Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2000 19:20:08 -0700 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Kevin Graff Subject: [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch Comments: To: BIRDHAWK@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Backyard Hawk Watch (est. 1992), Fall 2000 Reports: Kevin Graff (hawkwatch_21206@yahoo.com) Counter: Kevin Graff (Sept. 15th - 9am-2:30pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-7pm (Aug.), available on Mon.-Fri. 8am-2pm, Sat 1pm-7pm, & Sun. 8am-7pm or 11:30am-7pm depend on work. Fall season runs August 1st to January 15th, but usually start early because of non-raptors passing through. Raptor 09/15 SEASON 1999 Turkey Vulture 3 33 608 Black Vulture 3 4 37 Golden Eagle 0 0 1 Bald Eagle (a & i) 2 9 32 Northern Harrier 1 8 37 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 17 386 Cooper's Hawk 2 10 234 Northern Goshawk 0 0 4 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 11 194 Broad-winged Hawk 1,200 1,519 12,113 Red-tailed Hawk 1 8 893 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 5 Osprey 0 21 84 American Kestrel 6 23 136 Merlin 1 3 36 Peregrine Falcon 1 1 5 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 n/a Unidentified Accipiter 0 1 2 Unidentified Buteo 0 1 8 Unidentified Eagle 0 0 n/a Unidentified Falcon 0 1 2 Unidentified Raptor 0 1 2 1,226 1,671 14,819 Non-Raptor 09/15 SEASON 1999 Double-crested Cormorant 5 14 95 Great Blue Heron 1 3 11 Great Egret 0 2 n/a Mallard 0 3 n/a American Black Duck 0 2 2 Ring-billed Gull 5 67 135 Herring Gull 0 5 n/a Caspian Tern 0 3 n/a Common Nighthawk 0 45 63 Chimney Swift 88 1,325 2,082 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 11* 7 Belted Kingfisher 0 1 1 Eastern Phoebe 0 3 3 Least Flycatcher 0 1 1 Eastern Kingbird 0 3 3 Purple Martin 0 26* 5 Barn Swallow 0 147 175 Cliff Swallow 0 7 n/a Bank Swallow 0 49 n/a Tree Swallow 0 411* 149 N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 73* 35 Unidentified swallow sp. 0 43 n/a Blue Jay 0 9 2,914 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 0 2 ? Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 2 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 0 1 107 Gray Catbird 0 1 8 American Robin 0 10 1,281 Cedar Waxwing 10 45 161 Nashville Warbler 0 1 ? Yellow Warbler 0 7* 1 Magnolia Warbler 0 2 n/a Prairie Warbler 0 1 n/a Cerulean Warbler 0 2 n/a American Redstart 0 3 4 Common Yellowthroat 0 1 ? Unidentified warbler sp. 0 10 ? Blue Grosbeak 1 1 ? Unidentified sparrow sp. 0 15 281 Common Grackle 0 6 84 Baltimore Oriole 0 1 n/a American Goldfinch 0 37 136 Unidentified passerine 7 72 1,290 118 2,472 8,319 Butterfly 09/15 SEASON 1999 Monarch 12 200 6,595 Red Admiral 0 3 4 American Lady 0 2 11 Mourning Cloak 0 3 5 12 208 6,615 * refer to new season record Weather: am= PC pm= PC Temp. in the mid 60 to mid 70. Strong cold NW wind in am to moderate NW wind in afternoon. Cloud cover around 50%. Plenty of Sun. Raptor Migration Highlight: Gee, it is hard to find more than 1200 BW when there is clear sky several times. There may be about 2000 up there while I'm counting. Manage to spot few large kettles in clear sky and found a lot of other BW when heavy cloud cover came through. Totla BW in each kettle or singles in order as follows: 1, 1, 1, 1, 8, 2, 14, 36, 5, 100, 1, 1, 105, 1, 36, 37, 140, 72, 3, 1, 1, 25, 1, 32, 1, 1, 23, 1, 89, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 23, 75, 1, 1, 40, 1, 1, 18, 1, 7, 3, 1, 3, 1, 38, 45, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 2, 30, 4, 23, 120, 2, 1, 1. Largest kettle was 140 at 11:27am headed SW. A pair of adult Bald Eagle at 2:30pm with 1 Red-shouldered Hawk and headed W. Stay extra half hour to observe more hawks before headed back to work. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Interesting flyby of male Blue Grosbeak at 10:06 am headed SWS. Butterfly Migration Highlight: n/a Non-Migrants Highlight: Eastern Phoebe seen in alley today Standard hawk species identifier codes used: BV= Black Vulture, TV= Turkey Vulture, GE= Golden Eagle, BE= Bald Eagle, NH= Northern Harrier, SS= Sharp-shinned Hawk, CH= Cooper's Hawk, NG= Northern Goshawk, RS= Red- shouldered Hawk, BW= Broad-winged Hawk, RT= Red-tailed Hawk, RL= Rough-legged Hawk, OS= Osprey, AK= American Kestrel, ML= Merlin, PG= Peregrine Falcon, SW= Swainson's Hawk, UA= Unidentified Accipiter, UB= Unidentified Buteo, UE= Unidentified Eagle, UF= Unidentified Falcon, UR= Unidentified Raptor. Sky codes: S= Sunny, PS= Partly Sunny, PC= Partly Cloudy, MC= Mostly Cloudy, R= Rain Backyard Hawk Watch is located at 3812 White Ave., between Belair Rd. and Walther Ave. in the Gardenville section in northeast Baltimore City. Topography of the Site: - steep ridge about 180-200' above Belair Rd. - about 260' above sea level - It runs northeast to southwest - the first ridge west of the Chesapeake Bay - 12 miles from bay, 5 miles NW of Back River - my hawkwatch is 150 yards west of the ridge - Fairwood Ave runs along side of ridge My hawkwatch is located in my backyard. Most of the hawk flights arrive from the northeast and a few from the north and northeast-east. Questions or comment on this report to Kevin Graff at hawkwatch_21206@yahoo.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD hawkwatch_21206@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================