Date: 8/10/26 5:55 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (10 Aug 2026) 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 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.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Daily Raptor Counts: Aug 10, 2026
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Observation start time: 09:45:00
Observation end time: 13:45:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
A few visitors were interested in what I was doing. 2 young women asked
which hawks I was looking for when I told them I was looking for migrating
Raptors, and when I said I could see up to 14 species their comment was
That's really cool.
A man with his 4-year-old daughter had a picnic on the rocks at the watch.
Talking to him it turned out that until the age of 4 he lived in Cornwall
on Hudson, only a mile from where I lived for 38 years! Thereafter he
lived in Highland Falls which is the town next to the West Point Military
Academy where his father was a professor. A man with his family found a
raptor overhead, he was puzzling what it was, I was able to tell him it was
a CH, I also pointed out to distant RT over Lookout Mountain which they
enjoyed looking at.
Weather:
The winds were initially from the West, turning to NNW with gusts from the
NE, the local winds we usually get in the afternoon. Heavy cloud cover,
Altocumulus. Minimally less smoke than 2 days ago to the point that Denver
could barely be seen and by the 2:00 p.m. DST hour I could actually see the
buildings of downtown Denver with my binoculars and all of the area east of
Denver including the radomes of Buckley AFB and even the airport at 39 km
without binoculars, none of which I have been able to see since August 1st.
By the end of the watch dark clouds came in. My MyLightning app showed
lightning to the South 56 miles away, but when I heard a roll of thunder, I
got off the mountain as soon as I could. In the morning I thought that we
needed a good rain to wash out the smoke from the atmosphere. PM 10 was
'good' while PM 2.5 was moderate and ground level ozone was at a moderate
level.
Raptor Observations:
With mainly West Winds which are inimical to raptor migration in this area,
I counted no migrants today, but plenty of local raptor activity to keep me
busy.
Non-migrant Raptors: juvenile GE to the NW low over the ridges; CH 1-3 once
seen close up with a bluish back, an adult male; RT 6; TV 7 together.
Predictions:
Local forecast for Golden Colorado: A 30 percent chance of showers and
thunderstorms, mainly after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. West
wind 6 to 8 mph becoming east northeast in the afternoon.
earth.nullschool.net predicts light NNW winds changing to NE winds, aloft.
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Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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