Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Emma Riley, Soren Zappia
Observers: Marina Prado-Echeagaray
Visitors: We had 11 visitors at the ridge today including a pug named Walter.
Thank you to Cayce and Chris Gulbransen, Caroline Fegley, Laura Franzel, and Laura's friend Stace for their help today spotting and counting migrants!
Weather: A cold(er) front came in overnight leaving us with a perfect spring day that started out a bit chilled before warming up in the afternoon. Fog was present for the first few hours limiting visibility a bit. When the fog lifted a haze settled in and gradually got thicker throughout the day. Winds varied in direction but stayed light all day.
Raptor Observations: It has begun! We finally had the good early season push that we have been waiting for. Pretty quickly into the morning we started to see Red-tailed Hawks moving along a low and close W line. At times we had 6 RT up at once. All but one was a juvenile, and we also had a dark-morph calarus, and another Harlan's! This is our 5th Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk of the season, a record for this site. American Kestrels are starting to show up as well, and some could be seen harassing RTs. Birds eventually got higher throughout the day reaching a height of flight of 4/5. As we began packing up for the day we spotted an adult Ferruginous Hawk south of us and watched it slowly move N overhead.
Non-migrant Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, one Northern Harrier, and one Sharp-shinned Hawk were seen today.
Non-raptor Observations: Canada Goose 12, Eurasian Collared-Dove 2, Sandhill Crane 2, Northern Flicker 1, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay 1, Black-billed Magpie 2, American Crow 2, Common Raven 4, American Bushtit 5, Mountain Bluebird 2, Townsend's Solitaire 1, American Robin 1, thrush sp. 2, House Finch 2, American Goldfinch 1, Pine Siskin 2, Spotted Towhee 1, Western Meadowlark 1
Predictions: Higher temperatures and significant cloud cover are expected tomorrow. Winds will be streaming from the SE all day, hopefully bringing us another fun day of March counting. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Official Counter of the day shown above (<dinoridgehw...>) Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at: www.dinosaurridgehawkwatch.org
Site Description: Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is the best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk watchers may see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent site to see rare dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk, Swainson's hawk, Ferruginous hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. Other raptors we see include Golden and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier, Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey Vultures. American Goshawk is uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor species include Rock Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift, and American White Pelican. Birders of any skill level are always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by Hawk Counter(s) and volunteers from March through early May.
Directions to site: From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take left into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow hawk watch signs from the southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch site. The hike starts heading east on an old two-track and quickly turns south onto a trail on the west side of the ridge. When the trail nears the top of the ridge, turn left, and walk to the flat area at the crest of the ridge. (Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)
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