Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 19:50:07 -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. 25th - 9am-12:30pm) (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 09/25 SEASON 1999 Turkey Vulture 1 44 608 Black Vulture 0 8 37 Golden Eagle 0 0 1 Bald Eagle (a & i) 0 12 32 Northern Harrier 2 13 37 Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 76 386 Cooper's Hawk 6 29 234 Northern Goshawk 0 1 4 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 23 194 Broad-winged Hawk 1,293 11,700 12,113 Red-tailed Hawk 7 17 893 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 5 Osprey 5 39 84 American Kestrel 7 42 136 Merlin 1 5 36 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 5 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 n/a Unidentified Accipiter 0 1 2 Unidentified Buteo 0 2 8 Unidentified Eagle 0 0 n/a Unidentified Falcon 0 1 2 Unidentified Raptor 0 1 2 1,332 12,016 14,819 Non-Raptor 09/25 SEASON 1999 Double-crested Cormorant 0 14 95 Great Blue Heron 1 5 11 Great Egret 0 2 n/a Canada Goose 442 509 2,338 Mallard 0 3 n/a American Black Duck 0 2 2 Laughing Gull 0 1 1 Ring-billed Gull 0 90 135 Herring Gull 0 5 n/a Caspian Tern 0 3 n/a Common Nighthawk 0 52 63 Chimney Swift 63 4,901* 2,082 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 0 14* 7 Belted Kingfisher 0 1 1 Northern Flicker 3 3 16 Eastern Phoebe 1 4* 3 Least Flycatcher 0 2* 1 Eastern Kingbird 0 3 3 Purple Martin 0 26* 5 Barn Swallow 0 149 175 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 211 356 2,914 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 0 2 ? Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 2 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 22 23 107 Gray Catbird 0 1 8 Swainson's Thrush 2 2 ? American Robin 3 36 1,281 Cedar Waxwing 0 89 161 Red-eyed Vireo 0 3* 1 Nashville Warbler 0 1 ? Yellow Warbler 0 7* 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler 2 2 n/a Magnolia Warbler 0 2 n/a Black-throated Green W 0 5 ? Prairie Warbler 0 2 n/a Cerulean Warbler 0 2 n/a American Redstart 0 4 4 Common Yellowthroat 0 1 ? Unidentified warbler sp. 1 19 ? Blue Grosbeak 0 1 ? Rose-breasted Grosbeak 0 2 n/a Song Sparrow 18 20 28 White-throated Sparrow 11 11 103? "Slate-colored" Junco 1 1 95 Unidentified sparrow sp. 9 25 281 Common Grackle 0 6 84 Baltimore Oriole 0 1 n/a American Goldfinch 0 57 136 Scarlet Tanager 0 4* 1 Unidentified passerine 48 220 1,290 838 7,253 10,687 Butterfly 09/24 SEASON 1999 Monarch 100 1,783 6,595 Red Admiral 0 13* 4 American Lady 0 2 11 Mourning Cloak 0 3 5 100 1,801 6,615 * refer to new season record Weather: am= MC pm= MC Temp. in the low to mid 60's. Wind from the NE all day with heavy overcast. Rain begin at 12:10pm, and called off at 12:30pm. Raptor Migration Highlight: They came in low all morning with few kettles very high. Biggest kettle today was 429 at 10:46am. Strange kettle of 429 was formed like a tornado with 3 or 4 birds at treetop and up to 40-50 birds at very high, the kettle might be about 250 or 300 feet tall from treetop to the sky. Most of Redtails came in between 10:03am and 10:22am. Kestrels and Osprey came in pretty well. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Busiest morning with several passerines came in flocks, with one flock of 18 Song Sparrows, 11 White-throated Sparrows and a junco. Another nice flock was 22 Ruby-crowned Kinglets. More jays on the move with several in good flocks. Geese flock was higher this month than last Sept due to early cool weather. A total of 20 flocks and a single bird all morning. Nice closeup of male fall plumage and a possible female Chestnut-sided Warblers at one of the maple tree all morning and left before noon. Butterfly Migration Highlight: Low count. May be off to a worst low numbers of Monarch for the season. Non-Migrants Highlight: n/a 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!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! 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