Backyard Hawkwatch (est. 1992), Fall 1998 Site: 3812 White Ave., between Belair Rd. and Walther Ave. - northeast Baltimore City in the Gardenville section. Topograthy of the Site: The prominent peak in the area is a steep ridge about 180-200' above Belair Road 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 about 3+ acres on top of the ridge. My hawkwatch site is about 150 yards west of the ridge. From the west side of the ridge, going west past my site, the topography continues to rise for about 6/10 mile to a height even higher than 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. Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com) Counter: Kevin Graff (site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-6pm - early to mid. Oct.) SPECIES 10/07 SEASON 1997 Turkey Vulture 0 31 362 Black Vulture 0 6 13 Golden Eagle 0 0 3 Bald Eagle 0 10* (5 ad. & 5 imm.) 9 N. Harrier 1 28* 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 13 61 106 Cooper's Hawk 2 30 82 N. Goshawk 0 0 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 12 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 11,773* 4,324 Red-tailed Hawk 2 30 339 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 13 Osprey 1 41* 20 Am. Kestrel 0 37* 23 Merlin 0 8* 7 Peregrine Falcon 0 3* 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 (imm. light phrase - 9/16) n/a Unidentified Accipiter 0 2 4 Unidentified Buteo 0 0 3 Unidentified Falcon 0 0 0 Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 20 12,074* 5,338 Weather: Another gray cloud, bummer, but shortly after 11am, a clear sky with white puffy cloud appear for about 1 and a half hour. Has to stop before 5pm because a drizzle starting to pour in. Raptor Migration Highlight: A nice day for hawks especially Sharp-shinned Hawks, mostly in the morning. There were none in the afternoon, because of rain-like cloud. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Another slow morning for non-raptor, only 7 Blue Jay flew by. Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com