Date: 9/22/26 4:25 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (22 Sep 2026) 33 Raptors
Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA
To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org.
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 if you are interested.
See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk
Observation start time: 07:45:00
Observation end time: 12:15:00
Total observation time: 4.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
Ben Fassett from Arvada who read our eBird reports, had never seen a
Broad-winged Hawk and came up for an hour with his binoculars and camera.
He was able to see the Swainson's Hawk in migration and got good images of
an AK in flight.
Bob Sargeant a biologist and ornithologist from the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources came to the watch for an hour. He had also found the
Mount Zion Hawk Watch hotspot on eBird.
Weather:
Severe brown haze over Denver going up 5� above ground level. Minimal cloud
cover at the start going up to 30% maximum, light winds from the ESE,
visibility 6 km gradually increasing to 20 km with the haze persisting.
Raptor Observations:
The first migrant was at 9:45 a.m. mdte and was an AK in the Kestrel
Channel.
Between 10: 20 a.m. and 10:28 a.m. we had 7 Swainson's Hawk fly low over
the Table Mountains migrating through the gap between Green Mountain and
Lookout Mountain. A single adult BW overhead at 12:29 p.m. 2 Merlin flying
fairly close to the east.
Non-raptor Observations:
The 2 paragliders at 12:15 p.m. MDT had no lift, but the 2 at 1:00 p.m. had
moderate lift.
Predictions:
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 3pm. Mostly
cloudy, with a high near 77. Light and variable wind becoming northeast 5
to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%
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Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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