Date: 3/2/25 3:49 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (02 Mar 2025) 3 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
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 state's second spring watch site.
Many raptors seen c. 1.5 miles to the West from Dinosaur Ridge, may be directly overhead at this site, we are hoping.
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.
Anyone is welcome to join us if they want to see the spectacle of spring raptor migration, whether they know nothing or know a lot regarding identifying raptor species.
Daily Raptor Counts: Mar 02, 2025
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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:
Someone called out my first name, and it was Joe who walks here regularly.
I told him I was surprised that he took the trouble to remember my name,
and pronounce it correctly, and he said he comes up here frequently and
didn't want to be a stranger. A couple asked whether we had started
counting, and were under the impression that we count once a week. I told
him we would be counting daily or almost daily, and told him about
hawkcount.org, which his wife entered into her smartphone, and which
another woman nearby said she would look into.
A man told me that traffic was stopped on Lookout Mountain as everyone is
looking at a nearby Bald Eagle, he was amazed at its size, and was even
more amazed when I told him it had a 6 ft wingspan.
Weather:
The forecast was for light NNW winds at 9:00 a.m. changing to North in the
next hour, and NE thereafter, but at the watch it came from the SE at Level
2 with gusts to Level 3. I remembered the adage "Be careful what you wish
for...," and yesterday I had wished for more clouds to be able to see
migrants, well we had heavy 75% clouds in the form of long streamers from
west to east, which was a double-edged sword in that we would be able to
see any migrants but would they fly with the absence of thermals with the
clouds blotting out the sun? By 10:30 a.m. the clouds thinned and the sun
came out after which we had our few migrants.
It was odd that though the wind was north-based, the high clouds moved from
west to east! Earth.nullschool.net showed the winds as predicted.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was at 10:45 a.m., came over Lookout Mountain, I
initially thought it was a Golden Eagle because of a wide wingspan, and
dark body, but when it banked, its back was a warm brown and we could see a
red tail, so it was our first dark morph migrant raptor of the season. I
had had an intermediate (rufous) morph calurus on 2/21/25, but it was a not
migrating.
A juvenile RT which had probably spent the night on Lookout Mountain took
off, and was immediately harassed by two crows, it flew over South Table
Mountain, rose, then glided Northward.
An adult BE flew South, dropping to the trees on the north face of Lookout
Mountain, where I was puzzled as to what it was doing there, but
predictably it kept rising and near the top was chased by Heckle and
Jeckle, which evaded, kept going south.
Non-raptor Observations:
There was a beautiful prolonged 22° halo around the sun, with visitors
calling it was a sun dog. With my penchant for accuracy, I told them what
it was, and caused by millions of ice crystals in the air.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/22%C2%B0_halo Mountain Bluebird 3 , Mountain Chickadee 1, American Robin 1, Common Raven
6, American Crow 5.
Predictions:
Light SE, becoming East and 20 mph winds by 2:00 p.m.
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Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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