[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Fri, 01 Oct 1999 00:17:22 -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. 30th - 9am-2pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-7pm (Sept.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 9/30 SEASON 1998 1997
TV+ 1 27 525 362
BV 2 5 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (4 ad. & 9 imm.) 0 13 22 9
NH 1 9 48 25
SS+ 30 87 260 106
CH 7 32 153 82
NG (male) 0 1 1 2
RS 10 19 108 51
BW+ 31 11,817* 11,782 4,324
RT 8 18 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS+ 3 45 48 20
AK+ 5 56 64 23
ML 0 8 15 7
PG 1 1 4 2
SW 0 0 1 n/a
UA 0 0 3 4
UB 1 2 3 3
UF 0 0 1 n/a
UR 0 1 n/a n/a
100 12,321 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 9/30 SEASON 1998
Double-cr. Cormorant 0 1 141
Great Blue Heron 0 1 4
Canada Goose 0 183 2,934
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Ring-billed Gull 6 21 467
Common Nighthawk 0 54 188
Chimney Swift+ 57 613 4,486
Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 7* 1
Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a
Downy Woodpecker 1 1 2
Northern Flicker 0 9* 5
Eastern Phoebe 0 2 ?
Least Flycatcher 0 1 n/a
Eastern Kingbird 0 3 n/a
Purple Martin 0 5 n/a
Barn Swallow 0 175* 3
Tree Swallow 2 96* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 2 n/a
Gray Catbird 0 8 ?
Am. Robin+ 2 54 866
Blue Jay+ 102 825* 576
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 2 n/a
Am. Redstart 0 4 n/a
Bobolink 0 3 n/a
Chipping Sparrow 0 4 ?
Song Sparrow 0 8 ?
Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a
Unid. sparrow sp. 6 106 ?
Common Grackle 0 53 n/a
Am. Goldfinch+ 5 27 50
Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a
Unid. non-raptor sp. 18 246 4,283 (including sparrow)
199 2,610 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 9/30 SEASON 1998
Monarch+ 306 5,442 7,399
+ reported by other observers
Weather: am=PC pm=PC :Temp in the upper 70's to mid 80's. Good
wind from the NW all day.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Felt like first day of October with good
movement of buteos and accipiters. Season first Peregrine Falcon seen
headed SW over the ridge at 12:47pm. Late BW's kettle with 13 at 1:07pm
and 7 at 11:44am and rest of them are single or a pair.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Another good movement of Blue Jay.
A flock of 1, 1, 9, 8, 1, 1, 1, 5, 44, 7, 2, 6, 12, and 4. Season first
Downy Woodpecker flying very high headed SWW.
Butterfly Migration Highlight: Monarch numbers are getting lower each
day this past few days.
Standard hawk species identifier cosdes 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, PG=
Peregrine Falcon, SW= 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
Question or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com