[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sat, 02 Oct 1999 21:11:50 -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)
Counters: Kevin Graff (Oct. 2nd - 9am-6:30pm)
Pete Webb (9:30am-5pm)
Steve Sanford (1:10pm-5:20pm)
Elliot & Nancy Kirschbaum (1:20pm-2:30pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-6:30pm (Oct.), except
Mon.-Thurs 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 10/02 SEASON 1998 1997
TV+ 7 34 525 362
BV 0 5 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (6 ad. & 9 imm.) 0 15 22 9
NH 0 9 48 25
SS+ 4 118 260 106
CH 18 57 153 82
NG (male) 0 1 1 2
RS 4 28 108 51
BW+ 1 12,008* 11,782 4,324
RT 0 24 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS+ 1 46 48 20
AK+ 6 69* 64 23
ML 5 16* 15 7
PG 0 1 4 2
SW 0 0 1 n/a
UA 0 0 3 4
UB 0 2 3 3
UF 0 0 1 n/a
UR 0 1 n/a n/a
46 12,614 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 10/02 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
Laughing Gull 1 1 n/a (new yard list)
Ring-billed Gull 3 24 467
Common Nighthawk 0 54 188
Chimney Swift+ 250 907 4,486
Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 7* 1
Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a
Downy Woodpecker 0 1 2
Northern Flicker 1 11* 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 0 100* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 3 n/a
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 0 1 (10/01) 11
Gray Catbird 0 8 ?
Am. Robin+ 12 76 866
Blue Jay+ 369 1,583* 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. 0 109 ?
Common Grackle 0 53 n/a
Am. Goldfinch+ 11 50 50
Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a
Unid. non-raptor sp. 36 310 4,283 (including sparrow)
684 3,786 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 10/02 SEASON 1998
Monarch+ 268 5,893 7,399
American Lady 1 4 n/a
+ reported by other observers
Weather: am=PC pm=PC :Temp in the mid 70's. Wind shifted alot
from W to SW and SWW and back to SWW and SE.
Raptor Migration Highlight: A sloooow day today. Cooper's Hawks are
picking up. Nice day for 5 Merlin which is high for the day, the
previous count was 3 on Sept. 15, 1998. New season record for kestrels
and merlins.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: More Blue Jay are picking up all day
with 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 21, 23, 17, 28, 2, 46, 2, 1, 1, 6, 11, 23, 18, 5,
6, 6, 3, 8, 1, 1, 10, 7, 3, 1, 4, 1, 1, 3, 11, 1, 1, 4, 7, 1, 1, 2, 15,
14, 9, and 1.
Butterfly Migration Highlight: Another Am. Lady from the north and drop
out of the sky and resting at the butterfly bushes for a while and left
for southwest. I'm still working on the unid. butterfly sp. from the
last three weeks, and will post it soon.
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, 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
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com
A special thanks to Pete, Steve, Elliot and Nancy to help out today, I
was suppose to be camping at Germantown in Philadelphia, but due to some
problem for driving.