[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Wed, 11 Aug 1999 21:56:02 -0400
Backyard Hawk Watch (est. 1992), Fall 1999
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
between 3-5 acres on top of the ridge. My hawkwatch site is about 150
yards west of 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)
Counter: Kevin Graff (Aug. 11th - 9:30am-11:30am & 12:30pm-1:30pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-8pm (August), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 8/11 SEASON 1998 1997
TV 0 1 525 362
BV 0 0 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE 0 0 22 9
NH 0 0 48 25
SS 0 0 260 106
CH 0 1 153 82
NG 0 0 1 2
RS 0 0 108 51
BW 0 2 11,782 4,324
RT 0 1 526 339
RL 0 0 7 13
OS 0 0 48 20
AK 1 3 64 23
ML 0 0 15 7
PF 0 0 4 2
SH 0 0 1 n/a
UA 0 0 3 4
UB 1 1 3 3
UF 0 0 1 0
UR 0 0 0 0
2 9 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 8/11 SEASON 1998
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Chimney Swift 0 17 4,486
Purple Martin 2 2 n/a (first yard list)
Barn Swallow 9 17* 3
Tree Swallow 11 16* 5
Am. Robin 0 4 866
Common Grackle 0 39 n/a
22 104 10,256 (33 species)
Butterfly 8/11 SEASON 1998
Monarch 0 7 7,399
0 7 7,399
Weather: am= S pm=PS :Temp in the lower 90's. Good cloud cover part
of am. Wind from the SWW to W.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Am. Kestrel flew over at 10:31am and an
unidentified buteo at 12:40pm. The unid buteo flew past east side of
ridge which make it hard to identify through a hazy sky.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: A nice wave of swallows between 9:30am &
10:15am with Purple Martin became a new record for hawkwatch and a new
yardlist.
Butterfly Migration Highlight: n/a
Standard hawk species identifier codes used: TV= Turkey Vulture, BV=
Black Vulture, GE= Golden Eagle, BE= Bald Eagle, NH= N. Harrier, SS=
Sharp-shinned Hawk, CH= Cooper's Hawk, NG= N. Goshawk, RS=
Red-shouldered Hawk, BW= Broad-winged Hawk, RT= Red=tailed Hawk, RL=
Rough-legged Hawk, OS= Osprey, AK= Am. Kestrel, ML= Merlin, PF=
Peregrine Falcon, SH= Swainson's Hawk, UA= Unidentified Accipiter, UB=
Unidentified Buteo, UF= Unidentified Falcon, UR= Unidentified Raptor.
Sky codes: S= Sunny, MS= Mostly Sunny, PS= Partly Sunny, MC= MOstly
Cliudy, PC= Partly Cloudy, R= Rain
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com