Backyard Hawk Watch (est. 1992), Fall 1998 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 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 continutes 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 10/09 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 0 28* 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 63 106 Cooper's Hawk 0 30 82 N. Goshawk 0 0 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 12 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 11,773* 4,324 Red-tailed Hawk 0 30 339 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 13 Osprey 0 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: 1 12,076* 5,338 Weather: Another dreadful day with light rain this am, then turns to drizzle all day except from 11:55am-1:00pm. Light wind from the NW. Raptor Migration Highlight: Single Sharp-shinned Hawk came before and after light rain/drizzle. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Another interested warbler for my yard list in one week. An female fall plumage Tennessee Warbler seen very high in one of my maple trees. Blue Jay still migrating with another 10 birds. Chimney Swift still migrating in the last three days with 833 counted today going southwest with a total of 3,339 so far (Oct. 6-9). 10 Chimney Swift still hanging around feeding ( this 10 will remain until sometime late Oct., same time as last year with same 10 birds. Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com