Date: 10/6/26 6:31 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (06 Oct 2026) 8 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
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 06, 2026
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 12:00:00
Total observation time: 3.75 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers: Liza Antony
Visitors:
Jack a frequent hiker who hails us with Hello ornithologists, I could see
was picking up trash, for which I thanked him. It's the least I can do, he
said.
Weather:
The usual slight haziness over Denver, 85% cloud cover cirrus especially
smooth overhead, so and used this to scan overhead, high to the North, and
the South to see if we could see any migrant raptors but we couldn't, light
winds starting in the WNW changing to ESE,
Raptor Observations:
Very few raptors today. A slow flight early in the morning could have been
explained on the basis of the high pressure zone causing an inversion layer
which would limit the height of the thermals, as well as preventing any
ridge lift from East. The Soaring Forecast predicted lift at 18 feet/second
and height of thermals by 11:30 a.m. MDT of 12,508 ft. AGL.
Liza thought that the migrants we saw may have roosted the night nearby
which is why we saw them, while hawks used the ridge lift from Wyoming
through the Northern Colorado to where we were high and beyond the
binocular range of detection.
Non-raptor Observations:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S399881557 A tandem paraglider at 11:00 a.m. had no lift whatsoever, the 14 after
11:30 a.m. had excellent lift and went very high, quickly, going in circles
indicating they had caught good thermals.
Predictions:
A 20 percent chance of showers after 3pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near
80. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Aloft the
winds are predicted to be mainly from the East.
========================================================================
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/<010101a113fcce4c-6b42377f-4ca7-4113-9836-4022408cfdb1-000000...>
