[Douglbirds] Raptor migration

[Hugh Kingery]

        This didn't happen within the Douglbirds territory, but maybe some of you saw something similar today (or maybe  tomorrow will see a reprise).

         Our Denver Audubon bird class spent Saturday morning at Waterton 
(south end of Chatfield state park) and encountered a great surprise: a 
foothills-edge migration of raptors.

         We counted
56 Red-tailed Hawks -- 5 dark phase and one absolutely white from head to 
tail -- an amazing bird that inspired awe as it wheeled and soared.
3 Sharp-shinned Hawks
3 American Kestrels
2 Golden Eagles
2 Bald Eagles
1 Ferruginous Hawk.

    A couple of red-tails and probably two kestrels are resident, but the 
others circled, soared, and floated south at regular intervals from 10 a.m. 
until 2 p.m. I don't think I've ever seen such a migration before in 
Colorado -- something we'll all remember for a long time.

    Look up in the sky tomorrow -- maybe some more will trundle past our part of the world.


Hugh Kingery
Franktown CO

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