[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Tue, 07 Sep 1999 23:04:37 -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 (Sept. 7th - 10:05am-12:30pm & 12:50pm-1:35pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-7:30pm (Sept.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 9/07 SEASON 1998 1997
TV 1 5 525 362
BV 0 1 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (1 ad. & 4 imm.) 0 5 22 9
NH 2 4 48 25
SS 2 11 260 106
CH 1 4 153 82
NG 0 0 1 2
RS 0 3 108 51
BW 12 36 11,782 4,324
RT 0 7 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS 0 13 48 20
AK 1 17 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
19 108 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 9/07 SEASON 1998
Great Blue Heron 0 1 4
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Ring-billed Gull 0 14 467
Common Nighthawk 0 8 188
Chimney Swift 11 81 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 1 5 n/a
Barn Swallow 53 146* 3
Tree Swallow 38 67* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 2 32 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 2 n/a
Am. Robin 0 4 866
Cedar Waxwing 0 13 30
Yellow Warbler 0 1 (imm.) 1
Black-th. Blue Warbler 0 1 (female) n/a
Black-and-white Warbler 0 1 n/a
Am. Redstart 0 4 n/a
Bobolink 0 3 n/a
Chipping Sparrow 0 4 ?
Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a
Unid sparrow sp. 0 33 ?
Common Grackle 0 41 n/a
Am. Goldfinch 0 4 50
Unid. non-raptor sp. 0 5 4,283 (including sparrow)
105 486 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 9/07 SEASON 1998
Monarch 6 65 7,399
6 65 7,399
Weather: am=MC pm=PC :Temp in the mid to upper 80's. Gray
clouds in early am prevents hawkwatch until 10:05am. Became partly
cloudy in late am with few sun. Wind from the SW and W and sometimes to
NWW.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Finally got some early small kettles, first
Broadwing with 5 at 12:15pm headed SWW and 2 seconds later, 3 at 12:15pm
headed SE.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Major movement of swallows in am with
at least a dozen in pm. Seen 13 warblers species at the ridge yesterday.
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