[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sun, 05 Sep 1999 22:39:12 -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.
Note: This is a Friday report. Went to Williamsburg in VA for Living
History Camp Friday afternoon, and was cancelled on Sat afternoon as we
get heavy rain all day from the TS Dennis and continued through the
night. Came home on Sun morning after spend the night at the motel (camp
was set down on Sat night by heavy wind and rain). Today hawkwatch at
4pm was called off as the wind from the leftover TS Dennis still moving.
I'm still waiting for any early Broad-winged Hawks movements before the
major peak begins on Sept 11 and continue until Sept 18th.
Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Counter: Kevin Graff (Sept. 3rd - 9am-3pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-7:30pm? (Sept.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 9/03 SEASON 1998 1997
TV 0 4 525 362
BV 0 1 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (1 ad. & 4 imm.) 1 (1st w.) 5 22 9
NH 0 2 48 25
SS 5 7 260 106
CH 0 3 153 82
NG 0 0 1 2
RS 0 3 108 51
BW 2 24 11,782 4,324
RT 0 7 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS 0 13 48 20
AK 4 16 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
12 87 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 9/03 SEASON 1998
Great Blue Heron 1 1 4
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Ring-billed Gull 0 14 467
Common Nighthawk 0 8 188
Chimney Swift 7 64 4,486
Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 1 1
Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a
Least Flycatcher 0 1 n/a
Eastern Kingbird 0 3 n/a
Purple Martin 0 4 n/a
Barn Swallow 6 90* 3
Tree Swallow 2 29* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 30 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 2 n/a
Am. Robin 0 4 866
Yellow Warbler 1 (imm.) 1 1
Black-th. Blue Warbler 1 (female) 1 n/a (new yardlist?)
Black-and-white Warbler 0 1 n/a
Am. Redstart 0 4 n/a
Bobolink 0 3 n/a
Chipping Sparrow 1 4 ?
Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a
Unid. sparrow sp. 4 33 ?
Common Grackle 0 41 n/a
Am. Goldfinch 2 4 50
Unid. non-raptor sp. 5 5 4,283 (including sparrow)
30 359 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 9/03 SEASON 1998
Monarch 13 58 7,399
13 58 7,399
Weather: am=PC pm=PC/MC ;Temp in the mid 80's. Again more wind
from the NE from TS Dennis brought low numbers. Clouds increase in late
pm and called off at 3pm.
Raptor Migration Highlight: A single 1st winter Bald Eagle at 1:27pm.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Season first Great Blue Heron at 1:13pm
and headed SE. More warblers in the alley and some unid. warblers flyby.
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, 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