Date: 3/11/25 7:50 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (11 Mar 2025) 2 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 11, 2025
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 13:30:00
Total observation time: 4.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
A woman was curious as to what we were looking at and when I explained, she
thanked us. Two young women with little babies hiked up and chatted with
each other for about an hour. They asked what we were looking at and I
explained, and she asked with my almost 40 years of raptor watching, could
I see the effects of global warming. I explained that there are too many
variables such as there could be reduced migrants as a result of
unfavorable winds, and perhaps the only way anyone could tell, was if a
researcher looked at multiple hawk watches in the same area over a long
period of time.
A young woman after taking video selfies of herself looking coquettish,
wanted to know what we were doing. I explained. She said she saw some
magpies, and I said they were common here and that there were Mountain
Chickadees. She was not familiar with the species and I showed it to her on
Merlin comparing it with the Black-capped. She was quite interested. After
she left an older man came up and asked me what I was showing her. He said
his wife was a birder and had bird books. I told him about the Merlin app.
His wife said that she did not know much, so she did not need the app. I
showed the man all the various features of the app, and he immediately
added it to his phone - imagine, he was the non-birder the family!
Weather:
Today's forecast for light winds from the SSW, then to the SSE, and the
winds on the ridge were fairly close - from the ESE. Good transparent
cirrus cloud cover from South to East to North, and to some extent
overhead. Initial visibility 19 km increasing to 39 km to DIA after the
first 2 hours due to a thin line of fog along the ground, east of Denver
going from north to south. Mount Blue Sky to the SW was again clear at 39
km all day. Surprising we did not see more raptors with the cloud cover
and favorable winds that we had, in addition there was good lift according
to the Soaring Forecast at 4.2 meters/second, with thermals predicted going
up to 10,447 ft AGL - above ground level by 11:45 a.m. MDT. The Southern
component of the SE winds should have pushed raptors northward, while the
Eastern component of the SE winds should have pushed any migrants flying
East of Denver toward the watch. The atmosphere was somewhat grainy -
distant local birds were difficult to see for a while, presumably when they
turned.
Raptor Observations:
At 12:42 p.m. MDT I was watching 2 RT far to the East using my scope, and
one of them flew toward Lookout Mountain, a Prairie Falcon entered the view
of my scope, flew Westward, and I willing it to fly North, at one point
directly South it came close enough that I felt I could find it with
binoculars, and I did, it kept rising, circling, eventually going more NW,
extremely high at the limit of binoculars, we watched it for about 5
minutes until we decided was a migrant, the Bird of the Day.
The first raptor of the day, and only other migrant was a distant RT far to
the east at 10:44 a.m. MDT.
Non-migrant raptors: GE adult at 1:49 p.m. flying just above the Eastern
end of Lookout Mountain, dropped below and was lost among the pines. The
usual 3-4 RT flying over and landing on Lookout Mountain, generally moving
East or West, occasionally South or SW. One RT came up from the south
directly overhead, soared, constantly rising until it reached far to the
NE, and then turned Eastward - not counted.
Non-raptor Observations:
There was a solar corona with only two rainbow rings.
1 paraglider a little before we left.
Black-billed Magpie 2, Common Raven 5.
Predictions:
Light West winds, changing to SW. I'd be curious to see what we'd get.
========================================================================
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/ ---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<0101019588424611-bf54d5be-2e72-4e26-ba3b-5fd3569b8490-000000...>
