[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch - They're here!!!
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sat, 18 Sep 1999 01:04:48 -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: Had to leave at 6pm today to go to diner for my dad birthday. Many
BW possible still moving after 6pm.
Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Counter: Kevin Graff (Sept. 17th - 9:30am-2:45pm & 3:15pm-6pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-7:30pm (Sept.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 9/17 SEASON 1998 1997
TV 2 22 525 362
BV 1 3 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (2 ad. & 8 imm.) 0 10 22 9
NH 1 5 48 25
SS 3 30 260 106
CH 1 14 153 82
NG 0 0 1 2
RS 1 5 108 51
BW 2,477 2,670 11,782 4,324
RT 0 10 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS 0 19 48 20
AK 2 28 64 23
ML 1 5 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 n/a
UR 0 1 n/a n/a
2,489 3,004 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 9/17 SEASON 1998
Great Blue Heron 0 1 4
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Ring-billed Gull 0 14 467
Common Nighthawk 0 49 188
Chimney Swift 8 273 4,486
Ruby-th. Hummingbird 1 6* 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 0 169* 3
Tree Swallow 0 92* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 34 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 2 n/a
Am. Robin 0 9 866
Cedar Waxwing 0 53* 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. 4 66 ?
Common Grackle 0 41 n/a
Am. Goldfinch 0 5 50
Unid. non-raptor sp. 8 57 4,283? (including sparrow)
21 895 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 9/17 SEASON 1998
Monarch 133 376 7,399
133 376 7,399
Weather: am=S pm=S :Temp in the upper 70's. Strong wind from the
NW all day.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Finally, they're here!! First kettle with
38 at 3:59pm, later a nice kettle of 494 seen at far east side of the
ridge at 4:08pm and a minute later a kettle of 108. At 4:30pm, went up
to the grassy field at east side of the ridge, and 4 minutes later,
several single birds pass by, at 4:37pm a kettle of 238, at 4:39pm a
kettle of 184, at 4:41pm a kettle of 97, at 4:46pm a kettle of 17, same
time a kettle of 80, at 4:49pm nice kettle of 606, 4:51pm a kettle of
200 and at 4:53pm a kettle of 154. Nearly all birds headed W and some to
SWW. At 5pm went back to the backyard, and some singles birds pass by
and at 5:10pm a kettle of 16, at 5:11pm a kettle of 12, many more single
birds and some a pair and three birds, and at 5:31pm a kettle of 21, at
5:34pm a kettle of 35, at 5:42pm a kettle of 40 and the last kettle at
5:55pm was 8 birds. Many other Broadwings are single or a pair rst of
the day. Many of them headed W and SWW and a few to SW. Look forward to
more birds tomorrow, I need thousand more to reach 11,000 again,
hopefully, but I miss many of BW while at work in late afternoon early
this week. And will miss some on Sun the 19th because of 18th camping at
Brandywine, but will try to leave early to catch up with late afternoon
BW flights.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Another hummer this week.
Butterfly Migration Highlight: Good day for Monarch, starting at 10am
and ended at 6pm.
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, PC= partly Cloudy, MC= Mostly Cloudy, R= Rain
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com