[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Mon, 18 Oct 1999 23:01:20 -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: The hawks total from Sat by Pete Webb are including in the season
total list below. Highlight of the day from his list was an ad. female
N. Harrier at 9:18am headed SW, an ad. male N. Harrier at 10:39am headed
SW, an ad. female N. Harrier at 12:24pm headed SW, and a Osprey at
4:26pm headed SW.
Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com))
Counter: Kevin Graff (Oct. 18th - 9am-2pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-6:00pm (Oct.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 10/18 SEASON 1998 1997
TV+ 9 132 525 362
BV 0 9 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (7 ad. & 15 imm.) 0 22 22 9
NH+ 2 27 48 25
SS+ 8 216 260 106
CH+ 5 138 153 82
NG (male) 0 1 1 2
RS+ 1 70 108 51
BW+ 0 12,062* 11,782 4,324
RT+ 4 70 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS+ 0 84* 48 20
AK+ 0 124* 64 23
ML 1 34* 15 7
PG 0 2 4 2
SW - - 1 n/a
UA+ 0 2 3 4
UB 0 3 3 3
UF 0 2 1 n/a
UR 0 1 n/a n/a
30 13,179 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 10/18 SEASON 1998
Common Loon 0 2 21
Double-cr. Cormorant 0 90 141
Great Blue Heron 0 11* 4
Canada Goose 67 1,924 2,934
Snow Goose 18 68 230
Am. Black Duck 0 2 n/a
Northern Pintail 0 4 n/a
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Common Snipe 0 1 n/a
Laughing Gull 0 1 n/a
Ring-billed Gull 8 68 467
Common Nighthawk 0 63 188
Chimney Swift+ 0 2,082 4,486
Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 7* 1
Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a
Downy Woodpecker 0 1 2
Northern Flicker 0 13* 5
Eastern Phoebe 0 3 ?
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 1 127* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 5 n/a
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 17* 11
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3 6 7
Gray Catbird 0 8 ?
N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a
Hermit Thrush 2 2 4
Am. Robin+ 10 210 866
Blue Jay+ 13 2,860* 576
Cedar Waxwing 0 53* 30
Red-eyed Vireo 0 1 n/a
Nashville Warbler 0 1 n/a
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 15 ?
White-throated Sparrow 0 12 63
Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a
"Slate-colored" Junco 0 2 51
Unid. sparrow sp. 0 144 ?
Common Grackle 0 53 n/a
Am. Goldfinch+ 0 64* 50
Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a
Unid. non-raptor sp. 8 393 4,283 (including sparrow)
131 8,555 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 10/18 SEASON 1998
Monarch+ 0 6,584 7,399
American Lady 0 4 n/a
0 6,588 7,399
+ reported by other observers
Weather: am= PC pm= PC :Temp in the lower to mid 60's. Wind from
the NW between 9-10am and changed to N rest of the day.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Female N. Harrier seen at 10:10am headed S
and second female seen at 11:27am headed SW. Single Merlin seen at
10:05am headed W. Another slow day.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Season first Hermit Thrushes, first seen
at 9:30am and second seen at 11:59am. 4 flocks of geese including a
flock of 3 Canada Geese at 10:53am headed SE, second flock of 44 Canada
Geese at 12:40pm headed SE, third flock of 20 Canada Geese at 1:00pm
headed SE, and the last flock was 18 Snow Geese at 1:12pm headed SE.
Nice flock of 3 Golden-crowned Kinglets flyby headed SW and one
non-migrant was seen at one of my neighbor's White Pines.
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, 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 comment on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com