[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Wed, 08 Sep 1999 21:56:15 -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 hawkatch 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. 8th - 9:45am-12:30pm & 12:45pm-2pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-7:30pm (Sept.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 9/08 SEASON 1998 1997
TV 0 5 525 362
BV 0 1 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (1 ad. & 4 imm.) 0 5 22 9
NH 0 4 48 25
SS 2 13 260 106
CH 2 6 153 82
NG 0 0 1 2
RS 1 4 108 51
BW 4 40 11,782 4,324
RT 0 7 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS 0 13 48 20
AK 0 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
9 117 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 9/08 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 12 93 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 5 n/a
Barn Swallow 9 155* 3
Tree Swallow 12 79* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 2 34 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. 5 10 4,283 (including sparrow)
40 526 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 9/08 SEASON 1998
Monarch 8 73 7,399
8 73 7,399
Weather: am=MS pm=PC :Temp in the upper 80's. Clear sky in am is
hard to see hawks with hazy thin invisible clouds. Wind from the SW.
Cold front from the NW tomorrow will bring in good numbers of Broadwings
this weekend.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Slow start, but with cold front later this
week should brings in first major kettles this weekend.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: 5 unid. non-raptor believe to be
warblers but couldn't id. them as I was foncused on the hawks.
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