Visitors:
We had another great day of visitors on the ridge today with a few in
search of BW and about half of them being successful. As always thank you
to our volunteers and visitors for helping spot birds! Happy 13th Birthday
to our youngest observer, Archer S. Thank you for choosing us to spend your
afternoon with us! We had a total of 38 visitors on the ridge today with
many of them stopping to ask questions and hang out to try their luck at
seeing a migrant. Our volunteer Dave Erickson brought our honorary
observer, Prairie the Bernese Mountain Dog, up for a quick visit today.
Thank you Dave, she is my favorite.
Weather:
Today was a bit cooler than yesterday but we had excellent viewing
conditions again with 50% or higher cloud cover all day. Winds were from
the E in the morning but started to vary in the afternoon. We got drizzled
on for no more than 10 minutes in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations:
The day started out with something I haven’t seen at this site before, a
push of 5 OS back to back to back in about 20-30 minutes. We had one non OS
move between them but other than that it was an OS start to the day.
Migration stayed pretty consistent today with our lowest hour seeing 5
migrants. BW continue to move and had a nice push in the early afternoons.
We also saw a nice little push of SW in the late afternoon. As always we
got to enjoy our “5 o’clock falcon hour” with very close AK coming
one after the other.
Local raptors seen today include BE, GE, RT, TV, SW, and PG.
Non-raptor Observations:
Spring has sprung for our passerines with FOY WEME, BTHU, WTSW, VGSW, BARS,
BBMA, WOSJ, SAPH, CORA and others seen today. We had two groups of AWPE
today, one of 5 and one of 30. The swifts & swallows have been out en masse
dominating the sky for the last few days, confusing us at times with tiny
speedy AK.
Predictions:
Tomorrow will be warmer than today with party cloudy conditions and
variable winds but some SE winds predicted. We are expected to get more
precipitation in the area this weekend. As always, I cannot promise
anything, but I’m hopeful for some more BW and SW tomorrow. Bring your
sun hat and optimistic attitude and we will see you on the ridge!
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Report submitted by Official Counter (<j.f.peters58...>)
Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Field Ornithologists information may be found at:
http://www.dfobirds.org
Site Description:
Dinosaur Ridge is the only regularly staffed hawk watch in Colorado and is
the best place in the world to see migrating Ferruginous Hawks. Hawk
watchers may see 17 species of migrating raptors; and it is an excellent
site to see rare dark morph buteos including Broad-winged hawk,
Swainson’s hawk, Ferruginous hawk, Rough-legged hawk and Red-tailed Hawk.
Other raptors we see include Golden and Bald Eagles, Northern harrier,
Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned
Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlin, and Turkey Vultures. American Goshawk is
uncommon but also counted each season. Non-raptor species include Rock
Wren, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift,
American White Pelican, and Dusky Grouse. Birders of any skill level are
always welcome. The hawk watch at Dinosaur Ridge is staffed by a Hawk
Counter and volunteers from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM from March 1st to May 10th,
weather permitting.
Directions to site:
From exit 259 on I-70 towards Morrison, drive south under freeway and take
left into first parking lot, the Stegosaurus lot. Follow hawk watch signs
from the southwest end of the parking lot to the hawk watch site. The hike
starts heading east on an old two-track and quickly turns south onto a
trail on the west side of the ridge. When the trail nears the top of the
ridge, turn left, and walk to the flat area at the crest of the ridge.
(Distance: 0.56 miles, Elevation gain: 259 feet)
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