh Wren.
> Will this resolve itself or is there some action I need to take?
>
> Good birding!
>
> Tom Behnfield
> Lakewood/Jefferson County
> <behnfield...>
>
> --
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Colorado Birds" group.
> To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds > * 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/membership/ > ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
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> email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
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>
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Date: 10/27/26 10:38 am From: Tom Behnfield <behnfield...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Marsh Wren vs Western Marsh Wren
Thanks Todd!
Tom Behnfield
303-9106858
<behnfield...>
On Tue, Oct 27, 2026 at 11:23 AM Todd Deininger <goldeneagle90a...>
wrote:
> Ebird asked to wait until they are finished updating before you make
> changes. They will post on the website when the are done
>
>
> Todd Deininger
> Longmont, CO
>
> Latest on Flickr <https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAd1LF> > Follow me on inaturalist <https://www.inaturalist.org>at toddwd1
> youtube.com/@DeiningerProductions
>
> "Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once
> in a while, or the light won't come in.
> -- Isaac Asimov
>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2026, 11:09 AM <behn......> <behnfield...>
> wrote:
>
>> Greetings all!
>>
>> This morning I began getting Colorado Needs Alerts for Western Marsh
>> Wren. Will this resolve itself or is there some action I need to take?
>>
>> Good birding!
>>
>> Tom Behnfield
>> Lakewood/Jefferson County
>> <behnfield...>
>>
>> --
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>>
>
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"Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once
in a while, or the light won't come in.
-- Isaac Asimov
On Tue, Oct 27, 2026, 11:09 AM <behn......> <behnfield...>
wrote:
> Greetings all!
>
> This morning I began getting Colorado Needs Alerts for Western Marsh Wren.
> Will this resolve itself or is there some action I need to take?
>
> Good birding!
>
> Tom Behnfield
> Lakewood/Jefferson County
> <behnfield...>
>
> --
> --
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> bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
> * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ > ---
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Date: 10/27/26 10:09 am From: <behn......> <behnfield...> Subject: [cobirds] Marsh Wren vs Western Marsh Wren
Greetings all!
This morning I began getting Colorado Needs Alerts for Western Marsh Wren. Will this resolve itself or is there some action I need to take?
Good birding!
Tom Behnfield Lakewood/Jefferson County <behnfield...>
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Date: 10/26/26 6:52 pm From: 'Elena Holly Klaver' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Re: anyone want to go to Colorado springs tomorrow?
My godson, Topi Martinez, wants to go to Colorado Springs tomorrow, Tuesday, to look for a reported sharp tailed sandpiper. I can’t go. Please reply only to me if someone is going and he could go with you. Thank you.
Elena Holly Klaver
United States Court Certified Interpreter
Conference Interpreter English < > Spanish
303.475.5189
Member:
Colorado Interpreters & Translators Association (CITA)
American Translators Association (ATA)
National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT)
I acknowledge that I live in the territory of Hinóno'éí (Arapaho) and Cheyenne nations, according to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and that Colorado's Front Range is home to the Ute and many other Native peoples. Reconozco que vivo en el territorio de las naciones Hinóno’éí (Arapaho) y Cheyenne, según el Tratado de Fort Laramie en 1851, y que el estado de Colorado al este de las Montañas Rocosas es territorio de los Utes y muchos otros pueblos indígenas.
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To respond to Ron Bolton's query about a hawk he recently saw at Bobcat Ridge National Area,
I've done monthly bird surveys at Bobcat Ridge for many years, and cannot remember seeing a Broad-winged Hawk there. We saw both Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks there in September. We see both accipiters not frequently, but regularly, at Bobcat Ridge.
The City of Fort Collins (Fort Collins Open Lands owns Bobcat Ridge Natural Area) is now putting together a spreadsheet for the data we have collected over the years that should be made available to the public - then a better answer might be available to Ron's question about Broad-winged Hawks at Bobcat Ridge. A look at eBird records for the site might also be informative.
Denise Bretting
Loveland
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Date: 10/25/26 10:20 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (25 Oct 2026) 4 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:45:00
Observation end time: 13:15:00
Total observation time: 4.5 hours
Official Counter: Zak Hepler
Observers:
Visitors:
Surprisingly, quite a few visitors today. Two different couples asked me
what I was looking for. I was asked if I worked for "CPW" and I said "no, I
am a volunteer and this data goes to Hawk Migration Association of North
America". One couple told me about nesting Peregrines that they see every
year near their home. They were telling me about how poor of flyers the
young falcons are when they see them. The other couple asked about Golden
Eagles. A few different groups spent a lot of time talking on their
cellphones while on speaker. One guy picked up trash and took it down the
mountain with him.
Weather:
Very foggy morning at Mount Zion. Visibility was poor and the Towers on
Lookout Mountain only became visible after 1130 AM MDT. The fog was pushed
by an Eastern wind that persisted throughout the day. Once the fog lifted,
there remained much haze over the larger Denver area. In fact, the
southwest area of Kestrel Channel remained in haze for the entirety of my
watch. While there was no real wind at the watch, I could see a lot of
movement in the clouds above signifying a quick moving air current high
overhead. National Weather Service forecasted ZERO thermal lift for today.
This, along with hardly any wind, made all raptors visible to the naked,
unaided, eye.
Raptor Observations:
Not a lot of raptor activity today. I was hoping the moving cold front
would create more activity. The end of the season is in sight. The 6 hawk
watches operated by Hawk Watch International end their season Nov. 5th. The
season end date for the current Mount Zion Fall 2026 season is still TBD.
The first migrant was a CH @ 11:53 AM MDT. The next migrant was a Sharpie @
12:14 PM MDT and the last was a RT @ 12:58 PM MDT.
Non-migrant raptors: 7 RT, 1 GE, 1 AK
I had great views of a hunting adult male American Kestrel. The bird was
found in the namesake Kestrel Channel.
Non-raptor Observations:
The usual subjects at the watch. The one passerine species that piqued the
most interest was the large flock of Bushtits that worked their way around
The Watch. I was able to record some audio.
For the full list of birds see this eBird list:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S405420107
Predictions:
A cold and crisp day can be expected at Mount Zion tomorrow. The fog
shouldn't be as bad as it was today and the skies should be clearer. There
is expected to be the same Eastern wind tomorrow.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Zak Hepler (<zakhepler...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/25/26 9:01 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (25 Oct 2026) 4 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:45:00
Observation end time: 13:15:00
Total observation time: 4.5 hours
Official Counter: Zak Hepler
Observers:
Visitors:
Surprisingly, quite a few visitors today. Two different couples asked me
what I was looking for. I was asked if I worked for "CPW" and I said "no, I
am a volunteer and this data goes to Hawk Migration Association of North
America". One couple told me about nesting Peregrines that they see every
year near their home. They were telling me about how poor of flyers the
young falcons are when they see them. The other couple asked about Golden
Eagles. A few different groups spent a lot of time talking on their
cellphones while on speaker. One guy picked up trash and took it down the
mountain with him.
Weather:
Very foggy morning at Mount Zion. Visibility was poor and the Towers on
Lookout Mountain only became visible after 1130 AM MDT. The fog was pushed
by an Eastern wind that persisted throughout the day. Once the fog lifted,
there remained much haze over the larger Denver area. In fact, the
southwest area of Kestrel Channel remained in haze for the entirety of my
watch. While there was no real wind at the watch, I could see a lot of
movement in the clouds above signifying a quick moving air current high
overhead. National Weather Service forecasted ZERO thermal lift for today.
This, along with hardly any wind, made all raptors visible to the naked,
unaided, eye.
Raptor Observations:
Not a lot of raptor activity today. I was hoping the moving cold front
would create more activity. The end of the season is in sight. The 6 hawk
watches operated by Hawk Watch International end their season Nov. 5th. The
season end date for the current Mount Zion Fall 2026 season is still TBD.
The first migrant was a CH @ 11:53 AM MDT. The next migrant was a Sharpie @
12:14 PM MDT and the last was a RT @ 12:58 PM MDT.
Non-migrant raptors: 7 RT, 1 GE, 1 AK
I had great views of a hunting adult male American Kestrel. The bird was
found in the namesake Kestrel Channel.
Non-raptor Observations:
The usual subjects at the watch. The one passerine species that piqued the
most interest was the large flock of Bushtits that worked their way around
The Watch. I was able to record some audio.
For the full list of birds see this eBird list:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S405420107
Predictions:
A cold and crisp day can be expected at Mount Zion tomorrow. The fog
shouldn't be as bad as it was today and the skies should be clearer. There
is expected to be the same Eastern wind tomorrow.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Zak Hepler (<zakhepler...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/25/26 6:40 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (25 Oct 2026) 4 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 25, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:45:00
Observation end time: 13:15:00
Total observation time: 4.5 hours
Official Counter: Zak Hepler
Observers:
Visitors:
Surprisingly, quite a few visitors today. Two different couples asked me
what I was looking for. I was asked if I worked for "CPW" and I said "no, I
am a volunteer and this data goes to Hawk Migration Association of North
America". One couple told me about nesting Peregrines that they see every
year near their home. They were telling me about how poor of flyers the
young falcons are when they see them. The other couple asked about Golden
Eagles. A few different groups spent a lot of time talking on their
cellphones while on speaker. One guy picked up trash and took it down the
mountain with him.
Weather:
Very foggy morning at Mount Zion. Visibility was poor and the Towers on
Lookout Mountain only became visible after 1130 AM MDT. The fog was pushed
by an Eastern wind that persisted throughout the day. Once the fog lifted,
there remained much haze over the larger Denver area. In fact, the
southwest area of Kestrel Channel remained in haze for the entirety of my
watch. While there was no real wind at the watch, I could see a lot of
movement in the clouds above signifying a quick moving air current high
overhead. National Weather Service forecasted ZERO thermal lift for today.
This, along with hardly any wind, made all raptors visible to the naked,
unaided, eye.
Raptor Observations:
Not a lot of raptor activity today. I was hoping the moving cold front
would create more activity. The end of the season is in sight. The 6 hawk
watches operated by Hawk Watch International end their season Nov. 5th. The
season end date for the current Mount Zion Fall 2026 season is still TBD.
The first migrant was a CH @ 11:53 AM MDT. The next migrant was a Sharpie @
12:14 PM MDT and the last was a RT @ 12:58 PM MDT.
Non-migrant raptors: 7 RT, 1 GE, 1 AK
I had great views of a hunting adult male American Kestrel. The bird was
found in the namesake Kestrel Channel.
Non-raptor Observations:
The usual subjects at the watch. The one passerine species that piqued the
most interest was the large flock of Bushtits that worked their way around
The Watch. I was able to record some audio.
For the full list of birds see this eBird list:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S405420107
Predictions:
A cold and crisp day can be expected at Mount Zion tomorrow. The fog
shouldn't be as bad as it was today and the skies should be clearer. There
is expected to be the same Eastern wind tomorrow.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Zak Hepler (<zakhepler...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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We finished up our banding season at Chatfield last week! We had to cancel our very last day of banding due to weather, but we were grateful that was the only cancellation of the season. In total we banded 643 birds over the course of our 22 banding days, with 50% of those birds being either Wilson's (225) and Yellow-rumped Warblers (111). We also had 94 same-season recaps and 45 returns from previous seasons. Our oldest recapture was a Yellow Warbler originally banded in 2022. We had 43 different species visit the banding station! (See table below)
We learned so much this season about what fall migration looks like at Chatfield. It was so interesting to see how the migration timing of different bird species varied. The Wilson's Warblers came through over the course of a month and peaked in mid September, for example, while the Yellow-rumped Warblers blasted through over the course of one week at the end of September. We also saw that the proportion of adult to young birds stayed fairly steady throughout the season, with about 40% being adults and 60% having hatched this summer. (See graphs below)
Thank you to all of you who were able to come visit us at the station and thank you to the wonderful staff and volunteers from both Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and Denver Audubon for helping the season run so smoothly. We had more than 500 visitors to the station!
New Birds Banded Species Total American Goldfinch 3 American Redstart 1 American Robin 2 Black-capped Chickadee 17 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6 Brown Creeper 1 Brewer's Sparrow 3 Bushtit 11 Cassin's Vireo 1 Chipping Sparrow 4 Common Yellowthroat 3 Downy Woodpecker 2 Dusky Flycatcher 2 Eastern Phoebe 3 Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed) 1 Dark-eyed Junco (Pink-sided) 1 Gray Catbird 16 Green-tailed Towhee 3 Hammond's Flycatcher 1 House Finch 8 Lesser Goldfinch 4 Lincoln's Sparrow 12 MacGillivray's Warbler 13 Northern House Wren 14 Northern Flicker 1 Northern Parula 1 Northern Waterthrush 2 Orange-crowned Warbler 67 Ovenbird 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7 Red-eyed Vireo 1 Red-naped Sapsucker 1 Song Sparrow 24 Spotted Towhee 22 Swainson's Thrush 1 Traill's Flycatcher 4 Warbling Vireo 3 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's) 21 White-crowned Sparrow (Mountain) 6 Western Flycatcher 1 Western Wood-pewee 1 Wilson's Warbler 225 Yellow-breasted Chat 4 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 102 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 9 Yellow Warbler 6 Grand Total 643
[image: Warbler Species Migration Timing.png] [image: Timing by Age.png] Until next time,
Audrey Hicks Bander, Denver Audubon + Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/25/26 4:58 am From: 'Ron Bolton' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] hawk id help please
In the foothills at Bobcat Natural Area near Loveland. Gliding over the foothills fairly low, these foothills have scattered pondo's but generally not very dense brush. small size for hawk basic impressions: broad wings (not necessarily long), head did not extend at all beyond wings, strongly banded tail was fanned and not long, nothing obvious in coloring pattern of underwings and belly (dark and white)
Coopers is an obvious candidate. But the tail was not long and it seemed unlikely environment and flight path. Too small for harrier and no white band on top of tail, also the gliding was smoother. And it should have been over the grasslands below the hills. Seemed a bit big for sharpie and I think the tail fan was rounded not a triangle.
So I'm thinking Broad-winged. Would that environment and gliding fit? Thoughts
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Date: 10/24/26 7:30 pm From: Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...> Subject: [cobirds] Wild Centennial - Arapahoe
Busy past 18 hours or so. Two doors down from me, a neighbor's ring camera picked up a Black Bear ambling down our Centennial (Arapahoe) road at 3:30 AM on 10/24. There's very little edible on shrubs or trees this year, and songbirds have cleared much of what is available (creeper berries). So perhaps its the gourds that are everywhere and perhaps also trash that brought the bear around. (This is not far from deKoevend Park, and the bear was walking in that direction.)
This morning, a Hermit Thrush was foraging in the back of my yard. I got to watch a behavior I'd not previously known about -- "foot quivering." Here's *Birds of the World* on it:
*Foot-quivering (using feet to shake and scare insects out of clumps of dead or newly regenerating grasses) has been observed as a foraging maneuver by Hermit Thrush.*
This is apparently both an aggressive and foraging behavior among *Catharus* thrushes. It looked more like foot "stomping" to me. The thrush was doing this in areas of leaf litter, patchy wood chips, and other chunks of organic matter. (Also of note, on this species, was a different one in my yard several weeks ago, clearing out honeysuckle vine (*Lonicera sempervirens*) berries, while a Broad-tailed Hummingbird tried to feed in the flowers.)
Later this morning, I saw and heard a small flock of Pygmy Nuthatches over the High Lien Canal Trail in Centennial.
In the late afternoon (around 4 pm), three dozen Sandhill Cranes flew over my home. Unlike most migratory Sandhill flocks, I saw these before I heard them. Later still, some scat -- likely Red Fox scat -- was on a paved walking path on the side of my home; it wasn't there in the morning.
- Jared Del Rosso Centennial, CO
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Date: 10/24/26 4:05 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (24 Oct 2026) 7 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 3 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
Two young men came up to the top and one of them took out a spotting scope
on a tripod while the other had binoculars, both looking toward the west. I
asked them what wildlife they were looking for, and they said Birds. What
birds? Red Crossbill. Why that species? Because we've never seen one. They
probably had seen our eBird reports showing that species commonly here. Do
you know the call? Yes. If flock of 6 came by calling and I pointed them
out. I showed them a TOSO and an RTHA through my scope. They were Aaron
Farrar and Mason Richards students at the School of Mines, from Michigan
and Texas respectively. We discussed local birds and species they hadn't
seen. One of them was a member of DFO, I strongly recommend that both of
them join and go on DFO trips.
Weather:
The temperature dropped markedly overnight. Overcast with stratrocumulus
undulatus which had some thin areas where some filtered sunlight could come
through, but by the last hour very low dark gray clouds, altotratus, moved
in from the north. Denver was clear. The winds aloft after the cold front
went through was from the NNE changing to NE. The Soaring Forecast of the
NWS predicted zero lift and only 797 ft AGL for height of thermals but
there was no trigger temperature time mentioned indicating it would not be
reached. This to me would indicated that raptors which used thermals would
not fly today. By 10:30 a.m. there was virga to the north, and by 10:30
a.m. there was virga to the SW, with low clouds covering the ridges to the
north as well as for the 14ers to the West. In the last hour haziness
developed over Denver caused by a controlled burn at the Rocky Mountain
Arsenal NWR.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was an AK only by 10:23 a.m. MDT. An SS dove on an RT
twice, both on migration.
Only 1 migrant RT flew to the east of the watch, the other migrants were
all found over Lookout Mountain to the South as is fairly common in
October.
Non-migrant raptors: I heard an odd call which was presumably from a CORA
being chased down into Clear Creek Canyon by an adult GE missing a left 8th
primary feather. RT 2.
Non-raptor Observations:
4 hang gliders took off at 10:15 a.m. and based on the soaring forecast I
expected they would not have much lift, and they did not, struggling to get
up to the level of the watch which is at 1771 ft AGL, but by 10:40 a.m.
when 5 paragliders had taken off as well, they had moderate lift reaching I
estimate 300 ft above the watch, none going really high.
RECR 6, STJA 1, CAGO 5, HAWO 1, AMCR 4, CORA 2, BBMA 1, TOSO 1.
Predictions:
It could be a good day for my rent since the front went through today with
NE winds tomorrow. A 20 percent chance of showers after 3pm. Partly sunny,
with a high near 56. Calm wind becoming east northeast around 6 mph in the
afternoon.
Winds aloft expected to be light from the NE.
========================================================================
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Date: 10/24/26 11:55 am From: 'Buzz Schaumberg' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Several hundred Sandhills cranes over south boulder
Love it!
Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS
Buzz Schaumberg
On Saturday, October 24, 2026, 12:50 PM, 'elena' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> wrote:
A huge flock going south
Sent from my iPhone
Elena Holly Klaver
Federally Certified Court Interpreter
Conference Interpreter
English <> Spanish
303 475 5189
Member: American Translators Association
Colorado Translators Association
Pronouns: she, her, hers
I acknowledge that I live in the territory of Hinóno’éí (Arapaho), Cheyenne and Ute Nations, according to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and that Colorado’s Front Range is home to many Native peoples. Reconozco que vivo en el territorio de las naciones Hinóno’éí (Arapaho), Cheyenne y Ute, según el Tratado de Fort Laramie en 1851, y que el estado de Colorado al esté de las Montañas Rocosas es territorio de muchos pueblos indígenas.
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Date: 10/24/26 11:50 am From: 'elena' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Several hundred Sandhills cranes over south boulder
A huge flock going south
Sent from my iPhone
Elena Holly Klaver
Federally Certified Court Interpreter
Conference Interpreter
English <> Spanish
303 475 5189
Member: American Translators Association
Colorado Translators Association
Pronouns: she, her, hers
I acknowledge that I live in the territory of Hinóno’éí (Arapaho), Cheyenne and Ute Nations, according to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and that Colorado’s Front Range is home to many Native peoples. Reconozco que vivo en el territorio de las naciones Hinóno’éí (Arapaho), Cheyenne y Ute, según el Tratado de Fort Laramie en 1851, y que el estado de Colorado al esté de las Montañas Rocosas es territorio de muchos pueblos indígenas.
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Date: 10/24/26 11:42 am From: Pauli Driver-Smith <hollyhockfarms...> Subject: [cobirds] Northern Shovelers
Lots of Northern Shovelers on Highlandlake right now. Also, at least six Bald Eagles in the fields behind my house. They are plowing the fields and apparently stirred up something that is interesting to both the Eagles and a flock of gulls.
Pauli Smith Highlandlake/Mead, Weld County
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Date: 10/23/26 4:41 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (23 Oct 2026) 1 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 23, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 10:15:00
Total observation time: 1.25 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
A couple asked whether I were bird watching. I explained. They said Oh
cool.
Weather:
Denver was clear for a change. The strong South winds probably blew away
the inversion layer.The first hour had light winds from the ESE which
turned the next hour into progressively stronger winds from the WSW. I hung
my backpack to weight my scope and when it turned to level 6 on the
Beaufort scale I turned my backpack so that if my tripod fell, my backpack
would take the brunt and leave my scope undamaged. A few minutes later
there was a tremendous gust which not only knocked my scope over but it
flew downwind 5 ft. My files and papers went flying high into the air, as
did my phone and little weather station with the batteries scattered and
the cover lost. I was able to find my file 30 ft away stuck in a bush. The
winds were predicted to get even stronger, so I left. On the way down winds
were likely level 7, I was unsteady walking down the steps. I am guessing
that the strong WSW winds were the South Winds sweeping around Lookout
Mountain altering its direction.
Raptor Observations:
Winds at 12 mph aloft from the south would not blow apart thermals but
would heavily tilt, fracture and drift them to the north. I wondered
whether hawks wood fly against such a strong headwind, but sit out
migrating today. By 11:00 a.m. I could see small puffy cresentic thermal
capping clouds to the SSW and SE.
The Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted lifted 7 ft/sec, thermal height
of 7,589 ft above ground level by 12:30 p.m. MDT, which considering that
the watch is at 1771 ft AGL would make it 5,800 ft above the watch - a
mile higher.
The first hawk seen was a local RT in the Kestrel Channel but just over the
trees. As I was about to leave a CH went up Clear Creek Canyon a little
below eye level, the only migrant.
Non-raptor Observations:
A moderate to strong cold front is going through Saturday morning which
could make for a good migration on Sunday or Monday.
CORA 2. No other passerines.
Predictions:
A 30 percent chance of showers after noon. Increasing clouds, with a high
near 53. Calm wind becoming north northeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
The winds aloft are expected to be about 12 mph from the NNE changing to
NE, which should give migrating hawks a good tailwind to fly south by.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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David Suddjian Littleton, CO [image: BIRD BOMBS 2026 -11-12 Ducks in a Row.png]
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Date: 10/22/26 6:07 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (22 Oct 2026) 4 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 22, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Liza Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
A couple from California were interested to know I was counting migration
raptors. I explained where we send the data to and that there were ~78 hawk
watches reporting data to hawkcount.org
A group of 4 high school kids enjoyed looking at downtown Denver through my
spotting scope and were thrilled to see a distant car through the spotting
scope.
Weather:
100% cloud cover at the start of the watch with light haze noted over
Denver. A gray brown band was noted extending from downtown Denver to the
north east. Haze was noted south of downtown and east of Green mtn. Virga
was noted to the west and north east of the watch and continued in various
locations for the entire watch period.
Soaring forecast predicted a poor flight of raptors with the maximum height
of thermals to be 4779 ft AGL with a trigger temperature of 23.2 C which
was never reached!
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a migrant RT seen at 11:33 AM MDT.
A total of 4 migrant raptors seen during the 4 hours of the watch. It was
gratifying that this brought the number of migrant raptors seen to 1801 for
the season.
One non migrant distant raptor which most likely was a large falcon flew
north towards NREL windmills.
Predictions:
Cloudy through mid morning then gradually clearing , with a high near 75
F.
S to SW winds 5 to 13 mph with gusts as high as 21 mph
========================================================================
Report submitted by Liza Antony (<liza.antony15...>)
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Date: 10/22/26 4:56 pm From: 'Meredith McBurney' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/22/26
A weird morning.......going along at a typical late fall pace, with typical late fall birds, until half-way through the session. Then nothing. Not another bird caught after 9:30.
Meredith McBurney Bander, Barr Lake Station Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Dave L, Please find my photo of the COKI with an insect in its mouth. Feel free to use it for CFO or other articles. Others may have better photos from the Oct 3 date. I have an uncropped version but its too large for cobirds to accept it. so email me and I may be able to send it to you via gmail. Patricia Cullen Longmont, CO <hathcockcolorado...>[image: DSC02486.JPG]
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Date: 10/21/26 7:18 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (21 Oct 2026) 15 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 21, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
2 hikers asked whether we had seen any eagles, and I replied - 2.
Overheard conversation between 2 hikers. Man - I don't know any of the
native birds. I heard chirping. Woman ( confidently) - It was probably a
sparrow. There are mud sparrows which are protected. Since they didn't ask
me, I didn't intervene.
Weather:
Denver very hazy, also a white cloud at the horizon between north and east
with a gray band exactly in between it horizontally, which we hadn't seen
before, and we realized there appeared to be smoke coming from the area of
the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR, so it looked likely a controlled burn. At
12:00 noon MDT the smoke increased tremendously with the smoke rising and
sweeping North, and very curiously a white cumulus cloud on top of it,
probably because of humidity from burning of the grasses being released
rising until it reached the dew point when it formed a cumulus cloud,
termed pyrocumulus. By 10:00 a.m. MDT they were already small puffy clouds
to the South moving to the SE, typically capping thermals, with moderate
cumulus beginning to form in the West by 10:30 a.m. The 'seeing' was hazy
to the South and we had difficulty keeping hawks in view in our binoculars.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant hawk was an RT at 10:17 a.m. at level 4 height of
flight.
GE 2 adult migrants at 12:44 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. and unusually late migrant
TV.
Curiously we saw no accipiters.
After 1:00 p.m. there were only 2 migrants counted, and I wondered whether
the hawks were catching thermals instead. We had excellent cloud cover in
all directions especially in the last hour when it started at 55% and ended
at 85%, we scanned low and high in every direction and did not pick up any
other than over Lookout Mountain, though we did see 92 RBGU in many
different groups up to 28 extremely high in the sky, flying SE. So either
the hawks were not flying or more likely they were flying beyond binocular
range, as the height of thermals was almost 7,000 ft above the watch.
This was another day like yesterday where the only migrant hawks found were
over Lookout Mountain, probably as the thermals were not very strong
earlier in the morning, and hawks preferred the ridge lift. The advantage
of having two watchers is that while Liza was looking for hawks all over, I
concentrated mainly on the top of Lookout Mountain scanning with binoculars
more frequently than I normally do when alone, thus finding more hawks then
I did yesterday with similar weather conditions.
Non-raptor Observations:
3 paragliders at noon had no lift and could not even reach the level of the
watch, this being expected with the Soaring Forecast from the NWS expecting
lift at 12 feet/second and thermal height at 9580 feet AGL by 11:45 a.m.
Predictions:
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a
high near 75, winds from the W>SW>SSW.
The winds aloft are going to be similar, light from the SW>SSW.J
========================================================================
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Date: 10/21/26 7:18 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (21 Oct 2026) 15 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 21, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
2 hikers asked whether we had seen any eagles, and I replied - 2.
Overheard conversation between 2 hikers. Man - I don't know any of the
native birds. I heard chirping. Woman ( confidently) - It was probably a
sparrow. There are mud sparrows which are protected. Since they didn't ask
me, I didn't intervene.
Weather:
Denver very hazy, also a white cloud at the horizon between north and east
with a gray band exactly in between it horizontally, which we hadn't seen
before, and we realized there appeared to be smoke coming from the area of
the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR, so it looked likely a controlled burn. At
12:00 noon MDT the smoke increased tremendously with the smoke rising and
sweeping North, and very curiously a white cumulus cloud on top of it,
probably because of humidity from burning of the grasses being released
rising until it reached the dew point when it formed a cumulus cloud,
termed pyrocumulus. By 10:00 a.m. MDT they were already small puffy clouds
to the South moving to the SE, typically capping thermals, with moderate
cumulus beginning to form in the West by 10:30 a.m. The 'seeing' was hazy
to the South and we had difficulty keeping hawks in view in our binoculars.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant hawk was an RT at 10:17 a.m. at level 4 height of
flight.
GE 2 adult migrants at 12:44 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. and unusually late migrant
TV.
Curiously we saw no accipiters.
After 1:00 p.m. there were only 2 migrants counted, and I wondered whether
the hawks were catching thermals instead. We had excellent cloud cover in
all directions especially in the last hour when it started at 55% and ended
at 85%, we scanned low and high in every direction and did not pick up any
other than over Lookout Mountain, though we did see 92 RBGU in many
different groups up to 28 extremely high in the sky, flying SE. So either
the hawks were not flying or more likely they were flying beyond binocular
range, as the height of thermals was almost 7,000 ft above the watch.
This was another day like yesterday where the only migrant hawks found were
over Lookout Mountain, probably as the thermals were not very strong
earlier in the morning, and hawks preferred the ridge lift. The advantage
of having two watchers is that while Liza was looking for hawks all over, I
concentrated mainly on the top of Lookout Mountain scanning with binoculars
more frequently than I normally do when alone, thus finding more hawks then
I did yesterday with similar weather conditions.
Non-raptor Observations:
3 paragliders at noon had no lift and could not even reach the level of the
watch, this being expected with the Soaring Forecast from the NWS expecting
lift at 12 feet/second and thermal height at 9580 feet AGL by 11:45 a.m.
Predictions:
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a
high near 75, winds from the W>SW>SSW.
The winds aloft are going to be similar, light from the SW>SSW.J
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/21/26 7:18 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (21 Oct 2026) 15 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 21, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
2 hikers asked whether we had seen any eagles, and I replied - 2.
Overheard conversation between 2 hikers. Man - I don't know any of the
native birds. I heard chirping. Woman ( confidently) - It was probably a
sparrow. There are mud sparrows which are protected. Since they didn't ask
me, I didn't intervene.
Weather:
Denver very hazy, also a white cloud at the horizon between north and east
with a gray band exactly in between it horizontally, which we hadn't seen
before, and we realized there appeared to be smoke coming from the area of
the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR, so it looked likely a controlled burn. At
12:00 noon MDT the smoke increased tremendously with the smoke rising and
sweeping North, and very curiously a white cumulus cloud on top of it,
probably because of humidity from burning of the grasses being released
rising until it reached the dew point when it formed a cumulus cloud,
termed pyrocumulus. By 10:00 a.m. MDT they were already small puffy clouds
to the South moving to the SE, typically capping thermals, with moderate
cumulus beginning to form in the West by 10:30 a.m. The 'seeing' was hazy
to the South and we had difficulty keeping hawks in view in our binoculars.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant hawk was an RT at 10:17 a.m. at level 4 height of
flight.
GE 2 adult migrants at 12:44 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. and unusually late migrant
TV.
Curiously we saw no accipiters.
After 1:00 p.m. there were only 2 migrants counted, and I wondered whether
the hawks were catching thermals instead. We had excellent cloud cover in
all directions especially in the last hour when it started at 55% and ended
at 85%, we scanned low and high in every direction and did not pick up any
other than over Lookout Mountain, though we did see 92 RBGU in many
different groups up to 28 extremely high in the sky, flying SE. So either
the hawks were not flying or more likely they were flying beyond binocular
range, as the height of thermals was almost 7,000 ft above the watch.
This was another day like yesterday where the only migrant hawks found were
over Lookout Mountain, probably as the thermals were not very strong
earlier in the morning, and hawks preferred the ridge lift. The advantage
of having two watchers is that while Liza was looking for hawks all over, I
concentrated mainly on the top of Lookout Mountain scanning with binoculars
more frequently than I normally do when alone, thus finding more hawks then
I did yesterday with similar weather conditions.
Non-raptor Observations:
3 paragliders at noon had no lift and could not even reach the level of the
watch, this being expected with the Soaring Forecast from the NWS expecting
lift at 12 feet/second and thermal height at 9580 feet AGL by 11:45 a.m.
Predictions:
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a
high near 75, winds from the W>SW>SSW.
The winds aloft are going to be similar, light from the SW>SSW.J
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/21/26 4:26 pm From: DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleatherman...> Subject: [cobirds] Photo request
Hello, I am looking for a few good photos to use in "The Hungry Bird".
Does anyone have photos of the invading Evening Grosbeaks eating anything? I am especially interested in photos of individuals that recordings confirm as being Type 1 from the Pacific Northwest.
Did anyone observe, and preferably photograph, the Piratic Flycatcher with a Russian-olive in its beak? Any photographs of it with an insect it caught while flycatching?
Any photos of the Couch's Kingbird with anything in its beak (Dave Prentice you are excused from this request)?
Any other photos that clearly depict a bird eating an identifiable food item.
Thanks for considering this request.
I think my deadline is the end of the month or shortly thereafter.
Dave Leatherman Fort Collins
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Date: 10/19/26 5:56 pm From: Don Marsh <ridgwaybrdr...> Subject: [cobirds] Brown Pelican at Otter Pond, Montrose
This evening I stopped by Otter Pond in Montrose to look for an American White Pelican, I heard was at the pond. Instead, I found an adult Brown Pelican. I spoke to a couple who live near the pond, and they told me that it had been around for about a week. Unfortunately, I only had my phone for photos. Here is the checklist: eBird Checklist - 19 Oct 2026 - Otter Pond area - 2 species<https://ebird.org/checklist/S403869970> Good birding,
Don Marsh
Ridgway, CO
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Date: 10/19/26 5:49 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (19 Oct 2026) 10 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 19, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 13:15:00
Total observation time: 5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
Five hikers asked questions about whether I was bird watching, and I
explained what I was doing. A couple asked me what I was looking through my
scope and I told them I was looking at 2 distant GE too far to see with the
naked eye. They were amazed I could see it and identify it.
I was able to show a different couple the GE going down CCC and told them
it had a 7 ft wingspan, and they were amazed as it looked so small way
below us. I asked them to estimate the distance between the watch and South
Table Mountain and they said 1 mile. I told them it was actually 3 miles
and they were dumbfounded at their inability to assess the correct
distance.
Another hiker asked me what I was capturing, presumably looking at my
scope. Capturing? I asked, then realized he thought it was a camera, and
explained.
Another hiker was interested in where we send our data, and I helped her
find Hawkcount on her phone, and how could she could see daily counts at
different hawk watches.
Weather:
There was a strong subsidence inversion layer over Denver. Initially there
was no brown cloud, but as the haze cleared from Denver it spread to the
East and North forming a brown cloud by 10:00 a.m. MDT which got wider and
lighter with the hours. The inversion creates a cap for thermal height and
the haziness lifts over Denver creating a vacuum into which wind from the
Eastern plains rushes and continues up Mount Zion as a ridge lift from the
ESE, which was only mild today, has the Denver haziness never completely
cleared. The Soaring Forecast from the NWS had poor lift at only 5
feet/second and height of thermals by 2:30 p.m. was expected to be only
4,777 ft above ground level and 2000 ft above the watch, so at a lower
height before that time. Because of this there was only a small flight
today.
Raptor Observations:
The first hawks in flight were 2 local RT low in the Kestrel Channel. The
first migrant was only by 10:04 a.m. MDT which was a juvenile RT which was
seen over North Table Mountain, progressively rose to about 20� above the
ground level and migrated to the SE.
A migrant RT flew very close to one of the antenna on Lookout Mountain
rousing another RT and a CORA which chased the RT into the trees, a few
minutes later I saw it rise and continue on its migration.
Non-migrant raptors: GE 2 far to the at 11:34 a.m. and an adult GE at 1:11
a.m. missing a single mid-secondary feather and a left 8th primary due to
molt on the left wing, flying down Clear Creek Canyon and I saw it again at
1:33 p.m. to the NE recognizing it because of its molt pattern.
RT 4.
Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders 3 at 12:30 p.m. had no lift and by 1:00 p.m. had only moderate
lift, consistent with the Soaring Forecast that I've noticed good
correlation with.
Monarch butterfly 1.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S403879924
Predictions:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Light wind from the northeast at 3-6
mph.
The winds at the height the hawks would migrate at is expected to be light
and mainly from the NE.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/18/26 7:56 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (18 Oct 2026) 30 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 18, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Eliane Walters, Liza Antony
Visitors:
Eliane Walters who came for the DFO Mount Zion Hawk Watch trip we led 2
weeks ago came with her wife Jules Burke who couldn't make the DFO trip,
and with her parents-in-law, came for an hour to the watch, binoculars in
hand. She found a few hawks. Jukes found us 2 adults GE to the NE which
after circling around for a while, flew one behind the other arrow straight
toward the SW, one of them then perched on the westernmost antenna on
Lookout Mountain while the other soared awhile, then did a roller coaster
pattern of territorial flight, then landed right next to the other one. 15
minutes later they were found to the NE, then to the North.
Many hikers had many questions of us about hawk migration that we answered.
2 young men chatted with us for half an hour, and another one for the same
length of time. We recommended the Merlin app to many, to those who had the
app already we recommended getting binoculars and joining a local bird
club.
One man asked if we had seen any Sasquatch. Yes. How many, 5? Yes. Probably
a family unit. I replied Yes they were all fighting so it must have been a
family unit.
Weather:
Only a mild haze around Denver which cleared up by the 11:00 hour MDT,
winds starting from the WSW changing as usual to ESE, 40% cloud cover to
begin with, progressively increasing to 85%, all cirrus more to the West to
begin with but spreading Eastward to give us a good backdrop to see hawks
against.
Even at 4:00 p.m. MDT there were strong thermals for I could see a
paraglider and a hang glider circling and rising in one of them to the NE.
I stayed until 5:00 p.m. MDT in order to check out whether with the drop in
temperature after 3:00 p.m. there would be any low raptors migrating,
especially against the very good cloud cover I could scan with binoculars
against, and the answer was very few, unless they were flying higher than I
could see with binoculars, even with cirrus clouds which are at
20,000-40,000 ft high. There does not seem to be any late afternoon and
evening AK flights as documented at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch in spring.
Raptor Observations:
It took until 9:43 a.m. until the 1st raptor, an SS adult which came by at
eye level and very close through Clear Creek Canyon just north of the
watch.
A taiga Merlin at 2:59 p.m. was seen to the NE easily, it flew 30 ft from
me and only a little higher, flew South to Lookout Mountain, turned around,
passed me again, gradually rose to the West until it was not visible to the
naked eye before flying SW.
Most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain, Lift and thermals
being poor today, so they were using mainly ridge lift off Lookout
Mountain.
Non-migrant raptors: GE 6 adults. One of them late evening I saw close, to
the NW, it then stooped at an RT low in the Kestrel Channel, chased it,
then flew North over Golden, some minutes later it was high to the NE,
gained height and migrated to the SW. RT 5.
Non-raptor Observations:
Around 19 paragliders and 1 hang glider, the first 2 tandem ones at 11:30
a.m. had only moderate lift, while the ones an hour later flew really high.
The Soaring Forecast of the NWS had lift only at 3 ft per second and the
height of thermals by 2:45 p.m. was predicted to be only 3797 ft AGL.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S403611239
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 70. Light and variable wind becoming west around 6
mph.
The winds aloft predicted by Earth.nullschool.net are from the SE>East.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/18/26 5:48 pm From: Jack Bushong <jcbushong01...> Subject: [cobirds] Western Gull & two longspur species, Dillon Reservoir, Summit
Hi all,
I made a quick trip up to Summit County yesterday and found Dillon Reservoir to be exceptionally birdy. The Blue River Inlet (PUSA spot) was especially good, featuring a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a WESTERN GULL (presumably the Chaffee County bird that's now relocated), and several THICK-BILLED LONGSPURS and CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS on the exposed lakebed. These appear to be the first longspur reports of any species from Summit County, but the habitat is certainly excellent right now.
Documentation here: eBird Checklist - 17 Oct 2026 - Dillon Reservoir--Blue River Inlet area - 16 species (+1 other taxa) <https://ebird.org/checklist/S403143578>
Good birding, Jack Bushong
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Date: 10/18/26 5:48 pm From: Jack Bushong <jcbushong01...> Subject: [cobirds] Western Gull & two longspur species, Dillon Reservoir, Summit
Hi all,
I made a quick trip up to Summit County yesterday and found Dillon Reservoir to be exceptionally birdy. The Blue River Inlet (PUSA spot) was especially good, featuring a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a WESTERN GULL (presumably the Chaffee County bird that's now relocated), and several THICK-BILLED LONGSPURS and CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS on the exposed lakebed. These appear to be the first longspur reports of any species from Summit County, but the habitat is certainly excellent right now.
Documentation here: eBird Checklist - 17 Oct 2026 - Dillon Reservoir--Blue River Inlet area - 16 species (+1 other taxa) <https://ebird.org/checklist/S403143578>
Good birding, Jack Bushong
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Date: 10/17/26 9:14 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (17 Oct 2026) 31 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 17, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Lauren Friesen, Liza Antony
Visitors:
When we were discussing local geology as to the organic origin of the 2
Table Mountains, paleontology such as the K-T (now renamed K-Pg) which was
first described in 1941 at the south end of South Table Mountain, the
extinction of the dinosaurs and proofs adduced by Walter and Luis Alvarez
40 years later of the asteroid impact, that a T-Rex tooth was found in the
late 1800s 40 years before the animal was so of course no one knew what it
was, the first Stegosaurus fossil was found at Dinosaur Ridge, I saw a
number of hikers listening in. Two hikers asked questions about what we
were looking at, and we explained what a hawk watch is, that there are
about 76 active hawk watches this fall from Canada through the US, through
Central America, to South America, most manned by volunteers like us,
reporting to the Hawk Migration Association HMA website at hawkcount.org,
that researchers can use our data to decide whether certain species are
increasing or decreasing and to decide on conservation measures.
Weather:
Mild haze around Denver and beyond to the East which finally cleared up by
the 12:00 MDT hour though the brown cloud persisted far to the NE.
Raptor Observations:
A beautiful adult Ferruginous Hawk at 9:24 a.m. easily visible to the naked
eye kited over North Table Mountain for a long time giving us excellent
views, and for us to indicate all the identification features.
An adult GE migrated at 12:58 p.m.
The majority of hawks migrated over the North and South Table Mountains,
through Clear Creek Canyon, through the Kestrel Channel, and some over the
Eastern end of Lookout Mountain, but almost none over the mid and West end
of Lookout Mountain.
Today we had a DFO hawk watching trip with 9 participants who proved the
old adage that the more observers at a hawk watch the greater the number of
hawks found. Two young men Kolya and Vincenzo sat facing Clear Creek Canyon
to the north and found us a few accipiters way below the watch we would
never have found on our own, given our tendency to look to the east where
most of the raptors are. Lauren Friesen was very helpful finding and
identifying a number of hawks. She was on one of our winter raptor DFO
trips last winter making detailed notes of everything we told them about
the hawks we saw. We had recommended Hawks in Flight, Hawks From Every
Angle, and Hawks at a Distance which she got, we had also recommended that
she go to Dinosaur Ridge last spring where she volunteered improving her ID
skills. The others were instrumental in finding us hawks as well. They
especially appreciated seeing SS followed by CH. I told them that that was
the most difficult ID for hawkwatchers especially in the western US uwhere
CH tend to be smaller than Eastern CH so their flight style overlaps with
that of SS.
Non-migrant raptors: RT 3. TV 2.
Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders began only at 1:15 p.m. and got excellent lift. The Soaring
Forecast of the NWS had lift in thermals at 7.5 ft/second with height of
thermals 6621 ft AGL by 1:35 p.m.
Monarch butterfly 1.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S403236928
Predictions:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. West wind 5 to 9 mph becoming east in
the morning. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
The winds aloft are predicted to come mainly from the NE.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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I think this may be a juvenile Grosbeak I just spotted at my feeder, but I am not sure. Can someone help identify it?
Pauli Smith Highlandlake/Mead, Weld County, CO
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Date: 10/16/26 6:05 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (16 Oct 2026) 26 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 16, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:45:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6.25 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
A hiker birder with binoculars and a paper list said he remembered me from
a month ago. 3 birders from Westminster not with binoculars asked me a
number of questions when I explained I was counting migrating raptors. One
of them asserted that Red Tails don't migrate. I explained that they do and
are replaced by others from the north so she thinks they don't. She also
asserted that Ospreys were probably long gone, knowing that females leave
as soon as the chicks are fledged. I told her I had seen one today. She
said she had a Cooper's Hawk in her yard. Another asked me how many hours I
counted a day and how long I was going to count until. I replied we will
continue until the migration of raptors ends, I said I have counted until
the end of the year as well as into the first 3 days in January in New York
at the I-84 Overlook Hawk Watch.
Weather:
High pressure zone over Denver with the usual subsidence inversion layer
causing haziness over Denver with a perfectly blue sky all day. The brown
cloud was seen between the North and the Northeast along the horizon, but
persisting to the NE even when Denver became clear by the 1:00 MDT hour.
Winds as usual started in the SW and changed to the ESE. The winds aloft
were from the SW. Lots of new snow on the 14ers to the West from the cold
front a few days ago.
Raptor Observations:
First migrant was a CH at 10:09 a.m. MDT. Most of the migratory action was
low along the Table Mountains and along the Kestrel Channel and only on the
East end of Lookout Mountain while usually we have migrants over the middle
to the West end of the mountain as well.
Non-migrant raptors: GE 3, CH 1, RT 4. Monarch butterfly 1.
Sandhill Crane 22 over Green Mountain, STJA 1, RECR 1, HAWO 1, BBMA 4, TOSO
1,,GHJU 1, CORA 10, AMCR 1, NOFL 1.
Non-raptor Observations:
11 paragliders, the ones starting at 12:30 PM had no lift, by 1:30 had
moderate left and by 2:00 p.m. were high.
The Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted lift at 5 ft per second, height
of thermals at 5,614 ft by 12:30 p.m., caused by the subsidence inversion
layer.
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 76. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the
afternoon.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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Date: 10/16/26 12:37 pm From: Suzanne Schwartze <birdmom1017...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] ABDU's at Monument Library Pond Flagged as "Exotic Escapee"
These ducks have been around the pond since last spring and I keep going
back and forth on it. I have some photos and have a few of the "experts"
take a look, too.
General concesus is that they are some sort of hybrid. Thus, I've not
reported them on Ebird.
Smallish sized, all darker in color than the resident mallards. Just not
quite fitting the look of a "true" ABDU.
On Fri, Oct 16, 2026, 12:08 PM <behn......> <behnfield...>
wrote:
> Thanks Tyler!
> I get it and appreciate the clarification.
>
> Tom Behnfield
> Lakewood, CO
> <behnfield...>
>
> On Friday, October 16, 2026 at 12:02:25 PM UTC-6 Tyler Stewart wrote:
>
>> All of these sightings will be getting moved to the "Exotic Escapee"
>> status in the very near future. These birds were determined to not be of
>> natural origins based on existing range and occurrence data, number of
>> individuals present here, and the fact that they are occurring in a pond
>> known to house exotics/farm ducks. I'm not aware of where they came from,
>> but it would take a large amount of evidence to prove they are wild just
>> based on the above. That's why they are being transitioned over to "Exotic
>> Escapee"
>>
>> Tyler Stewart
>> Colorado Springs
>> El Paso County
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 16, 2026, 11:52 AM <behn......> <behn......>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Greetings all,
>>>
>>> I and others have recently reported American Black Ducks at the Monument
>>> Library Pond. I don't profess to know about categories that include "Exotic
>>> Escapee" and I'm curios why this occurrence seems to be the only one out of
>>> a good number of other previous reports in Colorado that are not flagged as
>>> Exotic Escapee. They have recently appeared in "Species Map," where they
>>> did not occur as recently as a week ago. I did not expect that that would
>>> be so based upon my reading on the various categories.
>>>
>>> Is someone aware of who released them or what farm they escaped from?
>>> Once again, I don't claim to know, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm just curious.
>>>
>>> Thanks to all of those who contribute to this forum as well as the
>>> Colorado birding community in general.
>>>
>>> Tom Behnfield
>>> Lakewood, CO
>>> <behn......>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> --
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>>> Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
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>>>
>> --
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Date: 10/16/26 11:08 am From: <behn......> <behnfield...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] ABDU's at Monument Library Pond Flagged as "Exotic Escapee"
Thanks Tyler!
I get it and appreciate the clarification.
Tom Behnfield
Lakewood, CO
<behnfield...>
On Friday, October 16, 2026 at 12:02:25 PM UTC-6 Tyler Stewart wrote:
> All of these sightings will be getting moved to the "Exotic Escapee"
> status in the very near future. These birds were determined to not be of
> natural origins based on existing range and occurrence data, number of
> individuals present here, and the fact that they are occurring in a pond
> known to house exotics/farm ducks. I'm not aware of where they came from,
> but it would take a large amount of evidence to prove they are wild just
> based on the above. That's why they are being transitioned over to "Exotic
> Escapee"
>
> Tyler Stewart
> Colorado Springs
> El Paso County
>
> On Fri, Oct 16, 2026, 11:52 AM <behn......> <behn......>
> wrote:
>
>> Greetings all,
>>
>> I and others have recently reported American Black Ducks at the Monument
>> Library Pond. I don't profess to know about categories that include "Exotic
>> Escapee" and I'm curios why this occurrence seems to be the only one out of
>> a good number of other previous reports in Colorado that are not flagged as
>> Exotic Escapee. They have recently appeared in "Species Map," where they
>> did not occur as recently as a week ago. I did not expect that that would
>> be so based upon my reading on the various categories.
>>
>> Is someone aware of who released them or what farm they escaped from?
>> Once again, I don't claim to know, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm just curious.
>>
>> Thanks to all of those who contribute to this forum as well as the
>> Colorado birding community in general.
>>
>> Tom Behnfield
>> Lakewood, CO
>> <behn......>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Colorado Birds" group.
>> To post to this group, send email to <cob......>
>> For more options, visit this group at
>> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds >> * 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/membership/ >> ---
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>>
>
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Date: 10/16/26 11:02 am From: Tyler Stewart <stewar2090...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] ABDU's at Monument Library Pond Flagged as "Exotic Escapee"
All of these sightings will be getting moved to the "Exotic Escapee" status
in the very near future. These birds were determined to not be of natural
origins based on existing range and occurrence data, number of individuals
present here, and the fact that they are occurring in a pond known to house
exotics/farm ducks. I'm not aware of where they came from, but it would
take a large amount of evidence to prove they are wild just based on the
above. That's why they are being transitioned over to "Exotic Escapee"
Tyler Stewart
Colorado Springs
El Paso County
On Fri, Oct 16, 2026, 11:52 AM <behn......> <behnfield...>
wrote:
> Greetings all,
>
> I and others have recently reported American Black Ducks at the Monument
> Library Pond. I don't profess to know about categories that include "Exotic
> Escapee" and I'm curios why this occurrence seems to be the only one out of
> a good number of other previous reports in Colorado that are not flagged as
> Exotic Escapee. They have recently appeared in "Species Map," where they
> did not occur as recently as a week ago. I did not expect that that would
> be so based upon my reading on the various categories.
>
> Is someone aware of who released them or what farm they escaped from? Once
> again, I don't claim to know, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm just curious.
>
> Thanks to all of those who contribute to this forum as well as the
> Colorado birding community in general.
>
> Tom Behnfield
> Lakewood, CO
> <behnfield...>
>
>
>
>
> --
> --
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Date: 10/16/26 10:52 am From: <behn......> <behnfield...> Subject: [cobirds] ABDU's at Monument Library Pond Flagged as "Exotic Escapee"
Greetings all,
I and others have recently reported American Black Ducks at the Monument Library Pond. I don't profess to know about categories that include "Exotic Escapee" and I'm curios why this occurrence seems to be the only one out of a good number of other previous reports in Colorado that are not flagged as Exotic Escapee. They have recently appeared in "Species Map," where they did not occur as recently as a week ago. I did not expect that that would be so based upon my reading on the various categories.
Is someone aware of who released them or what farm they escaped from? Once again, I don't claim to know, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm just curious.
Thanks to all of those who contribute to this forum as well as the Colorado birding community in general.
Tom Behnfield Lakewood, CO <behnfield...>
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On Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:02:32 AM UTC-6 Kit Basom wrote:
>
> A friend (not a birder) texted me from Flagstaff yesterday, excited that
> she had just identified a "wheat crusted nut patch!" I assume her phone's
> voice recognition system is to blame.
>
> —Kit
>
>
>
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A friend (not a birder) texted me from Flagstaff yesterday, excited that
she had just identified a "wheat crusted nut patch!" I assume her phone's
voice recognition system is to blame.
—Kit
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Date: 10/15/26 5:47 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (15 Oct 2026) 1 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 11:15:00
Observation end time: 14:00:00
Total observation time: 2.75 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
A couple asked me if I were hawk watching, which is more than most visitors
know. He said his sister is involved with a hawk watch, and she turned out
to be Janet Peters the coordinator of the Dinosaur Ridge Spring Hawk Watch
in Golden, Colorado. I said she is a dynamo, I know her well and I have
worked with her at Dinosaur Ridge, and that she was excellent getting
different organizations to donate money to the hawk watch.
Another couple told me that I 'chose a good place to sightsee.' I explained
what I was doing. Another hiker wanted to know what I was looking for and
when I told him he wanted to know if it was a specific species of hawk. I
explained that we can potentially see 17 species here, migrating.
Weather:
4 a strong cold front went through between Tuesday night and Wednesday
morning but it drizzled all day yesterday and into late this morning. I
checked the forecast for the percentage risk of rain and checked the CDOT
highway webcams and came up to the watch by 12:15 p.m. MDT. There were
strong Level 4-5 winds coming from the north which is an unusual direction
for us here in fall without rain or snow accompanying, so I was curious
whether hawks would use the 19 mph tailwinds aloft streaming straight down
from Canada to fly today. We all know that the first or second day after a
cold front goes through is the best for migrant hawks, but I didn't know
whether they would fly here today or not. With the strong winds I was sure
that only large strong hawks would migrate.
Raptor Observations:
The first local RT was seen at 12:39 MDT and there were 6 local RT soaring
high using the ridge lift over Lookout Mountain. Only 1 RT migrated. I had
good cloud cover all over to be able to check the entire sky and be sure
that there were no other migrants. Non-hawk watches may wonder whether I
had missed any hswks flying over the clouds, but generally hawks fly below
the clouds because that's where the lift is. The heavily overcast sky and
the wet ground after the rain prevented any good thermals from forming. The
Soaring forecast predicted zero lift, and height of thermals of only 4,419
ft above ground level by 2:00 p.m. MDT. This probably explains the lack of
migrants.
A GE to the NE.
Non-raptor Observations:
Common Raven 14
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 57. Light and variable wind becoming east around 6
mph.
The winds aloft at a height the hawks would migrate at is expected to be
light from the SE.
========================================================================
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Date: 10/15/26 3:32 pm From: Bill Kosar <bill_kosar...> Subject: [cobirds] Re: Is this a Cassin's kingbird?
This bird was at mountaindale cabins & rv resort which is on the southern
edge of El Paso county and partly in Fremont county.
Bill
On Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 8:21:32 AM UTC-6 Bill Kosar wrote:
> I saw this bird in the summer about 3 years ago and could not get a very
> good picture of it. It was high up in the Ponderosa's on a campground west
> of 115 near Florence.
>
> Thanks for any comments, I am not sure of what county I was in.
>
> Bill Kosar El Paso county
> [image: 1Z7A5555_cr.jpg]
> <bill_......>
>
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Date: 10/14/26 11:45 am From: Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Couch's Kingbird Feather Conditions - Arapahoe
Yes, same here. Thank you, Colin.
Will be interesting / revelatory to see if the bird persists here through
the cold and rain weather -- and the forecast frost on Friday morning.
- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
On Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 7:33:29 PM UTC-6 Nathan Pieplow wrote:
> Thanks, Colin. This is precisely the analysis I hoped someone would
> provide!
>
> Nathan Pieplow
> Boulder
>
> On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 4:29 PM 'Colin Woolley' via Colorado Birds <
> <cob......> wrote:
>
>> This looks like what we'd call a second-year bird (hatched in 2025 and
>> now in its 2nd calendar year). Young kingbirds will often undergo an
>> eccentric pre-formative molt, meaning they replace outer primaries and
>> inner secondaries in their first fall. This is fairly unusual (but the norm
>> for kingbirds) as for most species, young birds won't replace any flight
>> feathers in their first fall. However, the eccentric molt pattern will
>> start somewhere in the middle of the primaries and proceed outward, while
>> also starting in the middle of the secondaries and proceed inwards, such
>> that juvenile flight feathers (inner primaries and outer secondaries) are
>> still retained through the first cycle. In this bird we see that the molt
>> started with p1 and is going outward, and has made it as far as p8, with
>> p9-p10 still retained but likely to drop soon. The secondaries have also
>> started to molt, beginning with s1. This is the standard pre-basic molt
>> pattern seen in adult birds, and not the eccentric pre-formative we'd see
>> in a young bird. The cool part here is, because the outer p9-10 are clearly
>> juvenile based on shape, we can say that this bird is undergoing its 2nd
>> pre-basic molt (i.e. starting its 2nd cycle). If the p9-10 had already
>> dropped and started growing in anew, we wouldn't be able to tell a
>> second-year from any bird that could be older. This also means that this
>> kingbird *didn't* molt outer primaries during its pre-formative
>> molt last fall, which according to the Pyle Guide is not as common but may
>> be seen more often in COKI in particular compared to other kingbirds. That
>> also explains why the p9-10 are so very worn out; they are juvenile
>> feathers and perhaps 16+ months old at this point and have more wear and
>> tear than any feather this bird will have the rest of its life. Here's a
>> diagram based on this photo <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666411731> from
>> eBird.
>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-13 143750.png]
>> Having so many photos of this individual bird in the Macauley Library is
>> great, and shows how valuable this resource is for studying molt. Keep
>> taking pictures of messy, molty birds!
>>
>> Colin Woolley
>> Wheat Ridge
>>
>> On Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 2:02:04 PM UTC-6 Buzz Schaumberg wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you.
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS
>>> <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aol-news-email-weather-video/id646100661> >>> Buzz Schaumberg
>>>
>>> On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 12:57 PM, Paul Malinowski <
>>> <pilla......> wrote:
>>>
>>> Interesting link, Nathan. Thank you. Here's a photo I got Friday showing
>>> the distinct orange crown patch on her.
>>>
>>> [image: COKI-261009-2.jpg]
>>>
>>> Paul Malinowski
>>> Littleton, CO
>>>
>>> On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM Nathan Pieplow <npie......>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I got a spread-wing photo of the Couch's Kingbird that shows not all the
>>> flight feathers are worn:
>>>
>>> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666136706 >>>
>>> The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few
>>> are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at
>>> https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that
>>> the Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female,
>>> based on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the
>>> underwing visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing
>>> birds by molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not
>>> supposed to have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported
>>> seeing.
>>>
>>> Nathan Pieplow
>>> Boulder
>>>
>>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsud......>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting!
>>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-F3pYfJJA&t=3s> offers a good primer
>>> on feather molt in our birds.
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pilla......>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
>>> photo as well as the worn feathers.
>>>
>>> [image: COKI-261009-1.jpg]
>>>
>>> Paul Malinowski
>>> Littleton, CO
>>>
>>> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.d......>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
>>> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
>>> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
>>> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
>>> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
>>> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
>>> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>>>
>>> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>>>
>>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
>>>
>>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
>>>
>>> - Jared Del Rosso
>>> Centennial, CO
>>>
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Date: 10/14/26 7:21 am From: Bill Kosar <bill_kosar...> Subject: [cobirds] Is this a Cassin's kingbird?
I saw this bird in the summer about 3 years ago and could not get a very good picture of it. It was high up in the Ponderosa's on a campground west of 115 near Florence.
Thanks for any comments, I am not sure of what county I was in.
Bill Kosar El Paso county [image: 1Z7A5555_cr.jpg] <bill_kosar...>
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Thanks, Colin. This is precisely the analysis I hoped someone would provide!
Nathan Pieplow
Boulder
On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 4:29 PM 'Colin Woolley' via Colorado Birds <
<cobirds...> wrote:
> This looks like what we'd call a second-year bird (hatched in 2025 and now
> in its 2nd calendar year). Young kingbirds will often undergo an eccentric
> pre-formative molt, meaning they replace outer primaries and inner
> secondaries in their first fall. This is fairly unusual (but the norm for
> kingbirds) as for most species, young birds won't replace any flight
> feathers in their first fall. However, the eccentric molt pattern will
> start somewhere in the middle of the primaries and proceed outward, while
> also starting in the middle of the secondaries and proceed inwards, such
> that juvenile flight feathers (inner primaries and outer secondaries) are
> still retained through the first cycle. In this bird we see that the molt
> started with p1 and is going outward, and has made it as far as p8, with
> p9-p10 still retained but likely to drop soon. The secondaries have also
> started to molt, beginning with s1. This is the standard pre-basic molt
> pattern seen in adult birds, and not the eccentric pre-formative we'd see
> in a young bird. The cool part here is, because the outer p9-10 are clearly
> juvenile based on shape, we can say that this bird is undergoing its 2nd
> pre-basic molt (i.e. starting its 2nd cycle). If the p9-10 had already
> dropped and started growing in anew, we wouldn't be able to tell a
> second-year from any bird that could be older. This also means that this
> kingbird *didn't* molt outer primaries during its pre-formative molt last
> fall, which according to the Pyle Guide is not as common but may be seen
> more often in COKI in particular compared to other kingbirds. That also
> explains why the p9-10 are so very worn out; they are juvenile feathers and
> perhaps 16+ months old at this point and have more wear and tear than any
> feather this bird will have the rest of its life. Here's a diagram based on
> this photo <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666411731> from eBird.
> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-13 143750.png]
> Having so many photos of this individual bird in the Macauley Library is
> great, and shows how valuable this resource is for studying molt. Keep
> taking pictures of messy, molty birds!
>
> Colin Woolley
> Wheat Ridge
>
> On Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 2:02:04 PM UTC-6 Buzz Schaumberg wrote:
>
>> Thank you.
>>
>>
>> Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS
>> <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aol-news-email-weather-video/id646100661> >> Buzz Schaumberg
>>
>> On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 12:57 PM, Paul Malinowski <
>> <pilla......> wrote:
>>
>> Interesting link, Nathan. Thank you. Here's a photo I got Friday showing
>> the distinct orange crown patch on her.
>>
>> [image: COKI-261009-2.jpg]
>>
>> Paul Malinowski
>> Littleton, CO
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM Nathan Pieplow <npie......> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I got a spread-wing photo of the Couch's Kingbird that shows not all the
>> flight feathers are worn:
>>
>> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666136706 >>
>> The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few
>> are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at
>> https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that
>> the Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female,
>> based on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the
>> underwing visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing
>> birds by molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not
>> supposed to have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported
>> seeing.
>>
>> Nathan Pieplow
>> Boulder
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsud......> wrote:
>>
>> Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting!
>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-F3pYfJJA&t=3s> offers a good primer
>> on feather molt in our birds.
>>
>> David
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pilla......>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
>> photo as well as the worn feathers.
>>
>> [image: COKI-261009-1.jpg]
>>
>> Paul Malinowski
>> Littleton, CO
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.d......>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
>> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
>> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
>> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
>> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
>> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
>> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>>
>> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>>
>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
>>
>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
>>
>> - Jared Del Rosso
>> Centennial, CO
>>
>> --
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Colorado Birds" group.
>> To post to this group, send email to <cob......>
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>> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds >> * 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/membership/ >> ---
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>>
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Date: 10/13/26 6:06 pm From: 'Meredith McBurney' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/13/26
The cooler weather did not (yet) produce more birds, but we had some
interesting species....our 3rd Sharp-shinned Hawk, our 2nd Brown Creeper,
and our 1st Winter Wren. It was also wonderful to not have to close early
due to the heat and to not be sweating.......
Here's the full breakdown of the 12 new birds today:
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
White-crowned Sparrow 5 new, 1 banded last fall
Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon 1
If the weather report is correct, it will be raining the next day or so, so
we may have our first closures due to rain this season. (Whew!)
Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/13/26 4:22 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (13 Oct 2026) Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 13, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 08:45:00
Total observation time: 0.75 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Weather:
On our way West toward the watch on I-70 there was a fine drizzle and we
wondered whether to go back home, but the clouds to the West looked
slightly brighter so we went on. The top of Mount Zion was cloud-wreathed,
and Liza suggested stopping at our alternative site on Lookout Mountain
Road, but that too was in cloud so we went further down where it was clear
and dry to the parking area for the Tiers of Zion rock climbing area
39.7479,-105.2436 where we could see Golden below to the east which had
some filtered sunlight as did Mount Galbraith to the North, so we thought
that if we stayed the cloud could possibly lift, however after half an hour
the clouds were actually dropping down the flank of Mount Galbraith and
into Golden with a light drizzle, so we decided to go home.
Raptor Observations:
No hawks seen. As we were leaving, we were rewarded by a low, close adult
GE molting an inner left primary and many secondaries.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
A front is coming through Denver so the next two days are going to be
rainy, consequently Friday and Saturday could be excellent days for
migration of hawks.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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This looks like what we'd call a second-year bird (hatched in 2025 and now
in its 2nd calendar year). Young kingbirds will often undergo an eccentric
pre-formative molt, meaning they replace outer primaries and inner
secondaries in their first fall. This is fairly unusual (but the norm for
kingbirds) as for most species, young birds won't replace any flight
feathers in their first fall. However, the eccentric molt pattern will
start somewhere in the middle of the primaries and proceed outward, while
also starting in the middle of the secondaries and proceed inwards, such
that juvenile flight feathers (inner primaries and outer secondaries) are
still retained through the first cycle. In this bird we see that the molt
started with p1 and is going outward, and has made it as far as p8, with
p9-p10 still retained but likely to drop soon. The secondaries have also
started to molt, beginning with s1. This is the standard pre-basic molt
pattern seen in adult birds, and not the eccentric pre-formative we'd see
in a young bird. The cool part here is, because the outer p9-10 are clearly
juvenile based on shape, we can say that this bird is undergoing its 2nd
pre-basic molt (i.e. starting its 2nd cycle). If the p9-10 had already
dropped and started growing in anew, we wouldn't be able to tell a
second-year from any bird that could be older. This also means that this
kingbird *didn't* molt outer primaries during its pre-formative molt last
fall, which according to the Pyle Guide is not as common but may be seen
more often in COKI in particular compared to other kingbirds. That also
explains why the p9-10 are so very worn out; they are juvenile feathers and
perhaps 16+ months old at this point and have more wear and tear than any
feather this bird will have the rest of its life. Here's a diagram based on
this photo <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666411731> from eBird.
[image: Screenshot 2026-10-13 143750.png]
Having so many photos of this individual bird in the Macauley Library is
great, and shows how valuable this resource is for studying molt. Keep
taking pictures of messy, molty birds!
Colin Woolley
Wheat Ridge
On Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 2:02:04 PM UTC-6 Buzz Schaumberg wrote:
> Thank you.
>
>
> Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS
> <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aol-news-email-weather-video/id646100661> > Buzz Schaumberg
>
> On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 12:57 PM, Paul Malinowski <
> <pilla......> wrote:
>
> Interesting link, Nathan. Thank you. Here's a photo I got Friday showing
> the distinct orange crown patch on her.
>
> [image: COKI-261009-2.jpg]
>
> Paul Malinowski
> Littleton, CO
>
> On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM Nathan Pieplow <npie......> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I got a spread-wing photo of the Couch's Kingbird that shows not all the
> flight feathers are worn:
>
> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666136706 >
> The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few
> are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at
> https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that
> the Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female,
> based on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the
> underwing visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing
> birds by molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not
> supposed to have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported
> seeing.
>
> Nathan Pieplow
> Boulder
>
> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsud......> wrote:
>
> Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting!
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-F3pYfJJA&t=3s> offers a good primer
> on feather molt in our birds.
>
> David
>
> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pilla......>
> wrote:
>
> Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
> photo as well as the worn feathers.
>
> [image: COKI-261009-1.jpg]
>
> Paul Malinowski
> Littleton, CO
>
> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.d......>
> wrote:
>
> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>
> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>
> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
>
> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
>
> - Jared Del Rosso
> Centennial, CO
>
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Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS
Buzz Schaumberg
On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 12:57 PM, Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...> wrote:
Interesting link, Nathan. Thank you. Here's a photo I got Friday showing the distinct orange crown patch on her.
Paul MalinowskiLittleton, CO
On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM Nathan Pieplow <npieplow...> wrote:
Hi all,
I got a spread-wing photo of the Couch's Kingbird that shows not all the flight feathers are worn:
https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666136706 The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that the Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female, based on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the underwing visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing birds by molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not supposed to have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported seeing.
Nathan PieplowBoulder
On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsuddjian...> wrote:
Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting! offers a good primer on feather molt in our birds.
David
On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...> wrote:
Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this photo as well as the worn feathers.
Paul MalinowskiLittleton, CO
On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...> wrote:
I enjoy reading Birds of the World, but I don't understand plumages, molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve in Arapahoe County should look like. But the bird, who I visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me. Could someone out there who both has access to Birds of the World and understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
- Jared Del RossoCentennial, CO
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Date: 10/13/26 11:58 am From: Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Couch's Kingbird Feather Conditions - Arapahoe
Interesting link, Nathan. Thank you. Here's a photo I got Friday showing
the distinct orange crown patch on her.
[image: COKI-261009-2.jpg]
Paul Malinowski
Littleton, CO
On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM Nathan Pieplow <npieplow...> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I got a spread-wing photo of the Couch's Kingbird that shows not all the
> flight feathers are worn:
>
> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666136706 >
> The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few
> are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at
> https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that
> the Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female,
> based on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the
> underwing visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing
> birds by molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not
> supposed to have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported
> seeing.
>
> Nathan Pieplow
> Boulder
>
> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsuddjian...>
> wrote:
>
>> Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting!
>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-F3pYfJJA&t=3s> offers a good primer
>> on feather molt in our birds.
>>
>> David
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
>>> photo as well as the worn feathers.
>>>
>>> [image: COKI-261009-1.jpg]
>>>
>>> Paul Malinowski
>>> Littleton, CO
>>>
>>> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
>>>> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
>>>> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
>>>> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
>>>> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
>>>> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
>>>> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>>>>
>>>> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>>>>
>>>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
>>>>
>>>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
>>>>
>>>> - Jared Del Rosso
>>>> Centennial, CO
>>>>
>>>> --
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>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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>>>> Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
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>>>>
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>>>
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Date: 10/13/26 6:38 am From: T. Luke George <t.luke.george...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Couch's Kingbird Feather Conditions - Arapahoe
A hatch year bird would not be molting wing feathers at this time of year
so it must be an after hatch year.
Luke
*T. Luke George, PhD*
Professor Emeritus, Humboldt State University
707-499-4053 (c)
*<t.luke.george...> <t.luke.george...>*
"what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary
Oliver
On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 6:57 AM 'Woodcreeper29' via Colorado Birds <
<cobirds...> wrote:
> Hi all just a quick comment on the reddish crown patch, I have several
> photos that show the patch on this bird.
> Steve Larson
> Northglenn
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 12, 2026, at 6:05 PM, Nathan Pieplow <npieplow...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I got a spread-wing photo of the Couch's Kingbird that shows not all the
> flight feathers are worn:
>
> https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666136706 >
> The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few
> are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at
> https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that
> the Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female,
> based on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the
> underwing visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing
> birds by molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not
> supposed to have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported
> seeing.
>
> Nathan Pieplow
> Boulder
>
> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsuddjian...>
> wrote:
>
>> Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting!
>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-F3pYfJJA&t=3s> offers a good primer
>> on feather molt in our birds.
>>
>> David
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
>>> photo as well as the worn feathers.
>>>
>>> <COKI-261009-1.jpg>
>>>
>>>
>>> Paul Malinowski
>>> Littleton, CO
>>>
>>> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
>>>> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
>>>> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
>>>> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
>>>> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
>>>> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
>>>> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>>>>
>>>> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>>>>
>>>> <Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> <Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> - Jared Del Rosso
>>>> Centennial, CO
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> --
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>>> Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
>>>> To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
>>>> For more options, visit this group at
>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds >>>> * 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/membership/ >>>> ---
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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>>>>
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The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few
are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that the
Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female, based
on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the underwing
visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing birds by
molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not supposed to
have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported seeing.
Nathan Pieplow
Boulder
On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsuddjian...> wrote:
> Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting!
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-F3pYfJJA&t=3s> offers a good primer
> on feather molt in our birds.
>
> David
>
> On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...>
> wrote:
>
>> Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
>> photo as well as the worn feathers.
>>
>> [image: COKI-261009-1.jpg]
>>
>> Paul Malinowski
>> Littleton, CO
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
>>> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
>>> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
>>> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
>>> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
>>> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
>>> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>>>
>>> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>>>
>>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
>>>
>>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
>>>
>>> - Jared Del Rosso
>>> Centennial, CO
>>>
>>> --
>>> --
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>>>
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>>
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Date: 10/12/26 4:35 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (12 Oct 2026) 8 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 12:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Weather:
Only a slight haze around Denver and beyond indicating a mild subsidence
inversion layer around 4,000 to 8,000 feet above ground level. Closer from
Denver the air was very clear. No cloud cover to start with and only
increasing to 15% which was cumulus clouds which moved in from the West to
cover the North and NE by the last hour giving me a good background to look
for high flying hawks but I could not find any. The subsidence inversion
layer caps thermals from going any higher so that the Soaring Forecast of
the NWS had a lift of 12 ft/sec and the maximum height of thermals only to
9,048 ft AGL. Migrant raptors as well as local ones were scarce today,
perhaps they did not fly because of the cap on the height of thermals. The
indication that the subsidence inversion layer clears up is when the haze
around Denver dissipates and I can see DIA with the naked eye in the
distance, as well as when strong winds come from the direction of Denver
causing a strong ridge lift, which did not really materialize today in that
the WSW winds persisted interspersed with light winds from the East.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was a very high CH at 9:25 a.m. MDT. All the migraine
hawks were found over Lookout Mountain.
Non-migrant raptors: adult GE 1 soaring far to the NW, adult BE, RT 2.
The last hour had no raptors at all, neither migrants nor local.
Predictions:
A slight chance of showers between noon and 3pm, then a chance of showers
and thunderstorms after 3pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 61. Calm wind
becoming east northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of
precipitation is 30%.
The winds aloft are going to be from the NNE>NE.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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Audrey Hicks
Bander, Denver Audubon + Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/11/26 8:24 pm From: 'Joey Kellner' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] The Big Sit! at Chatfield State Park - Results
A huge, "Thank you," for all those that came out today (30+ people) and
helped look for birds! Even with the warm temperatures and windy
conditions, the group tallied 62 species today…from ONE spot! Below is the
eBird Trip Report for the DFO event.
https://ebird.org/tripreport/583079 Some really nice birds were seen today. Red-necked Grebe, Swamp Sparrow,
Sabine’s Gulls(x4), Sandhill Cranes, American Pipit, Merlin(x2), and one
Peregrine Falcon!
This was the the 20th Chatfield Big Sit! that DFO has held and that I have
hosted. Usually this event has more species seen during inclement
weather. The highest species numbers were 72 species (two different
years). Nice weather yields fewer species (two years had only 52
species). So, having 62 species today is pretty good!
Until next time... :-)
Joey.
Joey Kellner
Littleton, Colorado
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Date: 10/11/26 6:59 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (11 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Zak Hepler
Observers: Ajit Antony
Visitors:
We had many curious visitors at the watch today. Early in the morning, a
young girl by the name Ruth was surprised to find out that "tiny speck" was
an adult bald eagle. Ajit and Ruth discussed curvature of the Earth and why
that would NOT be the reason for the 'small' bird. It is simply due to
distance. One couple stayed for a long time painting. They wore aprons as
they painted. The last visitors was a young couple from Tennessee and they
both stated, in their own, that the love Red-tailed hawks. So, naturally,
they became fast friends. The man even had a Red-tailed Hawk tattoo. Ajit
and I spoke about the free Merlin app to many people and encouraged the
young Tennessee couple to purchase some binoculars.
Weather:
Great morning weather conditions at Mount Zion. Cloud cover at 90% helped
with raptor spotting. This cloud cover was largely gone by 11 AM MDT. The
usual western winds became eastern winds as the clouds disappeared and the
ground heated up. We had strong gusts coming from the East and Southeast.
Almost blew over the scopes! Many lenticular clouds were present. Ajit and
I spotted two very far east, past Denver. Lenticular clouds are formed by
the western winds blowing over the tops of the Front Range. The far eastern
lenticular clouds that we viewed were the same clouds made of the Front
Range, but moved very far due to downstream wave propagation.
Raptor Observations:
A rather slow day, but a busy start. Between 10:30 AM MDT and 11 AM MDT, we
had 5 migrants! The fast-moving Merlin was a treat to see. These birds move
with purpose. The adult BE was seen near Green Mountain before heading
southeast. Most migrants were spotted near Green Mountain today. Only one
bird (CH) was spotted in the Kestrel Channel. Non-migratory raptors: 1 GE,
2 RT.
Non-raptor Observations:
Full eBird list for today found here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S401472737. We only had one WTSW today. It
seems like these lovely birds have moved on. Mount Zion Hawk Watch is
currently a good place to see and hear many Townsend's Solitaires.
Predictions:
Tomorrow will be a sunny day at Mount Zion. Reaching high 70s, we can
expect zero rain, and southward winds up to 11mph. Be prepared for strong
gusts. Migrant raptor numbers seem to be declining.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Zak Hepler (<zakhepler...>)
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Date: 10/11/26 6:28 pm From: Kelly Ambler <kelly.ambler1...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Corvids in unusual places
Much to our surprise, an Eastern Blue Jay is visiting our feeder in the Tarryall foothills above Tarryall Reservoir (9,400' elevation). It is hanging out with the Steller Jays. Photos to follow later.
Kelly Ambler Jefferson, CO, Park County
>
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Date: 10/10/26 3:49 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
7 hikers asked whether we were bird watching and we explained. One wanted
to know if hawks migrate singly, and I explained the massive kettles of BW
and SW currently going through Veracruz. 3 young men were interested in
what we were looking with our telescope and I explained. They were very
interested and asked numerous questions - they did not know that hawks
migrated. They wanted to know if this was a job or a hobby, and I explained
that I have been counting migrant hawks longer than they were even thought
of - 40 years, even while I was working as a physician in New York State,
and for the past 5 years in Colorado.
Weather:
There was a weak inversion layer over Denver with mild haziness, 40% cloud
cover dropping to 25% - altocumulus to the East dissipated by the next hour
with the low humidity of 10%, and cumulus to the immediate west of the
watch which came over to the NE & SE and overhead which we scanned with
binoculars regularly but did not find any migrant hawks. Clouds, in
addition to making finding hawks easily is supposed to keep the thermalns
at a lower level, however the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
excellent lift at 21 ft/second with height of thermals at 14,982 ft above
ground level AGL by 10:45 a.m. MDT i.e. 1.5 miles above the watch! The
winds aloft were from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT at 10:04 a.m. and the first migrant was an
RT at 10:18 a.m.
At 10:28 a.m. we saw a GE easily visible to the naked eye flying in from
the North along Clear Creek Canyon and Rising progressively soaring to the
SW until it was barely visible and seemed like a migrant. It had some white
to the base of its "split tail" which is black central adult feathers and
white on the sides, indicating a Basic III, Liza kept following it
assiduously, eventually deeming it a non-migrant as it flew NW, taking
about 6 minutes in all.
Again like yesterday most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain
with few along other channels we usually see migrants on.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
There is a cold front going through Denver so it may be good for migrant
hawks tomorrow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high
near 81. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
Winds could gust as high as 16 mph after 2:00 p.m.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the SW and South.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/10/26 3:48 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
7 hikers asked whether we were bird watching and we explained. One wanted
to know if hawks migrate singly, and I explained the massive kettles of BW
and SW currently going through Veracruz. 3 young men were interested in
what we were looking with our telescope and I explained. They were very
interested and asked numerous questions - they did not know that hawks
migrated. They wanted to know if this was a job or a hobby, and I explained
that I have been counting migrant hawks longer than they were even thought
of - 40 years, even while I was working as a physician in New York State,
and for the past 5 years in Colorado.
Weather:
There was a weak inversion layer over Denver with mild haziness, 40% cloud
cover dropping to 25% - altocumulus to the East dissipated by the next hour
with the low humidity of 10%, and cumulus to the immediate west of the
watch which came over to the NE & SE and overhead which we scanned with
binoculars regularly but did not find any migrant hawks. Clouds, in
addition to making finding hawks easily is supposed to keep the thermalns
at a lower level, however the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
excellent lift at 21 ft/second with height of thermals at 14,982 ft above
ground level AGL by 10:45 a.m. MDT i.e. 1.5 miles above the watch! The
winds aloft were from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT at 10:04 a.m. and the first migrant was an
RT at 10:18 a.m.
At 10:28 a.m. we saw a GE easily visible to the naked eye flying in from
the North along Clear Creek Canyon and Rising progressively soaring to the
SW until it was barely visible and seemed like a migrant. It had some white
to the base of its "split tail" which is black central adult feathers and
white on the sides, indicating a Basic III, Liza kept following it
assiduously, eventually deeming it a non-migrant as it flew NW, taking
about 6 minutes in all.
Again like yesterday most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain
with few along other channels we usually see migrants on.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
There is a cold front going through Denver so it may be good for migrant
hawks tomorrow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high
near 81. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
Winds could gust as high as 16 mph after 2:00 p.m.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the SW and South.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/10/26 3:48 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
7 hikers asked whether we were bird watching and we explained. One wanted
to know if hawks migrate singly, and I explained the massive kettles of BW
and SW currently going through Veracruz. 3 young men were interested in
what we were looking with our telescope and I explained. They were very
interested and asked numerous questions - they did not know that hawks
migrated. They wanted to know if this was a job or a hobby, and I explained
that I have been counting migrant hawks longer than they were even thought
of - 40 years, even while I was working as a physician in New York State,
and for the past 5 years in Colorado.
Weather:
There was a weak inversion layer over Denver with mild haziness, 40% cloud
cover dropping to 25% - altocumulus to the East dissipated by the next hour
with the low humidity of 10%, and cumulus to the immediate west of the
watch which came over to the NE & SE and overhead which we scanned with
binoculars regularly but did not find any migrant hawks. Clouds, in
addition to making finding hawks easily is supposed to keep the thermalns
at a lower level, however the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
excellent lift at 21 ft/second with height of thermals at 14,982 ft above
ground level AGL by 10:45 a.m. MDT i.e. 1.5 miles above the watch! The
winds aloft were from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT at 10:04 a.m. and the first migrant was an
RT at 10:18 a.m.
At 10:28 a.m. we saw a GE easily visible to the naked eye flying in from
the North along Clear Creek Canyon and Rising progressively soaring to the
SW until it was barely visible and seemed like a migrant. It had some white
to the base of its "split tail" which is black central adult feathers and
white on the sides, indicating a Basic III, Liza kept following it
assiduously, eventually deeming it a non-migrant as it flew NW, taking
about 6 minutes in all.
Again like yesterday most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain
with few along other channels we usually see migrants on.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
There is a cold front going through Denver so it may be good for migrant
hawks tomorrow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high
near 81. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
Winds could gust as high as 16 mph after 2:00 p.m.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the SW and South.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * 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/membership/ ---
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Date: 10/10/26 3:48 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
7 hikers asked whether we were bird watching and we explained. One wanted
to know if hawks migrate singly, and I explained the massive kettles of BW
and SW currently going through Veracruz. 3 young men were interested in
what we were looking with our telescope and I explained. They were very
interested and asked numerous questions - they did not know that hawks
migrated. They wanted to know if this was a job or a hobby, and I explained
that I have been counting migrant hawks longer than they were even thought
of - 40 years, even while I was working as a physician in New York State,
and for the past 5 years in Colorado.
Weather:
There was a weak inversion layer over Denver with mild haziness, 40% cloud
cover dropping to 25% - altocumulus to the East dissipated by the next hour
with the low humidity of 10%, and cumulus to the immediate west of the
watch which came over to the NE & SE and overhead which we scanned with
binoculars regularly but did not find any migrant hawks. Clouds, in
addition to making finding hawks easily is supposed to keep the thermalns
at a lower level, however the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
excellent lift at 21 ft/second with height of thermals at 14,982 ft above
ground level AGL by 10:45 a.m. MDT i.e. 1.5 miles above the watch! The
winds aloft were from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT at 10:04 a.m. and the first migrant was an
RT at 10:18 a.m.
At 10:28 a.m. we saw a GE easily visible to the naked eye flying in from
the North along Clear Creek Canyon and Rising progressively soaring to the
SW until it was barely visible and seemed like a migrant. It had some white
to the base of its "split tail" which is black central adult feathers and
white on the sides, indicating a Basic III, Liza kept following it
assiduously, eventually deeming it a non-migrant as it flew NW, taking
about 6 minutes in all.
Again like yesterday most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain
with few along other channels we usually see migrants on.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
There is a cold front going through Denver so it may be good for migrant
hawks tomorrow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high
near 81. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
Winds could gust as high as 16 mph after 2:00 p.m.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the SW and South.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * 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/membership/ ---
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Date: 10/10/26 3:47 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
7 hikers asked whether we were bird watching and we explained. One wanted
to know if hawks migrate singly, and I explained the massive kettles of BW
and SW currently going through Veracruz. 3 young men were interested in
what we were looking with our telescope and I explained. They were very
interested and asked numerous questions - they did not know that hawks
migrated. They wanted to know if this was a job or a hobby, and I explained
that I have been counting migrant hawks longer than they were even thought
of - 40 years, even while I was working as a physician in New York State,
and for the past 5 years in Colorado.
Weather:
There was a weak inversion layer over Denver with mild haziness, 40% cloud
cover dropping to 25% - altocumulus to the East dissipated by the next hour
with the low humidity of 10%, and cumulus to the immediate west of the
watch which came over to the NE & SE and overhead which we scanned with
binoculars regularly but did not find any migrant hawks. Clouds, in
addition to making finding hawks easily is supposed to keep the thermalns
at a lower level, however the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
excellent lift at 21 ft/second with height of thermals at 14,982 ft above
ground level AGL by 10:45 a.m. MDT i.e. 1.5 miles above the watch! The
winds aloft were from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT at 10:04 a.m. and the first migrant was an
RT at 10:18 a.m.
At 10:28 a.m. we saw a GE easily visible to the naked eye flying in from
the North along Clear Creek Canyon and Rising progressively soaring to the
SW until it was barely visible and seemed like a migrant. It had some white
to the base of its "split tail" which is black central adult feathers and
white on the sides, indicating a Basic III, Liza kept following it
assiduously, eventually deeming it a non-migrant as it flew NW, taking
about 6 minutes in all.
Again like yesterday most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain
with few along other channels we usually see migrants on.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
There is a cold front going through Denver so it may be good for migrant
hawks tomorrow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high
near 81. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
Winds could gust as high as 16 mph after 2:00 p.m.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the SW and South.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/10/26 3:47 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
7 hikers asked whether we were bird watching and we explained. One wanted
to know if hawks migrate singly, and I explained the massive kettles of BW
and SW currently going through Veracruz. 3 young men were interested in
what we were looking with our telescope and I explained. They were very
interested and asked numerous questions - they did not know that hawks
migrated. They wanted to know if this was a job or a hobby, and I explained
that I have been counting migrant hawks longer than they were even thought
of - 40 years, even while I was working as a physician in New York State,
and for the past 5 years in Colorado.
Weather:
There was a weak inversion layer over Denver with mild haziness, 40% cloud
cover dropping to 25% - altocumulus to the East dissipated by the next hour
with the low humidity of 10%, and cumulus to the immediate west of the
watch which came over to the NE & SE and overhead which we scanned with
binoculars regularly but did not find any migrant hawks. Clouds, in
addition to making finding hawks easily is supposed to keep the thermalns
at a lower level, however the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
excellent lift at 21 ft/second with height of thermals at 14,982 ft above
ground level AGL by 10:45 a.m. MDT i.e. 1.5 miles above the watch! The
winds aloft were from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT at 10:04 a.m. and the first migrant was an
RT at 10:18 a.m.
At 10:28 a.m. we saw a GE easily visible to the naked eye flying in from
the North along Clear Creek Canyon and Rising progressively soaring to the
SW until it was barely visible and seemed like a migrant. It had some white
to the base of its "split tail" which is black central adult feathers and
white on the sides, indicating a Basic III, Liza kept following it
assiduously, eventually deeming it a non-migrant as it flew NW, taking
about 6 minutes in all.
Again like yesterday most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain
with few along other channels we usually see migrants on.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
There is a cold front going through Denver so it may be good for migrant
hawks tomorrow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high
near 81. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
Winds could gust as high as 16 mph after 2:00 p.m.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the SW and South.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/10/26 3:40 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Oct 2026) 12 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
7 hikers asked whether we were bird watching and we explained. One wanted
to know if hawks migrate singly, and I explained the massive kettles of BW
and SW currently going through Veracruz. 3 young men were interested in
what we were looking with our telescope and I explained. They were very
interested and asked numerous questions - they did not know that hawks
migrated. They wanted to know if this was a job or a hobby, and I explained
that I have been counting migrant hawks longer than they were even thought
of - 40 years, even while I was working as a physician in New York State,
and for the past 5 years in Colorado.
Weather:
There was a weak inversion layer over Denver with mild haziness, 40% cloud
cover dropping to 25% - altocumulus to the East dissipated by the next hour
with the low humidity of 10%, and cumulus to the immediate west of the
watch which came over to the NE & SE and overhead which we scanned with
binoculars regularly but did not find any migrant hawks. Clouds, in
addition to making finding hawks easily is supposed to keep the thermalns
at a lower level, however the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
excellent lift at 21 ft/second with height of thermals at 14,982 ft above
ground level AGL by 10:45 a.m. MDT i.e. 1.5 miles above the watch! The
winds aloft were from the SW.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT at 10:04 a.m. and the first migrant was an
RT at 10:18 a.m.
At 10:28 a.m. we saw a GE easily visible to the naked eye flying in from
the North along Clear Creek Canyon and Rising progressively soaring to the
SW until it was barely visible and seemed like a migrant. It had some white
to the base of its "split tail" which is black central adult feathers and
white on the sides, indicating a Basic III, Liza kept following it
assiduously, eventually deeming it a non-migrant as it flew NW, taking
about 6 minutes in all.
Again like yesterday most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain
with few along other channels we usually see migrants on.
Non-raptor Observations:
Predictions:
There is a cold front going through Denver so it may be good for migrant
hawks tomorrow. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high
near 81. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.
Winds could gust as high as 16 mph after 2:00 p.m.
The winds aloft are expected to be from the SW and South.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/10/26 1:58 pm From: David Suddjian <dsuddjian...> Subject: [cobirds] Pine Birds: Corvids and more around the San Luis Valley
There are very impressive numbers of corvids now in the Pinyon / Juniper (PJ) woodland of northern Costilla and northeastern Alamosa counties, (i.e.,the low slopes of the Blanca Massif). The pinyon pines have a prodigious new cone crop with lots of freshly available pine nuts. Birding in the southern San Luis Valley area Oct 7-9 found 847 Pinyon Jays, 177 Steller's Jays, 4 Blue Jays (filtered as rare by eBird), 30 Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, 685 Clark's Nutcrackers and 191 Cassin's Finches. Mountain Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches were also abundant. Red Crossbill was little in evidence at the time, but many were found on the Huerfano side of La Veta Pass.
It was a spectacle. Clark's Nutcrackers are super common. Pinyon jay calls are ever present on the landscape, but numbers are highly concentrated (i.e. a flock of about 475 feeding near the bottom of the Zapata Falls entry road. Many of the 177 Steller's Jays were seen making long flights high over the landscape, as if making movements vs just foraging. A spot near Fort Garland had 71 Steller's flying by. The Zapata Falls Trail road is highly recommended, and the P/J habitats in the Great Sand Dunes National Park. These species were in P/J and mixed forests in Conejos County, but the pinyon crop is much more limited there and there were fewer of these pine birds.
David Suddjian Littleton CO
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Date: 10/10/26 12:53 pm From: Pauli Driver-Smith <hollyhockfarms...> Subject: [cobirds] Interesting visitor to my feeders
I just had a juvenile yellow-headed blackbird visit my feeder this morning. It was with a flock of Red-Winged blackbirds. The Yellow-headed Blackbirds left their nests in the cattails along the south shore of Highland Lake by late July, so this was a real surprise.
Is this common?
Pauli Smith
Highlandlake/Mead, Weld county, CO
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On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...>
wrote:
> Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
> photo as well as the worn feathers.
>
> [image: COKI-261009-1.jpg]
>
> Paul Malinowski
> Littleton, CO
>
> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...>
> wrote:
>
>> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
>> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
>> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
>> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
>> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
>> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
>> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>>
>> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>>
>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
>>
>> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
>>
>> - Jared Del Rosso
>> Centennial, CO
>>
>> --
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Colorado Birds" group.
>> To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
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>> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds >> * 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/membership/ >> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "Colorado Birds" group.
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>> email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
>> To view this discussion visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<b79b99b0-217d-404f-a18d-02511b8d6a75n...> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<b79b99b0-217d-404f-a18d-02511b8d6a75n...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> .
>>
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>
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Date: 10/10/26 6:30 am From: Paul Malinowski <pillarpaul...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Couch's Kingbird Feather Conditions - Arapahoe
Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this
photo as well as the worn feathers.
[image: COKI-261009-1.jpg]
Paul Malinowski
Littleton, CO
On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...>
wrote:
> I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
> molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
> understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
> Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I
> visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me.
> Could someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
> understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
>
> Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
>
> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
>
> [image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
>
> - Jared Del Rosso
> Centennial, CO
>
> --
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>
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I have a female Evening Grossbeak at my feeders. She flew away before I could get my camera, but I did get a good look at her before the Blue Jays chased her away.
Pauli Smith Highlandlake/Mead, Weld County, CO
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Date: 10/9/26 7:13 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (09 Oct 2026) 24 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 12:30:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Weather:
Mild haze around Denver, perfectly blue sky initially 20% and 35% cloud
cover in the last 2 hours respectively all of which was cumulus clouds
coming in from the West.
Raptor Observations:
The first raptor was a local RT in the Kestrel Channel. The first migrant
was only seen by 10:18 a.m. MDT which was a UR extremely distant to the
SE.
Most of the migratory activity was over Lookout Mountain.
A migrating AK was seen diving on an RT.
The GE was missing an outer primary and many secondaries.
The Soaring Forecast of the NWS was excellent with lift of 18 ft/second and
height of thermals by 10:45 a.m. MDT of 13,018 ft AGL - more than a mile
above the watch.
Once hawks began showing up they came through the regular channels though
much farther off. This is probably because of a mild inversion layer caused
by the high pressure zone keeping the height of the thermals low, i.e. blue
sky thermals, and I guessed that once the haze around Denver cleared up,
hawks would fly at the maximum height of thermals and we wouldn't see them
at all, but I was wrong - we kept seeing small numbers of hawks every hour
migrating. I was telling Liza that when there is a strong ridge lift as
there was in the last 2 hours with gusts to Level 5 (18-24 mph), in
addition to the primary mountain standing wave there is also a secondary
wave to the lee side/west, so we were scanning the clouds for any raptors
there which we did not find.
Non-migrant raptors: SS 1, RT 2. A TV in the last hour was found high to
the South rising ever higher, moving to the South, we had to watch it for
10 minutes in turn because our shoulders hurt holding binoculars, until it
went East and then Northeast!
Non-raptor Observations:
2 paragliders at 11:15 a.m., a tandem one which had no lift at all, and a
single one which had moderate lift. One at noon had only moderate lift.
Predictions:
Increasing clouds, with a high near 82. West southwest wind 5 to 7 mph
becoming south in the afternoon. The winds aloft are predicted to come from
the SW.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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Date: 10/9/26 6:25 pm From: DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleatherman...> Subject: [cobirds] Hasty Campground (Bent) 10/9/26
With Susan Dietrich, Duane Nelson, Norma Verhoeff and Janeal Thompson, I saw the same mixed flock today in Hasty Campground as yesterday: Northern Parula, Black-throated Green Warbler, Philadelphia Vireo and Blue-headed Vireo, all in a matrix of yellow-rumps, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Red-breasted Nuthatches. Overhead we heard Evening Grosbeak flyovers and glimpsed one flock numbering ~20 birds!
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Date: 10/9/26 5:49 pm From: Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...> Subject: [cobirds] Couch's Kingbird Feather Conditions - Arapahoe
I enjoy reading *Birds of the World*, but I don't understand plumages,
molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to
understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature
Preserve in Arapahoe County *should* look like. But the bird, who I visited
for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me. Could
someone out there who both has access to *Birds of the World* and
understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?
Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.
[image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.46.43 PM.png]
[image: Screenshot 2026-10-09 at 6.47.28 PM.png]
- Jared Del Rosso
Centennial, CO
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Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Too add to Luke’s report of Philadelphia Vireos, I have been birding east
and south of Baca County in Morton County, Kansas from Sunday to Wednesday
morning and saw Philadelphia Vireos at several locations, and then on
Thursday, 8 October I saw four in Cimarron County, Oklahoma! In Kansas, I
was also seeing Black-throated Green and Nashville Warblers, and
Blue-headed Vireos at several locations in Morton County as well. Seems
like a big movement of those species in SE Colorado and nearby locations in
Kansas and Oklahoma.
The mountain birds were also around this week, I did find Pinyon and
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays, Evening Grosbeaks, Cassin’s Finch, a Red-naped
Sapsucker all in Morton County, Kansas, and both Cassin’s Finch and Evening
Grosbeak in Oklahoma, since I have been here Wednesday and Thursday.
Brandon K. Percival
Currently at Black Mesa SP in Oklahoma
Sent from my Phone
On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 1:14 PM Luke Pheneger <phenegerluke...> wrote:
> Epic!!! They’re so much fun!
>
> On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 11:56 AM Brandon <flammowl17...> wrote:
>
>> I just saw two in Boise City, Oklahoma and saw a several in Morton
>> County, KS.
>>
>>
>> Brandon K. Percival
>> Pueblo West, CO
>>
>> Sent from my Phone
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 10:12 AM Luke Pheneger <phenegerluke...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>>
>>> I just thought I’d make a quick post about an exceptional migration
>>> event occurring in SE Colorado right now. Over the past 41 hours I have
>>> seen 8 Philadelphia Vireos spread across 4 counties. One in Las animas
>>> represented the first eBird record for the county. There were also 2 Black
>>> Throated Green Warblers at Burchfield SWA in Baca county yesterday. Not
>>> really any other rare eastern migrants around.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Luke Pheneger
>>>
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>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CALhMPZfCJNYdg6JuAUJpOOQ%<2B34HyLSrQfD9NDs--PZSdcB9s3w...> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CALhMPZfCJNYdg6JuAUJpOOQ%<2B34HyLSrQfD9NDs--PZSdcB9s3w...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> .
>>>
>>
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Date: 10/8/26 8:38 pm From: Jeff P <jeff.percell...> Subject: [cobirds] Grasshopper Sparrow - Chaffee County
I've been enjoying the various "mountain birds visit the city" threads, but I had the opposite experience. Last weekend I was up at higher elevations in the Buena Vista area and found a grassland bird I wasn't expecting. I stopped by Clear Creek Reservoir on Sunday Oct 5 hoping to find the long staying Western Gull. To my disappointment, Larus-wise, all I found were Ring-billed Gulls. However, I was quite surprised to find a Grasshopper Sparrow, as it seemed a bit out of place, hanging out in a few shrubs on the east edge of the parking area. I checked and according to eBird it is a 2nd observation for Chaffee County with the first observation coming a few days earlier in Salida by James Bennett.
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Date: 10/8/26 6:38 pm From: Colorado Bird Research <colorado.birdresearch...> Subject: [cobirds] Calling All Volunteers: Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Surveying!
📣 Calling all volunteers! 📣
Interested in helping preserve & understand one of Colorado's most
sought-after species? Help the Rosy-Finch Winter Project by surveying
habitats and monitoring feeders to strengthen our understanding on the
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch. Colorado’s Brown-capped Rosy-Finch is a species of
conservation concern, but there are still important gaps in our
understanding of where they spend the winter. The Rosy-Finch Winter Project
has identified key winter habitats that are currently under-sampled.
Volunteers will help fill these gaps by visiting priority habitats during
the 2026–27 non-breeding season and documenting the birds and other
relevant observations they encounter. All ages and experience levels are
invited to help survey under-sampled winter habitats across Colorado,
particularly in the mountains and along the Front Range. Experience with
rosy-finch identification is helpful but not required. Volunteers can
participate in a single survey or multiple surveys throughout the winter,
with locations and timing coordinated based on their availability and
abilities. If you’re interested in participating, please fill out the
volunteer interest form below. Volunteers that express interest will
receive follow-up information and details on surveying priorities.
This research has led to some super fascinating results (findings regarding
climate change's impact on their migration, quantitative response to
snowfall, priority habitat usage, and more!) Feel free to email
me(<colorado.birdresearch...>) for more details!
[image: Image]
Grant Brandberg
Highlands Ranch, CO
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Date: 10/8/26 4:12 pm From: 'Meredith McBurney' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/8/26
Another slow, hot day, with some interesting captures:
- One of the European Starlings that serenades us each morning with
their mimicry of various other species decided to officially visit today.
They are rarely caught, high personality birds that we can't help but enjoy.
- A Mountain Chickadee. We occasionally catch MOCH/BCCH hybrids, but
this is the first MOCH since 2017.
- A latish Wilson's Warbler, an adult female, that had a ton (that's a
scientific term) of fat and weighed in at 9.2 grams; I think the only one
this season over 9 grams. Just enjoying the scenery going south?!
Okay, here's the official breakdown of the day's 18 new birds:
Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/8/26 2:13 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (08 Oct 2026) 10 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 12:30:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
Jane Haddock from Lakewood saw our eBird reports, realize there was a new
hawk watch at Mount Zion, and came up for a while with binoculars. She said
she remembers me from Dinosaur Ridge when the Bird Conservancy of the
Rockies Managed it, and had done on a trip to Veracruz with HMANA with Phil
and Julie Brown.
Weather:
Denver was hazy, completely cloudless blue sky to begin with, but by the
12:00 p.m. MDT hour there was 50% cloud cover, cumulus clouds coming in
from the west and gradually covering overhead, Northeast and Southwest
giving me a good backdrop to look for migrant raptors. I scanned in all
directions and overhead was only able to find 1 CH there.
Denver's notorious Brown Haze was visible over the horizon and it took
until the 12:00 hour for it as well as the haziness over Denver to clear
up. Before it cleared up the immersion layer would reduce the height that
thermals could lift up to, so my question to myself was Since there are a
few migrants, is it because they sense that conditions are poor for
migration so are not flying, or whether they're flying too high for me to
be able to detect them with binoculars. Today I was able to feel that since
my attempts to find migrants against a good cloudy background did not yield
much, my conclusion is that the hawks were not flying in large numbers
today.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was an RT by 9:30 a.m.. 2 adult GE migrated at 12:01
p.m.
The Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted excellent lift at 18 ft/second
with thermals at 12,696 FT AGL by 11:45 a.m.
Non-migrant raptors: RT 6 including a dark morph juvenile we lastt saw in
September which together with another light move juvenile were checking out
2 adult migrant RT, TV 2.
Non-raptor Observations:
3 paragliders at 10:45 a.m. had no lift whatsoever, the 2 at 11:35 a.m. had
moderate lift and by 12:30 had excellent left going really high, so also
could the raptors, limited by the height of the cumulus clouds which would
in Golden Colorado be around 10,000 to 11,000 ft AGL, i.e. 3000 to 4000 ft
above the watch, at which height I should be able to see them especially
against good cumulus clouds.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S400372422
Predictions:
Increasing clouds, with a high near 84. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east
in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 17 mph.
The winds are aloft predicted by earth.nullschool.net are light from the
SW.
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Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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Date: 10/8/26 8:12 am From: Luke Pheneger <phenegerluke...> Subject: [cobirds] Philadelphia Vireos
Hi All,
I just thought I’d make a quick post about an exceptional migration event
occurring in SE Colorado right now. Over the past 41 hours I have seen 8
Philadelphia Vireos spread across 4 counties. One in Las animas represented
the first eBird record for the county. There were also 2 Black Throated
Green Warblers at Burchfield SWA in Baca county yesterday. Not really any
other rare eastern migrants around.
Luke Pheneger
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Date: 10/7/26 7:52 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (07 Oct 2026) 28 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 07, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 12:30:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
One visitor asked what we were looking at and thanked to me when I told
him.
Weather:
Haze around Denver with a brown layer above the horizon representing a
subsidence inversion (with PM 10 at a high level) which gradually cleared.
Starting cloud cover cirrocumulus 35% which dissipated, with 20% at the end
all cumulus far to the West. Cool all day especially out of the sun.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was an NH at 9:54 a.m. MDT. A group of 6 TV migrating
together had to flap a lot while they were circling in a thermal. The high
pressure zone over Denver created the subsidence inversion layer, which in
turn kept thermals low until the layer dissipated, keeping the hawks at the
level that we could find them, though the Soaring Forecast was for
excellent lift at 15 ft per second with the height of thermals to 10,546
ft. AGL by 12:45 p.m. MDT.
Non-migrant raptors: GE adult was dived on by a CORA, RT 6 one of which was
carrying a stick in the Kestrel Channel followed by another adult RT
perhaps reinforcing pair bonds, TV 1.
Non-raptor Observations:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S400164169 2 paraglider at 11:00 a.m. had no lift whatsoever staying low above the
Coors Brewery, 1 at noon had moderate lift. A single hang glider had more
than moderate lift.
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 83. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming east in the
afternoon.
The winds I left are predicted to start in the West, change to the SE then
East.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/7/26 7:45 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (07 Oct 2026) 28 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 07, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 12:30:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
One visitor asked what we were looking at and thanked to me when I told
him.
Weather:
Haze around Denver with a brown layer above the horizon representing a
subsidence inversion (with PM 10 at a high level) which gradually cleared.
Starting cloud cover cirrocumulus 35% which dissipated, with 20% at the end
all cumulus far to the West. Cool all day especially out of the sun.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was an NH at 9:54 a.m. MDT. A group of 6 TV migrating
together had to flap a lot while they were circling in a thermal. The high
pressure zone over Denver created the subsidence inversion layer, which in
turn kept thermals low until the layer dissipated, keeping the hawks at the
level that we could find them, though the Soaring Forecast was for
excellent lift at 15 ft per second with the height of thermals to 10,546
ft. AGL by 12:45 p.m. MDT.
Non-migrant raptors: GE adult was dived on by a CORA, RT 6 one of which was
carrying a stick in the Kestrel Channel followed by another adult RT
perhaps reinforcing pair bonds, TV 1.
Non-raptor Observations:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S400164169 2 paraglider at 11:00 a.m. had no lift whatsoever staying low above the
Coors Brewery, 1 at noon had moderate lift. A single hang glider had more
than moderate lift.
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 83. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming east in the
afternoon.
The winds I left are predicted to start in the West, change to the SE then
East.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/7/26 4:44 pm From: 'Meredith McBurney' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/7/26
The story of the first full week in October continues.......warmer than
normal weather and relatively few birds banded. A total of 15 today, at
least 1 of pretty much every expected species:
Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/7/26 10:05 am From: Doug Ward <dougward...> Subject: [cobirds] And Now It's Crossbills - SW Denver
In keeping with "Mountains in the City", we had a small flock (9) of "Ponderosa" (aka Type 2) RED CROSSBILLs in their namesake trees while walking the dogs today (Weds, 7 Oct'26) up at Huston Park (SW Denver, Denver Co.); did get a good recording which I'll attach to an eBird list when I get to the task. In addition, had a single CASSIN'S FINCH and our continuing MOUNTAIN CHICKADEEs at the house, but no repeat Evening Grosbeak.yet. What's next, Ptarmigan? Keep your ears and eyes open as the mountain wave continues.
Good Birding,
Doug
Currently Denver
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Date: 10/6/26 6:31 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (06 Oct 2026) 8 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 12:00:00
Total observation time: 3.75 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
Jack a frequent hiker who hails us with Hello ornithologists, I could see
was picking up trash, for which I thanked him. It's the least I can do, he
said.
Weather:
The usual slight haziness over Denver, 85% cloud cover cirrus especially
smooth overhead, so and used this to scan overhead, high to the North, and
the South to see if we could see any migrant raptors but we couldn't, light
winds starting in the WNW changing to ESE,
Raptor Observations:
Very few raptors today. A slow flight early in the morning could have been
explained on the basis of the high pressure zone causing an inversion layer
which would limit the height of the thermals, as well as preventing any
ridge lift from East. The Soaring Forecast predicted lift at 18 feet/second
and height of thermals by 11:30 a.m. MDT of 12,508 ft. AGL.
Liza thought that the migrants we saw may have roosted the night nearby
which is why we saw them, while hawks used the ridge lift from Wyoming
through the Northern Colorado to where we were high and beyond the
binocular range of detection.
Non-raptor Observations:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S399881557 A tandem paraglider at 11:00 a.m. had no lift whatsoever, the 14 after
11:30 a.m. had excellent lift and went very high, quickly, going in circles
indicating they had caught good thermals.
Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near
80. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Aloft the
winds are predicted to be mainly from the East.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
This is an automated email report from hawkcount.org. If you do not wish to receive these reports,
please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Date: 10/6/26 2:50 pm From: 'Meredith McBurney' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/6/26
As we all know, we are experiencing some of the hottest weather ever for
early October. It seems wrong to most of us, and perhaps the birds feel
the same way........whatever the cause, today was the slowest day of the
season, with only 7 birds banded:
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 (our second of the season, the other was caught on
Saturday)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Spotted Towhee 1
White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel's 2
Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon 1
Meredith McBurney
Bander, Barr Lake Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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Date: 10/6/26 12:03 pm From: 'Joey Kellner' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Need something to do on Sunday...The Big Sit! at Chatfield!
Hello COBIRDERS!
Looking for something to do Sunday? How about some leisure birding at a
Big Sit? Mark your calendars.
What is a "Big Sit" you ask?
Well, a Big Sit is similar to the birding event called a "Big Day", in both
events participants try to count as many bird species as possible, the
difference is that in a Big Day you travel all over a geographical area
whereas during a Big Sit you sit (or stand) in one location (a 17-foot
diameter "circle") and count as many species seen or heard as possible in
the course of the day.
I will once again host a Denver Field Ornithologists field trip, *"The Big
Sit!" at Chatfield State Park on Sunday,* *October 11th.* This will be the
20th year (non-consecutive, due to covid) for this fun and frivolous
event. It is open to the public and EVERYONE is welcome! It will be held
from dawn to dusk. Come when convenient. Come for an hour, half a day, or
stay all day. Whatever works for your schedule. This is a great event to
bring kids, grandkids and friends that might have an interest in birding. 😊
In addition to a day list, we will perform hourly counts so that every hour
there are "new" birds to be added to the hour's count.
"The Big Sit!" at Chatfield will be located at the Heronry Overlook on the
east side of the reservoir. A park map is at the entrance stations. Come
and help find some birds! NOTE: State Parks Pass required for all cars
entering the park.
Bring your own chair or use the bench seating provided by the heronry
overlook deck. Bring binoculars, spotting scope (if you have), food,
water, treats to share or whatever you need to spend time birding!
If you cannot attend "The Big Sit!" at Chatfield create your own! The
details and rules can be found at:
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Date: 10/6/26 11:53 am From: 'Karl Stecher Jr.' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Townsend’s Solitaire, Louisville
About a dozen years ago, at this time of year, I was sitting in my car in my driveway in Centennial. Both front windows were fully open. A Townsend's solitaire landed next to the right outside rear view mirror, then spent five minutes or more looking at himself in the mirror. No aggression, just seeming curiosity for the image in the mirror. I took photos.
Solitaires defend fall and winter feeding territories, using song, calls and lots of chasing.
David
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 6, 2026, at 7:00 AM, Buzz Schaumberg <egseagle171...> wrote:
Cool.
Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS
Buzz Schaumberg
On Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 1:24 AM, Patrick O'Driscoll <patodrisk...> wrote:
Along with juncos, solitaires are my favorite harbinger of the coming winter -- and they are definitely back in Denver City Park.
Monday evening two pairs of them were doing something I'd never witnessed before:
Madly chasing each other in and out of and around the tight confines of the park's "pinetum" conifer grove, below the south wall of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
And they were singing -- not calling yet -- all the while.
At one point I stood still as they repeatedly whooshed past at eye/head level, oblivious of me.
Occasionally one or another would alight on an evergreen branch for a few seconds, still warbling, then resuming the circular chase. This went on for a good 15 minutes, maybe more.
The pinetum has a number of berry-filled junipers that will tide over one of these very territorial birds through the coming winter. It's a favorite stop on birding rounds of the park to catch that soft yet penetrating whistle:
heep . . . heep . . . heep . . .
Patrick O'Driscoll
Denver
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:51 PM David Suddjian <dsuddjian...> wrote:
Solitaires are very common right now in juniper habitats in the lowest JeffCo foothills. We counted 85on a 3 hour morning walk at Mt Falcon on Oct 3. Twenty in 0,2 miles at Deer Creek Canyon on Sept 27. For example . . .
David Suddjian
Littleton, CO
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:35 PM 'DuWayne Worthington' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> wrote:
I also saw a Townsends Solitaire at the Marjorie Nature Preserve while searching for the Couch's Kingbird yesterday on Sunday morning. We first heard it off in the distance, and then when walking out, it was at eye-level in one of the trees on the trail. We were like, "Oh, there you are!"
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:15 PM Paula Hansley <plhansley...> wrote:
At 10:15 am I heard the familiar whistle of the Townsend’s Solitaire for the first time this fall!
The call was coming from a tall juniper tree east of my property.
It’s amazing how far its whistle carries!
Paula HansleyBoulder County
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Date: 10/6/26 10:12 am From: Patrick O'Driscoll <patodrisk...> Subject: [cobirds] Couch’s Kingbird moving around
FWIW, the bird is now atop the tall lone cottonwood at the east end of the
loop around the lake and marsh area, well east where it has been reliably
seen previously.
39.61803° N, 104.92963° W
Patrick O’Driscoll
Denver
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Date: 10/6/26 9:28 am From: Doug Ward <dougward...> Subject: [cobirds] (Mountain) Birds of a Feather - SW Denver
To continue the "Mountain Birds in the Plains" thread, the (?) female EVENING GROSBEAK seen last week and heard a few times since here in the Athmar Park/Huston Park neighborhood (SW Denver, Denver Co.) returned this morning (Tues., 6 Oct'26), but this time was with three (3) CASSIN'S FINCHs. First heard the grosbeak calling off in the distance, but then picked up the Cassin's calling before they all flew over our yard together giving good looks. You know how you bump into someone you know at a concert, then end up hanging out with them for the rest of the show.thinking this might be a similar situation. In addition like many of you, we had a couple of TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIREs bounce through yard last night, so they are back too.
Good Mtn Birding,
Doug
Currently Denver
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Date: 10/6/26 6:00 am From: 'Buzz Schaumberg' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Townsend’s Solitaire, Louisville
Cool.
Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS
Buzz Schaumberg
On Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 1:24 AM, Patrick O'Driscoll <patodrisk...> wrote:
Along with juncos, solitaires are my favorite harbinger of the coming winter -- and they are definitely back in Denver City Park.Monday evening two pairs of them were doing something I'd never witnessed before:Madly chasing each other in and out of and around the tight confines of the park's "pinetum" conifer grove, below the south wall of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.And they were singing -- not calling yet -- all the while.At one point I stood still as they repeatedly whooshed past at eye/head level, oblivious of me.Occasionally one or another would alight on an evergreen branch for a few seconds, still warbling, then resuming the circular chase. This went on for a good 15 minutes, maybe more.The pinetum has a number of berry-filled junipers that will tide over one of these very territorial birds through the coming winter. It's a favorite stop on birding rounds of the park to catch that soft yet penetrating whistle:heep . . . heep . . . heep . . .
Patrick O'DriscollDenver
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:51 PM David Suddjian <dsuddjian...> wrote:
Solitaires are very common right now in juniper habitats in the lowest JeffCo foothills. We counted 85 on a 3 hour morning walk at Mt Falcon on Oct 3. Twenty in 0,2 miles at Deer Creek Canyon on Sept 27. For example . . .
David SuddjianLittleton, CO
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:35 PM 'DuWayne Worthington' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> wrote:
I also saw a Townsends Solitaire at the Marjorie Nature Preserve while searching for the Couch's Kingbird yesterday on Sunday morning. We first heard it off in the distance, and then when walking out, it was at eye-level in one of the trees on the trail. We were like, "Oh, there you are!"
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:15 PM Paula Hansley <plhansley...> wrote:
At 10:15 am I heard the familiar whistle of the Townsend’s Solitaire for the first time this fall!The call was coming from a tall juniper tree east of my property.
It’s amazing how far its whistle carries!
Paula HansleyBoulder County
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Date: 10/6/26 12:25 am From: Patrick O'Driscoll <patodrisk...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Townsend’s Solitaire, Louisville
Along with juncos, solitaires are my favorite harbinger of the coming
winter -- and they are definitely back in Denver City Park.
Monday evening two pairs of them were doing something I'd never witnessed
before:
Madly chasing each other in and out of and around the tight confines of the
park's "pinetum" conifer grove, below the south wall of the Denver Museum
of Nature & Science.
And they were singing -- not calling yet -- all the while.
At one point I stood still as they repeatedly whooshed past at eye/head
level, oblivious of me.
Occasionally one or another would alight on an evergreen branch for a few
seconds, still warbling, then resuming the circular chase. This went on
for a good 15 minutes, maybe more.
The pinetum has a number of berry-filled junipers that will tide over one
of these very territorial birds through the coming winter. It's a favorite
stop on birding rounds of the park to catch that soft yet penetrating
whistle:
*heep . . . heep . . . heep . . .*
Patrick O'Driscoll
Denver
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:51 PM David Suddjian <dsuddjian...> wrote:
> Solitaires are very common right now in juniper habitats in the lowest
> JeffCo foothills. We counted *85* on a 3 hour morning walk at Mt Falcon
> on Oct 3. Twenty in 0,2 miles at Deer Creek Canyon on Sept 27. For example
> . . .
>
> David Suddjian
> Littleton, CO
>
> On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:35 PM 'DuWayne Worthington' via Colorado Birds <
> <cobirds...> wrote:
>
>> I also saw a Townsends Solitaire at the Marjorie Nature Preserve while
>> searching for the Couch's Kingbird yesterday on Sunday morning. We first
>> heard it off in the distance, and then when walking out, it was at
>> eye-level in one of the trees on the trail. We were like, "Oh, there you
>> are!"
>> DuWayne
>> Worthington
>> Instructional Faculty ‑ Science
>> 303.471.3278 | <duwayne.worthington...>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:15 PM Paula Hansley <plhansley...> wrote:
>>
>>> At 10:15 am I heard the familiar whistle of the Townsend’s Solitaire for
>>> the first time this fall!
>>> The call was coming from a tall juniper tree east of my property.
>>>
>>> It’s amazing how far its whistle carries!
>>>
>>> Paula Hansley
>>> Boulder County
>>>
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>>>
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Solitaires are very common right now in juniper habitats in the lowest
JeffCo foothills. We counted *85* on a 3 hour morning walk at Mt Falcon on
Oct 3. Twenty in 0,2 miles at Deer Creek Canyon on Sept 27. For example . .
.
David Suddjian
Littleton, CO
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:35 PM 'DuWayne Worthington' via Colorado Birds <
<cobirds...> wrote:
> I also saw a Townsends Solitaire at the Marjorie Nature Preserve while
> searching for the Couch's Kingbird yesterday on Sunday morning. We first
> heard it off in the distance, and then when walking out, it was at
> eye-level in one of the trees on the trail. We were like, "Oh, there you
> are!"
> DuWayne
> Worthington
> Instructional Faculty ‑ Science
> 303.471.3278 | <duwayne.worthington...>
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:15 PM Paula Hansley <plhansley...> wrote:
>
>> At 10:15 am I heard the familiar whistle of the Townsend’s Solitaire for
>> the first time this fall!
>> The call was coming from a tall juniper tree east of my property.
>>
>> It’s amazing how far its whistle carries!
>>
>> Paula Hansley
>> Boulder County
>>
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>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAHmCQtaGtujw%3DBWoGxCbNPLjPh_KZAEfaee%<3DCTqLj8Y4jS-5jQ...> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAHmCQtaGtujw%3DBWoGxCbNPLjPh_KZAEfaee%<3DCTqLj8Y4jS-5jQ...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> .
>>
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I also saw a Townsends Solitaire at the Marjorie Nature Preserve while
searching for the Couch's Kingbird yesterday on Sunday morning. We first
heard it off in the distance, and then when walking out, it was at
eye-level in one of the trees on the trail. We were like, "Oh, there you
are!"
DuWayne
Worthington
Instructional Faculty ‑ Science
303.471.3278 | <duwayne.worthington...>
On Mon, Oct 5, 2026 at 5:15 PM Paula Hansley <plhansley...> wrote:
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At 10:15 am I heard the familiar whistle of the Townsend’s Solitaire for
the first time this fall!
The call was coming from a tall juniper tree east of my property.
It’s amazing how far its whistle carries!
Paula Hansley
Boulder County
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Date: 10/5/26 2:48 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (05 Oct 2026) 4 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado.
To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 05, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 11:00:00
Total observation time: 1.75 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Weather:
The usual haze around Denver, perfectly blue sky so the sun felt very hot.
In the second hour there was no wind which made it hotter and sweatier, it
felt like August all over again with the high today being 88�F.
Raptor Observations:
Almost no raptors today because of the cloudless blue sky, they were
probably flying really high, as the Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted
lift at 18 ft per second and height of thermals at 12,459 ft. above ground
level! That would be a mile above the watch by 11:30 a.m., the mile high
elevation of Denver with its consequent thinner atmosphere and no clouds
today made for super high thermals. I tried to avoid 'blue sky myopia' by
relaxing my eyes muscles and allowing my eyes to look to infinity, I
scanned along the usual hawk channels and up to two or three binocular
fields higher as well as directly overhead and could not find any hawks.
The only ones I found migrating were over Lookout Mountain. In addition the
air was hazy and I was losing hawks suddenly looking through binoculars.
Non-migrant raptors: RT 2.
Predictions:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm.
However the prediction is for 35% cloud cover, so it wouldn't be as bad as
today. The winds aloft are predicted to start from the West and end coming
from the East.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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please send email to <unsubscribe...> to unsubscribe.
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Another enjoyable week at Chatfield! We banded 151 new birds of 14 species
over the course of our 3 banding days including a Northern Parula and our
third Eastern Phoebe of the season. A large portion of our birds this week
were Yellow-Rumped Warblers. We also had 18 same season recaptures and 2
birds that returned from previous seasons of banding.
Audrey Hicks
Bander, Denver Audubon + Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
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