Date: 11/7/26 9:02 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (07 Nov 2026) 21 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: Nov 07, 2026
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Observation start time: 10:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 5.5 hours
Official Counter: Ajit Antony
Observers:
Visitors:
A woman hiker who's chatted with me a few times asked whether the the hawks
were still flying, and how many GE I had seen yesterday. When I said 8,
with 5 migrants, she wanted to know how we tell which ones are migrants, I
explained. She said "It's always enjoyable talking to you. I always learn
something new."
A young woman asked "Seen anything cool?" and I explained what I was
looking for. She asked "Which species? Up to 17 different ones. She said
she had a bird fly past her window which she thought was an eagle, and
showed me a video which indeed showed an immature BE flying over water. I
told her about the Merlin app and that she could take a screenshot from the
video and send it to Merlin for ID.
A photographer with a long lens visited the site because of Liza's eBird
observation of a Northern Pygmy-Owl 2 days ago! I am reminded of my friend
Ken McDermott from our bird club in NY who would say on such occasions
"Birds have wings and have been known to use them."
Weather:
There was no haze over Denver today. By 11:00 a.m. the brown cloud was
visible, most intense to the NE but extending from North to ENE.
Mostly blue sky with a few streaky narrow cirrus clouds.
This is the second day after a weak cold front had gone through.
Raptor Observations:
Today we went past a total of 2000 migrant raptors during the fall 2026
season! The 2000th was a male AK in the Kestrel Channel going SW.
The first migrant of the day was an a female AK in the Kestrel Channel at
10:07 a.m.
The Soaring forecast of the NWS had a 'Good' Thermal Soaring Index with
lift at 12 ft/sec and height of thermals 7240 ft AGL by 10:45 a.m. which
would be almost 5,500 ft above the watch - a mile up, consequently I
scanned much higher than when thermals are lower or nonexistent and I found
a few highish hawks in the blue sky. Most of the migratory action was close
to the easternmost end of Lookout Mountain. A migrant RT at 11:04 a.m. was
flapping it's wings continuously. I stayed a little later today and in the
last 45 minutes there were no migrants. Except for 4 AK, the rest were RT.
Non-migrant raptors: GE 1 adult far to the West, BE 1 adult came from the
SE and went NW, RT 3.
Non-raptor Observations:
I saw something new today. A helicopter ferrying a lineman to work in an
aerial line cart hanging from a high tension wire, with a large drone which
has LIDAR used to monitor vegetation close to the lines, and with infrared
thermal sensors to detect hot spots to pinpoint failing hardware. I could
see the wire bowing slightly with the weight of the 4 hanging carts, and
prominently so with the additional weight of the lineman.
Three paragliders at 11:00 a.m. at surprisingly no lift when considered the
Soaring Forecast. Of 8 others after 12:30 p.m. 2 had excellent lift
spiraling upward in a thermal while the others only had moderate lift.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S408830405
Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 67. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the
morning. Zak Hepler will be counting tomorrow.
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Report submitted by Ajit Antony (<aiantony...>)
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