[BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sun, 25 Oct 1998 20:29:29 -0500
Backyard Hawk Watch (est. 1992), Fall 1998
Site: 3812 White Ave., between Belair Rd. and Walther Ave. - northeast
Baltimore City in the Gardenville section.
Topography of the Site: The prominent peak in the area is a steep ridge
about 180-200' above Belair Rd. and about 260' above sea level. It runs
northeast to southwest and is the first ridge west of the Chesapeake
Bay. It is about 12 miles from the bay, and is about 5 miles northwest
of the head of Back River, an arm of the bay, and about 6 miles north of
Baltimore's Inner Harbor. There is a long narrow old-growth of woods
about 3+ acres on top of the ridge. My hawkwatch site is about 150
yards west of the ridge. From the west side of the ridge, going west
past my site, the topography continues to rise for about 6/10 mile to a
height even higher than the ridge. The only road that runs along side
of ridge is Fairwood Ave., that connects from White Ave. to Parkmount
Ave.
The hawkwatch is located in my backyard. Most of the hawk flights
arrive from the northeast and a few from the north and northeast-east.
Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Counters: Kevin Graff and Bob Ringler (9:05-11:15am)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-5pm through Dec. 15th)
SPECIES 10/24 SEASON 1997
Turkey Vulture 8 276 362
Black Vulture 0 33* 13
Golden Eagle 0 1 (imm. - 10/12) 3
Bald Eagle 0 18* (7 ad. & 11 imm.) 9
N. Harrier 1 45* 25
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 186* 106
Cooper's Hawk 3 106* 82
N. Goshawk 0 1 (imm. - 10/22) 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 42 51
Broad-winged Hawk 0 11,781* 4,324
Red-tailed Hawk 4 96 339
Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 13
Osprey 0 48* 20
Am. Kestrel 0 61* 23
Merlin 0 11* 7
Peregrine Falcon 0 3* 2
Swainson's Hawk 0 1 (imm. light phrase - 9/16) n/a
Unidentified Accipiter 0 3 4
Unidentified Buteo 0 2 3
Unidentified Falcon 0 1 0
Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 23 12,718* 5,338
Weather: Bummer, no cloud overhead. Most of the clouds are on east side
of the ridge. A nice clear day with good sunshine and warm again. Wind
from the SWW.
Raptor Migration Highlight: A slow morning.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: 8 Blue Jay and 6 Am. Robin flyby. Also 3
more Monarch Butterflies.
Note: Before doing our hawkwatching, Bob Ringler and I went up to the
ridge to check out some birds and looking for a possible site for
hawkwatch platform. We saw 2 Hermit Thrush, 2-3 E. Phoebe and Bob heard
several Juncos. Back at the hawkwatch, We saw a Hermit Thrush at the
bushes in the alley next to my backyard and he heard a Winter Wren twice
in my backyard, but we couldn't find the bird. Now back to the hawks, we
counted 13 hawks including 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 3 Cooper's Hawks, 3
Red-shouldered Hawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 N. Harrier, and 1 Turkey
Vulture. I would like to say thanks to Bob for joining me and he is
planning to come back again on Nov. to see strong movement of Red-tailed
Hawks.
The reason I has a few hawks today is because I went to Arundel Sand
and Gravel Co., north of Harve De Grace with my aunt (she work there) to
records birds and other animals for the Wildlife Habitat Council. The
Quarry is 600 acres plus 200 more acres north of it, and the owner is
building 2 wetlands for wildlife, nestboxes, bird and butterfly gardens.
The owner want to know what animals can be found and which habitat they
likes. My aunt and I counted 30 species of birds, dozens species of
butterflies, 2 does (deer) and saw some fresh tracks of racoons.
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com