Date: 8/15/26 5:25 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (15 Aug 2026) 4 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 15, 2026
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Observation start time: 08:45:00
Observation end time: 11:15:00
Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
A family were interested in what we were looking at. They said they hiked
in Boulder earlier in the year, and one of the trails was closed because of
raptors. I told them it was probably breeding PG, which are also supposed
to breed on the Tiers of Zion along the NW face of Mount Zion.
Weather:
The prolonged and heavy rain yesterday had washed out most of the smoke
from the air, though there was some smoke close to the ground making Denver
hazy, though as the day wore on the haziness decreased to the point that I
could even see Denver International Airport to the east at 39 km without
optical aid. Cooler air but without the smoke the sun felt hotter on the
skin. Lots of cloud cover mainly cirrocumulus to the east with some
cumulus congestus developing later in the West, eventually becoming dark
nimbostratus. At the beginning of the 12:00 hour DST there was distant and
prolonged thunder, and my app showed it to be 7.6 miles away only - the
danger of being hit is if it is closer than 10 miles - and then it began
drizzling, so we left.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant an RT was at 9:12 a.m. MST initially seen far to the
east, lost lift, then flying low in the gap between Green Mountain and
Lookout Mountain. All the migrants were very distant.
Non-migrant raptor sightings: CH 1, RT 6, TV 2.
Non-raptor Observations:
Migrating Common Nighthawk 13, VGSW 2, WTSW 1, BTHU 1, SPTO 1, GTTO 1 juv,
CORA 5, MODO 2.
Three paragliders starting at 10:00 a.m. DST with excellent lift.
Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny,
with a high near 82. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 7 mph in
the morning. Earth.nullschool.net suggests winds aloft from the ESE.
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Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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