[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Mon, 30 Aug 1999 22:12:28 -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 promine tpeak 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. 30th - 10:15am-12:30pm & 12:45pm-2pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-8pm (August), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 8/30 SEASON 1998 1997
TV 0 4 525 362
BV 0 1 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (1 ad. & 3 imm.) 0 4 22 9
NH 1 2 48 25
SS 0 1 260 106
CH 0 2 153 82
NG 0 0 1 2
RS 2 3 108 51
BW 13 21 11,782 4,324
RT 5 7 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS 4 13 48 20
AK 3 12 64 23
ML 0 1 15 7
PF 0 0 4 2
SH 0 0 1 n/a
UA 0 0 3 4
UB 0 1 3 3
UF 0 0 1 0
UR 0 0 0 0
28 72 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 8/30 SEASON 1998
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Ring-billed Gull 6 14 467
Common Nighthawk 0 6 188
Chimney Swift 3 54 4,486
Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 1 1
Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a
Least Flycatcher 1 1 n/a (new yardlist)
Eastern Kingbird 0 3 n/a
Purple Martin 0 4 n/a
Barn Swallow 33 77* 3
Tree Swallow 4 25* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 6 26 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 2 n/a
Am. Robin 0 4 866
Black-and-white Warbler 0 1 n/a
Bobolink 0 3 n/a
Common Grackle 2 41 n/a
57 272 10,256 (33 species)
Butterfly 8/30 SEASON 1998
Monarch 5 39 7,399
5 39 7,399
Weather: am=MC pm=MC :Temp in the upper 70's. Strong chill wind
from the SW and sometimes from the SWS and SWW. Partly Cloudy with sun
came out at least twice for 3 seconds in pm. High wind prevent hawkwatch
until 10:15am.
Raptor Migration Highlight: New single day record for month of August.
Broad-winged Hawks are on the move and Osprey too. No hawks seen on Fri.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Another good day for swallows and had
new yardlist too. Adult Least Flycatcher was seen on telephone wire in
the alley and spent all morning hanging around the small trees and
scrubs and disappear right before I left for work. Red-breasted Nuthatch
usually seen here in winter a few times, this is the first time I seen
one in the summer.
Note: 6 Barn Swallows and 4 Tree Swallows seen on Fri. and are including
in the total list
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
Cloudy, 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